Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

21 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

This was a compelling read, giving a lot of food for thought to the reader. I thought Brown did a wonderful job addressing the rampant acephobic narratives that exist outside but also within the queer community. What makes this particular book stand out to me compared to other essays and writings about asexuality is the way Brown approached it from a Black perspective, reaffirming the importance of intersectionality. They critically reflect on what it means to be a Black asexual, and how the treatment of asexuals and Black people have overlaps.

Brown brings in academic sources in their discussion on asexuality, but also turns to lived experiences to assert why it’s so important to highlight the asexual experience (especially as a queer one). Acknowledging and uplifting asexual voices is more than just accepting that there are some people who have little to no sexual attraction. It’s clear that, through an asexual lens, especially a Black asexual lens, a lot of reflection needs to be done.

I did find the book a little repetitive after the first few chapters, but for those who have little to no familiarity with asexuality (and, relatedly, aromanticism), I would absolutely recommend this book as your starting point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Slavery, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Police brutality, Death, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Suicide

cedence's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Each chapter of the book has its own trigger warnings for content as it deal with mistreatment of black people, esp. black women and black (a)sexuality, and generally is informative on what constitutes acephobia and the narration of asexuality as "abnormal" and an illness thoughout history. I added some of them below. 

The book focuses in on asexual people who do not experience sexual attraction at all. 

The book focuses on US history and context. 

This book will show you the clear ties between white supremacy, the patriarchy and capitalism to  racism, queerphobia, and compulsory sexuality. It will share with you how black sexuality has been forced, shaped and willfully misinterpreted by white supremacy agendas. It will also contain testimonies of lived black asexual experiences. And it will end on a positive note on the futures of asexual people. 

Loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Classism, Colonisation, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, and Slavery

beals's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Mental illness, Rape, Xenophobia, Slavery, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Violence, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Genocide

bdingz's review against another edition

hopeful informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Sexual violence

Extensive discussion of pornography and racial fetishization therein.

tina94's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Review to follow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Police brutality and Sexual violence

mfrisk's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This was an excellent read for those wanting to delve into the intersections of asexuality, race, gender, and a multitude of other identities which impact our lives and how we view ourselves and others. I highly recommend folks pick this up and use it as a pathway to keep learning. 

The only reason I’m knocking off a star is it can at times get to be hard to digest all the information as a vast number of topics are covered here and at times it feels more like a research paper than a book. However, I can only hope the author will continue to write and give more space to these topics in further depth. All the topics discussed are worthwhile but some could constitute their own books so it can be hard to absorb all we are learning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship

zombiezami's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Gave me a lot to think about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Rape, Fatphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual violence, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery, Colonisation, and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, and Transphobia

White supremacy

lettuce_read's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Colonisation, and Lesbophobia

kirstenf's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Violence, Homophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

caseythereader's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Thanks to North Atlantic Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - REFUSING COMPULSORY SEXUALITY not only digs deeper into how asexuality is viewed and why it is often rejected by allosexual people, it also shows clearly how acephobia is closely intertwined with many other social constructs, from racism to capitalism.
- This book is quite academic and took me awhile to get through, but it's more than worth it to devote a chunk of time to it. Brown has written a seminal work here, and I think scholars, educators, and thinkers will be referring to it for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Slavery, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry