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A review by pedantickef
Gender Euphoria by Laura Kate Dale
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I am not transmasc or transfeminine. I am not cisgender, certainly, but I am somewhere outside of either other- and both or either too, depending the day. I know this now, and have known since I was a kid I liked what I liked regardless of gender expectations people put on me. But I had never really thought about gender explicitly until well after college, after becoming a parent...twice. And I insisted to myself I couldn't be bigender or non-binary at all, because the dysphoria I experienced wasn't about not feeling at home in my body or disliking body features I was born with because they felt wrong.
The stories in this book helped me realize that my gender identity doesn't have to characterized or measured by displeasure and pain. It helped me accept, little by little, that the fact that wearing a masculine cut, tailored suit with a full face of makeup made me feel powerful and sexy was enough for these things to be true about me. The fact that my gender experience was marked by moments where things just clicked- and instead of feeling pretty good, I felt *joyful*- that was real and a huge pointer to my truth.
I'm in the US, and many of the stories in this book are centered around the UK, but I'm sharing it far and wide with friends. Because especially now, we Americans need stories of joy and affirmation instead of misery and tragedy. And if that's what you're looking for, if that's appealing to you for any story (regardless of theme), this book is one to read. I know I'll come back to the stories I connected to most again in the future.
The stories in this book helped me realize that my gender identity doesn't have to characterized or measured by displeasure and pain. It helped me accept, little by little, that the fact that wearing a masculine cut, tailored suit with a full face of makeup made me feel powerful and sexy was enough for these things to be true about me. The fact that my gender experience was marked by moments where things just clicked- and instead of feeling pretty good, I felt *joyful*- that was real and a huge pointer to my truth.
I'm in the US, and many of the stories in this book are centered around the UK, but I'm sharing it far and wide with friends. Because especially now, we Americans need stories of joy and affirmation instead of misery and tragedy. And if that's what you're looking for, if that's appealing to you for any story (regardless of theme), this book is one to read. I know I'll come back to the stories I connected to most again in the future.