Rating: 
Summary: Deeply Moving
Review: Leslie's story is fascinating and deeply touching. Her story will make you re-think how we view 'the opposite sex' and those individuals born in-between. It's easy to see how, as a woman, she blended so easily into society and was so successful as a model and entertainer.The manner in which Leslie maintains her personal dignity in the face of tremendous odds and personal trials is a testament to the strenght of the human spirit.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Words I Haven't Got
Review: Several days after reading "Hidden in Plain View" I was still under the 'spel' of the most incredible, candid, startling, sincere, incredible, astonishing, astounding, frank and amazing account, journey and odyssey taken by Ms. Townsend. Ms. Leslie Townsend is so much overhelming with her honesty, candor, sincerity, bluntness, insight, frankness, clarity and her vivid brilliant recollections of the long amazing, captivating, incredible, enhencing and most mesmerizing jorney that I had to read the book several times. In fact I'm full of praise , admiration, envy, respect, anger, rage, joy, sadness and happiness too for the most courageous steps Leslie has taken overcoming such gigantic, massive and enourmous obstacles but yet managed to keep intact her most beautiful inner soul, honesty, love for her family, humanity, wisdom, compassion and sanity. I also had the unforgetable pleasure and opportunity to meet Ms. Townsend in person, discovering that she is in fact more of a woman than most woman I have met. I do wonder how many people including myself would have had Ms. Townsend's courage , determination and stamina to go through through such a journey. After meeting Ms. Townsend in person (by chance) I could without any hesitation say that to meet her is to meet the divine. Her account is about an amazing person on an amazing journey, full of truthfulness, bravery, daring, tendrness, compassion, pain, pride, consideration, love and determination. Ms. Townsend has demonstrated that it is not enough to be born with the physical attributes of a female , one has to be one and I can honestly say that Ms. townsend without any doubts is the full embodiment and manifistation of a real woman.
Rating:
Summary: In the vernacular, its author teaches us about living life
Review: There has been a diversity of opinions about Ms Townsend's Hidden In Plain Sight.
Now let's get to meat and potatoes as to why many may not understand the depth of this amazing piece.
I am a therapist by training. I also happen to know Leslie and have had the honour and privilege of watching not only her physical beauty decorate the world but the love that comes from within. I have tremendous respect for her, not only as a woman, a woman of trans experience, but as a human being. With that said I can still be a little objective.
I think that any person that might have an issue with a book discussing the journey of a trans woman in the sex industry, or her journey with her obsession with her beauty, or her desire for male attention, would only be a person that has not had the opportunity to connect to any of these issues in their own personal life.
In my role as a therapist I have counseled 1000s of trans women and have seen so many trans people fighting amongst themselves in order to be 'legitimized' in a society that does not, to this day, legitimize the trans experience.
Leslie's story is a huge success and to attempt to shame those successes is an attempt to delegitimize another in the hope that one's own issues can be acknowledged.
Leslie lived. She has lived and she continues to live. Although the sex industry, physical beauty, or male attention might be viewed as unsavory, superficial, or objectification, let's consider it sex positive behavior and quality marketing strategies shall we?
I have counseled many in the sex industry and Leslie has left that industry untainted. I know for a fact as she 'worked a room'or a city and town she left each town a gift of either volunteer services or a donation to a local charity ie; a woman's facility, an aspca, or a children's ward.
Leslie can laugh she can cry she can love and she can feel. And I have met too many folks along the trans continuum that have lost that ability. It's a shame!
I think we need to see the gift of this book. There are many trans academic books, many about the LGBT political discourse, or the privileged transitioning after the fact. This is about a young person living her dream within her youth and the challenges to dare challenge the constructs of gender without a formal eduction or an army background or a pension is an amazing feat.
Let us celebrate the diversity of our amazing trans communities and not try to demean anything we truly do not understand or have not lived or the subliminal jealousy we feel since we can not obtain the life that a beautiful woman can obtain. Yes, it is a shame that we are still judged by the shape and color of our skin in the year 2004. But don't knock someone who obtains that false privilege and uses it to the best of their ability.
If a social scientist comes up with an amazing hypothesis we celebrate them. Why cant we do the same if a young person identified as a boy comes up with an amazing journey as they have conquered and celebrated life utilizing their physical attributes and still stay loving to all that surrounds them.
Ms. Townsend's 'Hidden in Plain Sight' is a plain and simple book about one womans journey. Whether you believe that journey to be respectable or not it is a journey of many young trans people that have the balls to challenge the gender construct and divide at an earlier age. You go girl!
Rosalyne Blumenstein LMSW
Author BRANDED T
WWW.BRANDED-T.COM
Rating: 
Summary: Sad story of a sad life.
Review: Worth a read, but this is a sad story of LT's sad life. While she manages to offer some hope for a turnaround at the end, she's basically telling her AA story. Multiple crash and burn's with TS trauma on top of it. Don't read if you're not up for a bummer.
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