Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Inverse Cowgirl: A Memoir by Alicia Roth Weigel

6 reviews

beebowbabe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Exceptional read. I knew this would be a 5 star book for me from the first chapter. Such a necessary perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Violence, Transphobia, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Cursing, Body shaming, Abortion, and Biphobia

amina_writes_books's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.25

the writing style is very informal and nothing to write home about in this book. Loved the delivery of educational content to those who have not familiarized themselves with the intersex plight. As a person of color the author was a bit too on the nose about her white privilege (announcing it one time is enough) and the delivery still seemed whitewashed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Abortion

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Chronic illness

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Body shaming, Medical content, Body horror, Child abuse, Outing, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Drug use, Dysphoria, Infertility, Bullying, and Mental illness

mari1532's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

I had been hearing about this book on Instagram and was thrilled to learn that my library had obtained a copy of the audiobook version shortly after it was released. Weigel details her experiences as an intersex person in a world that forces individuals into a gender binary. Beautifully written Weigel educates the reader about what it generally means to be intersex while highlighting her lived experience. 

What I liked most about Weigle's work is that while they openly share their experiences as an intersex person in a world that values the gender binary, she still kept portions of her story to herself. Several times she mentioned components of a lived experience but did not feel the need to share further details. It is the delicate balance that all memoir writers must strike while writing, but it is not as often so clearly stated. In the age of social media when it feels like everyone is sharing everything, I appreciated how Weigle highlighted that just because they were writing a book didn't mean that the reader was entitled to every facet of her life. 

I also found Weigle's discussion of the medical establishment and intersexuality interesting. Particularly, her discussion of how hormone replacement therapy legislation has specific carve-outs for intersex children in anti-trans legislation. Her details of what these medical practices could mean for physical, psychological, and social health and development I found particularly important. Especially when Weigel details her parents' experience when informed they had an intersex child. 

The stories that Weigle shares throughout the essays in her book are heartfelt and highlight how the gender binary continues to keep everyone stuck. I recommend everyone pick this book up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infertility, Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, Drug use, Transphobia, Body shaming, Dysphoria, and Rape

Minor: Bullying and Cursing

lettuce_read's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Transphobia, and Infertility

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, and Rape

Minor: Bullying

mothreadsbookssometimes's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Inverse Cowgirl is a must-read memoir for LGBTQIA+ (especially the “I”) folks and allies. Inverse Cowgirl is Weigel’s memoir of being an activist around the world, coming out as intersex, and working in the Texas political world. Weigel writes about travel, spirituality, mental health, politics, and a thousand other things, and she masterfully ties being intersex into every anecdote (it’s not a bad thing, I promise).

The first half of the book was thoroughly interesting. Weigel brilliantly combines her personal experiences with scientific facts and psycho-sociological observations about society’s view of intersex people (and of minorities in general). Weigel’s anecdotes vary so broadly in topics: bullying in adolescence, studying abroad in Brazil, working in politics, and coming out as intersex. 

Weigel does an excellent job at raising the voices of minorities throughout the book, always crediting the people who helped her while she was both struggling and succeeding. 

Also, Inverse Cowgirl covers the topic of trauma in a fantastic way. It is not necessarily a book about trauma, but trauma is interwoven into the major experiences of Weigel’s life (that she writes about, at least). They write optimistically, acknowledging that these traumatic events and feelings happened and shaped her life, but never going into extreme detail.

My one complaint is that in the final few chapters, the story started to drag and I found it more challenging to stay engaged with the book. I appreciated the chapter for being an overview of where Weigel’s life is now, but there were several sections that I felt could have been dispersed throughout the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Infertility, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Addiction, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders