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A review by sarahkorn
Inverse Cowgirl: A Memoir by Alicia Roth Weigel
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
I read an excerpt of this book online (the testimony to the Texas state legislature) and it was so captivating I immediately knew I had to read it. Alicia has an incredibly impressive resume and is clearly a beyond competent community organizer that has done so much good for the intersex and trans community, especially in red states like Texas.
There were times where the book felt a bit like political aggrandizing, and I found it to often be a bit cringe and navel gazey: to her credit, she acknowledges she is a well off, conventionally hot (she doesn't let us forget it) white lady who can jet off to Europe whenever she needs a break, and do drugs in the Amazon whenever she needs some mental clarity. While her testimony is beyond powerful and deserves to be shared -- and the 4* is rounded up to account for this -- part of me wondered why an entire book to celebrate her political achievements (and newfound popularity and influence, which was a significant focus of the book) needed to be written.
There are so many people doing this work who aren't entrenched in big political strategy firms, particularly people of color who are often actively disenfranchised from electoral politics, and I'm glad she shared many of their names so I could follow them to continue learning about intersex rights and justice.
There were times where the book felt a bit like political aggrandizing, and I found it to often be a bit cringe and navel gazey: to her credit, she acknowledges she is a well off, conventionally hot (she doesn't let us forget it) white lady who can jet off to Europe whenever she needs a break, and do drugs in the Amazon whenever she needs some mental clarity. While her testimony is beyond powerful and deserves to be shared -- and the 4* is rounded up to account for this -- part of me wondered why an entire book to celebrate her political achievements (and newfound popularity and influence, which was a significant focus of the book) needed to be written.
There are so many people doing this work who aren't entrenched in big political strategy firms, particularly people of color who are often actively disenfranchised from electoral politics, and I'm glad she shared many of their names so I could follow them to continue learning about intersex rights and justice.