Reviews tagging 'Rape'

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

29 reviews

booktribe's review against another edition

I was so excited to read a book from the perspective of a Black asexual person because I am always on the lookout for more Black asexual books. Especially because the title put words to thoughts that I’ve been having for years. I had never heard the term “compulsory sexuality” before finding this book and when I saw that term something clicked in me and I finally had words for what I’d been warring with for a while. So, as you can guess, I was incredibly excited for this book! But, sadly I could not finish it. I had to give up halfway through.

The topics that this book touches on are necessary, interesting, and enlightening. However, the writing is not for me at all. It is INCREDIBLY pretentious. The author writes the same thing over and over again in different ways, not because they want to make sure you understand, but just to fill up space. Reading this book feels like reading a textbook without learning anything. The writing is so clunky and hard to digest. There was a lot of pontification to the point where the book felt like a chore to read. 

I did enjoy some parts of this book despite my problems with the writing style, but I just can’t continue. I am grateful to this book for giving me the words I was looking for in the term “compulsory sexuality”. Now I will try to find other books and articles on the topic for further reading because as much as I tried to push through and love this book, I just couldn’t. We need more books about this topic. Better books. 

If you’re a person who doesn’t mind pretentious writing, I’d still recommend giving this book a try because the topics discussed are so important and these conversations are necessary to have in our current society. 

Thank you North Atlantic Books and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: rape

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

thewarbler's review against another edition

informative inspiring sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Rape and Fatphobia

theabee's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

indiechick21's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, and Rape

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

I am undoubtedly not grasping all that is offered here, both due to my brain capacity and my whiteness. However, I really loved this book!!!! Sherronda's research and arguments were so well-constructed and resonated so strongly. I will never get tired of learning more about the beautiful multi-faceted experience that is asexuality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

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

jugglingcoder's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

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

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