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A review by klutzykara
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I do not identify as asexual/on the ace spectrum so I would encourage you to read the book for yourself and then read the reviews from those that do identify somewhere within the ace community for further knowledge & thought. I will also leave this unrated (as I do many nonfictions).
I will say: I thought the analysis about how harmful it is that society views sexuality and sexual attraction as unavoidable and innately human, as well as how lacking the language to speak about your lived experience is a form of injustice, was good. I had not read about asexuality in other discussions I have read about intersectionality, oppression, structural inequities, etc, and this is a necessary addition. My main critique is that I think it would have been better to separate the personal narrative/interviews from the sociological discussions. This would better serve those who want to read about experiences that may resonate with them, and not be waded down in discourse that some have said they found harmful (re: several 1 or 2 star reviews). I also think it could help reduce some of the repetitiveness in the narrative. I would have also liked to see more transcripts from an interview rather than summaries from the author.
I will say: I thought the analysis about how harmful it is that society views sexuality and sexual attraction as unavoidable and innately human, as well as how lacking the language to speak about your lived experience is a form of injustice, was good. I had not read about asexuality in other discussions I have read about intersectionality, oppression, structural inequities, etc, and this is a necessary addition. My main critique is that I think it would have been better to separate the personal narrative/interviews from the sociological discussions. This would better serve those who want to read about experiences that may resonate with them, and not be waded down in discourse that some have said they found harmful (re: several 1 or 2 star reviews). I also think it could help reduce some of the repetitiveness in the narrative. I would have also liked to see more transcripts from an interview rather than summaries from the author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence