Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Ace by Angela Chen

23 reviews

_alias_ali's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

overall i'm glad i read this book. i learned a bunch of new things about asexuality, aces, and myself (i'm allo). i especially liked the chapter about sex-positivity in contemporary feminism. her perspective on feeling like a 'real feminist' needing to be very sexual (ly liberated) was new and important to me. i also appreciated the look at the intersectionality of asexuality.
some things i stumbled upon/found problematic were:
- the author reproducing harmful virginity narratives and not once questioning them while she questions so many other sexual narratives in this book about questioning societal sexual narratives?? 
- her very badly chosen examples of _passionate non-sexual relationships_ that had some unnecessary connection to MURDER?? very unlucky choices and one didn't even have anything to do with asexuality. (especially since she does criticize the harmful typecasting of aces as heartless sociopaths but then partakes in it as well tho implicitly?)
-the book imtroduces many many names of people and i got them mixed up easily. their experiences are thrown in at random places in the text when i had already forgotten about their introduction

anyway, i still really did enjoy this read and took a lot away from it, and be it the need for further exploration and discussion of socially constructed narratives of sexuality and relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Murder, Ableism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence

dreamerfreak's review against another edition

informative inspiring slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Sexual violence

pandemonicbaby's review

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a very interesting read on sexuality in general and how asexuality brings a new perspective to our understanding of society (and social expectations) and intimacy, both on a broader and on an individual level.
It presented and described many different ace experiences, which just goes to show how no one community is homogenous, and how people are able to find different ways of finding love and happiness in their own existence.
This book also helped me reevaluate my own relationship with sexuality, and reflect upon how much of it has been molded by societal expectations and fear. This read has made me maybe a little bit less scared of maybe not conforming to what society expects of me, and of looking for intimacy in relationships in the way *i* want to have intimacy in relationships; not in the way societal expectations have told me to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Homophobia, Biphobia, Classism, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Ableism, Lesbophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual violence

suzannasbookshelf's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Rape, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Outing

cris_is_in_crisis's review

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

A book dealing with asexuality, its meaning and all that derives from it told from the perspective of actual ace people. An intriguing lense in a world that is too often forgotten in the vast ocean of civil and LGBTQ+ rights (so much so that the book states that some people in the LGBTQ+ community don't even recognise aces or aros as their own sexualities).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Classism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

All the trigger warnings are dealt in a way as to explain why they are wrong, if so, and minimise the impact that they could have on a reader.

divine529's review

informative reflective medium-paced

I really enjoyed this and I'm glad I read it and at the time I did. 

Essentially this book is a deep dive and overview into Asexuality, but it's done from a journalistic point of view and explores many different facets of the community - sexuality, gender, race, disability, different types of relationships, age...it's absolutely fantastic. That's not to say everyone's experiences are like that in the book because we're all going to be different, but it covers a wide range and for that I think it's an incredible book. 

Chen's research and knowledge add an extra layer to it as well, so it's part memoir, part community outreach, so it's own voices as well. 

Regardless of how you identify (or don't identify), I'd recommend this. It's definitely a book I can see myself revisiting, and I'm just so glad something like this exists. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Racial slurs

julianh's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual violence

snowypineapples's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

This book is incredible. It's asks us to reconsider consent, sex, intimacy while centering asexual people and letting them know they're not broken, it's ok to not experience sexual desire regardless of the reason or experiences that intertwine with these feelings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Outing

erinwolf1997's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Transphobia