Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Trans Power: Own Your Gender by Juno Roche

3 reviews

brnineworms's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

Trans Power is an uncomfortable book. I mean this in multiple ways. It’s honest, off-the-cuff, and, dare I say it, raw. But this intimacy goes further than candid discussions of feelings and identity – Roche describes their genitals and masturbation in explicit detail, and they invite their interviewees to do the same. This isn’t a one-off occurrence, it’s virtually the backbone of this entire book. In that sense I suppose it’s a direct sequel to Roche’s previous book Queer Sex (which I haven’t read). With a title like that, however, you know what you’re getting yourself into.

I don’t mean to sound sex-negative. Unapologetic trans embodiment and trans joy ought to be uplifted, not baulked at. It may not have been what I was expecting, but I can appreciate it for what it is.
This book really elicits the freedom to transgress. I particularly liked the last two interviews with Amrou and E-J Scott; the two of them were so insightful and self-assured.

Trans Power is one of those books where I’m not sure I like it but I am glad it exists. I’ve heard of cis people picking it up hoping it’ll educate them and being rather thrown off. I can’t say I blame them. I wouldn’t recommend this to a cis person wanting to learn the basics, but I might recommend it to trans people looking for other perspectives on what it means to be trans (particularly nonbinary perspectives) and unfiltered discussion of trans bodies and sexuality.

“I like the thought that we as trans are a prefix to some change that is brilliantly underway but as yet unresolved and partially unrecognisable.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Dysphoria, Body shaming, and Sexual content

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Rape

Minor: Cancer, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Outing, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and War

laynemandros's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Drug abuse, Sexism, Self harm, Outing, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Misogyny, Dysphoria, and Drug use

that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

3.75

This book isn't what I was expecting and that isn't a bad thing. It focuses a lot on sex, relationships, and bodies. 

I understand how this is important and it feels difficult coming from a trans author and trans people being interviewed, as it's done in a way that not every trans person feels defined by their body. 

I am trans, and some of this book did make me uncomfortable. It's good to be uncomfortable in a way that it pushes boundaries and language. But there was just so much talk about genitals, that I get the feeling that some of the people felt a little awkward, but this may have just been my own interpretation. The discussion was about challenging binaries as well as gendered language. They also discussed about how their bodies and relationships make them feel.

The author also writes a lot about their own genitals and brings it up a lot, nearly every interview, as well as in sections in between. This was something that I found myself skimming past. I can understand why the author bought it up a lot, it's of course their book, but sometimes it just felt completely random

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Transphobia