Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

10 reviews

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Forced institutionalization, Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Addiction, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Hate crime, Rape, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

ghosthermione's review against another edition

5.0

I read this back in 2022 as an ARC. I had big plans to review it, as it absolutely blew my mind and I highlighted about 500 sentences that were either impactful or resonated with me. 
And then i put so much pressure on myself about doing the book justice that I ended up never writing that review. 
The gyst of it is, this book should be compulsory reading. Especially for anyone interested in sexuality, race, gender, and the intersection of the three. It felt like it was articulating things I somehow knew but hadn't quite been able to put words to. And then went deeper than that into aspects I'd not even begun to consider. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

workingdaley's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

I feel like this is a deeply important read for every queer person, especially Black asexuals. It's deeply important for us to be able to understand asexuality in general, as it's a very misunderstood orientation, but I feel it's especially important to understand asexuality through a Black lens. This book managed to not only speak to some of the thoughts about my asexuality as a Black person that I was only partially able to articulate before reading this, but also speaks a lot to my disconnect with gender and my disconnect with the "human experience" as someone who is Black, asexual, aromantic, agender, and autistic. It also manages to speak to my frustrations with the realization that I've fallen out of the chrononormative structure that's been set out for me. And while my hesitations around marriage and children were going to cause this for me eventually, having it happen so early in my life forces me to really reflect on why life is structured in the way that it is, and what it means for me and my future that I've decidedly fallen off of my pre-determined path. This book has also given me tools to help better navigate consent and trying to work towards a world where we can break free of the allonormative assumption that we should all be desiring sex, and the racist assumption that as a Black person, I am always consenting to sex by my mere existence. I cannot recommend this book to enough people. I really do think that our understanding of queerness is improved when we can acknowledge and analyze the Black asexual lens.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Hate crime, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Colonisation, and Transphobia

maddramaqueen's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Slavery, Outing, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Biphobia, Classism, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

jayisreading's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

This was a compelling read, giving a lot of food for thought to the reader. I thought Brown did a wonderful job addressing the rampant acephobic narratives that exist outside but also within the queer community. What makes this particular book stand out to me compared to other essays and writings about asexuality is the way Brown approached it from a Black perspective, reaffirming the importance of intersectionality. They critically reflect on what it means to be a Black asexual, and how the treatment of asexuals and Black people have overlaps.

Brown brings in academic sources in their discussion on asexuality, but also turns to lived experiences to assert why it’s so important to highlight the asexual experience (especially as a queer one). Acknowledging and uplifting asexual voices is more than just accepting that there are some people who have little to no sexual attraction. It’s clear that, through an asexual lens, especially a Black asexual lens, a lot of reflection needs to be done.

I did find the book a little repetitive after the first few chapters, but for those who have little to no familiarity with asexuality (and, relatedly, aromanticism), I would absolutely recommend this book as your starting point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Slavery, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Police brutality, Death, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Suicide

mfrisk's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This was an excellent read for those wanting to delve into the intersections of asexuality, race, gender, and a multitude of other identities which impact our lives and how we view ourselves and others. I highly recommend folks pick this up and use it as a pathway to keep learning. 

The only reason I’m knocking off a star is it can at times get to be hard to digest all the information as a vast number of topics are covered here and at times it feels more like a research paper than a book. However, I can only hope the author will continue to write and give more space to these topics in further depth. All the topics discussed are worthwhile but some could constitute their own books so it can be hard to absorb all we are learning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Gave me a lot to think about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Rape, Fatphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual violence, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery, Colonisation, and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, and Transphobia

White supremacy

lettuce_read's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Colonisation, and Lesbophobia

kirstenf's review

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Violence, Homophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

caseythereader's review

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Thanks to North Atlantic Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - REFUSING COMPULSORY SEXUALITY not only digs deeper into how asexuality is viewed and why it is often rejected by allosexual people, it also shows clearly how acephobia is closely intertwined with many other social constructs, from racism to capitalism.
- This book is quite academic and took me awhile to get through, but it's more than worth it to devote a chunk of time to it. Brown has written a seminal work here, and I think scholars, educators, and thinkers will be referring to it for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Slavery, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry