Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

5 reviews

frantically's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

“I have always been disturbed by this transition, by the reality that often the only way to capture someone’s attention and to encourage them to recognize their own internal biases (and to work to alter them) is to confront them with sensational stories of suffering. Why is my humanity only seen or cared about when I share the ways in which I have been victimized and violated?”

This book not only spoke to me (as someone's who's — surprise, surprise — also afraid of men) it taught me so much about the intricate ways a trans-woman's fear of men, fear of masculinity/femininity is different from mine.
 
What I especially loved being themed is how it is often gay men that make queer spaces unsafe and uncomfortable for female-presenting people. Their gayness does not excuse the casual misogyny they often display. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Mental illness

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Racism, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Infidelity, and Hate crime

maudsmeets's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Any ambiguity or nonconformity, especially in relation to gender, conjurers terror. This is precisely why men are afraid of me. Why women are afraid of me, too.
But your fear is not only hurting me, it's hurting you, limiting you from being everything you could be.

An informative, reflective and challenging read that combines autobiographical stories with gender theory seamlessly. 

I would recommend this text to anyone. We can all learn from this and we should all learn from this, to be frank. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

violet_pages's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Body shaming and Xenophobia

lulujoanis's review against another edition

reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

"I wanted my body to be in a constant state of silent movement, immersed in the illusion of short-term purpose, for fear that any inertia would remind me of death" 

Required reading: so brilliant, so educational even to me as a trans woman (so I can't even imagine the lessons a cis person could learn from this!) 

Admittedly, in the middle, some assumptions Vivek made about other people's genders, while she was trying to make a point against gender assumption, made me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm raw myself, because "When I was a man" is a particularly triggering sentiment to me, less than 3 months into my own transition. 

But the end sold me. Very cleverly, she allowed herself to express these contradictions, as all closeted trans / gnc people, and newly realized trans / gnc people do in the search for language to describe and rationalize their identity and existences. And she deconstructed these hypocrisies by, at the end of her threads of logic, memoir, and queer theory, reversing expectations- she mourns her beard and biceps from "when she was a man", like my own complicated relationship with my own facial hair. It's the ultimate argument for gender abolition- even for the betterment of the men that hurt her, and us trans people.

Lots of important race philosophy, too, for the light-skinned queers among us. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia and Xenophobia