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biobeetle's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
Minor: Sexual violence and Violence
chamomiledaydreams's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
This book is a fantastic read! It highlights historical equivalents of asexuality (such as frigidity) and explains how they were often conflated with other non-heterosexual identities such as lesbianism. It addresses the many ways in which compulsory sexuality harms everyone, asexual and allosexual alike, and reaffirms the inherent queerness of asexuality (and by extension, aromanticism).
Additionally, it explains the concept of chrononormativity to demonstrate how society expects everyone to reach certain milestones at specific points in their lives. Queer people challenge this concept for many reasons. For instance, a closeted lesbian might not be able to date and explore her sexuality until well into her twenties, while her straight peers have likely been at this for over a decade. Similarly, but even more queerly, asexual people often never hit these milestones at all, especially if they are averse to sex and romance.
Sherronda J. Brown also discusses the conflicting sexual stereotypes that apply to Black aces. They talk about the history of anti-Black racism and how hypersexuality remains a Black stereotype to this day, which can make it especially difficult for Black aces to be believed or for their asexual identities to be legible to others.
I have identified as ace for over a decade now, and I am thrilled that ace scholarship such as this book exists. It validates many of my own experiences at the same time that it opens my mind to concepts and trends that I was not previously aware of. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in thinking more critically about asexuality and treating it like you would any other identity in queer studies. I wish I had been assigned texts like this when I was in school!
Additionally, it explains the concept of chrononormativity to demonstrate how society expects everyone to reach certain milestones at specific points in their lives. Queer people challenge this concept for many reasons. For instance, a closeted lesbian might not be able to date and explore her sexuality until well into her twenties, while her straight peers have likely been at this for over a decade. Similarly, but even more queerly, asexual people often never hit these milestones at all, especially if they are averse to sex and romance.
Sherronda J. Brown also discusses the conflicting sexual stereotypes that apply to Black aces. They talk about the history of anti-Black racism and how hypersexuality remains a Black stereotype to this day, which can make it especially difficult for Black aces to be believed or for their asexual identities to be legible to others.
I have identified as ace for over a decade now, and I am thrilled that ace scholarship such as this book exists. It validates many of my own experiences at the same time that it opens my mind to concepts and trends that I was not previously aware of. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in thinking more critically about asexuality and treating it like you would any other identity in queer studies. I wish I had been assigned texts like this when I was in school!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Colonisation, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Slavery, and Rape
Minor: Police brutality
nil033's review against another edition
Great book - will return to it later! (Library loan expired)
tipsybookworm's review against another edition
4.25
highly recommend this one, i found it super interesting and informative and packed in a short and approachable way.
shaunie991's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
Although I could have used the education, I donβt feel this book was right for me. As a white, cis female, the narrative was not directed to my demographic, but I can appreciate the message.
(ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you.)
Although I could have used the education, I donβt feel this book was right for me. As a white, cis female, the narrative was not directed to my demographic, but I can appreciate the message.
(ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you.)
lucybmn's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This absolutely SLAPPED. Perfect follow-up to Angela Chen's Ace (which I read about 2 years ago... funnily enough on another road trip to the exact same place). Gets more specific and more into vibes of justice and activism. Which I am obviously here for.
There were so many great lines in this that I couldn't mark because I was driving, that I actually want to go buy a physical copy to annotate. Which I have never in my life felt like doing before. So that says quite a lot.
Highly highly recommend to literally everyone.
There were so many great lines in this that I couldn't mark because I was driving, that I actually want to go buy a physical copy to annotate. Which I have never in my life felt like doing before. So that says quite a lot.
Highly highly recommend to literally everyone.