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Gender Euphoria
GENDER EUPHORIA: a powerful feeling of happiness experienced as a result of moving away from one’s birth-assigned gender.
So often the stories shared by trans people about their transition centre on gender dysphoria: a feeling of deep discomfort with their birth-assigned gender, and a powerful catalyst for coming out or transitioning. But for many non-cisgender people, it’s gender euphoria which pushes forward their transition: the joy the first time a parent calls them by their new chosen name, the first time they have the confidence to cut their hair short, the first time they truly embrace themself.
In this groundbreaking anthology, nineteen trans, non-binary, agender, gender-fluid and intersex writers share their experiences of gender euphoria: an agender dominatrix being called ‘Daddy’, an Arab trans man getting his first tattoos, a trans woman embracing her inner fighter.
What they have in common are their feelings of elation, pride, confidence, freedom and ecstasy as a direct result of coming out as non-cisgender, and how coming to terms with their gender has brought unimaginable joy into their lives.
So often the stories shared by trans people about their transition centre on gender dysphoria: a feeling of deep discomfort with their birth-assigned gender, and a powerful catalyst for coming out or transitioning. But for many non-cisgender people, it’s gender euphoria which pushes forward their transition: the joy the first time a parent calls them by their new chosen name, the first time they have the confidence to cut their hair short, the first time they truly embrace themself.
In this groundbreaking anthology, nineteen trans, non-binary, agender, gender-fluid and intersex writers share their experiences of gender euphoria: an agender dominatrix being called ‘Daddy’, an Arab trans man getting his first tattoos, a trans woman embracing her inner fighter.
What they have in common are their feelings of elation, pride, confidence, freedom and ecstasy as a direct result of coming out as non-cisgender, and how coming to terms with their gender has brought unimaginable joy into their lives.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 10, 2021
About the author
Laura Kate Dale
9 books109 followersSo, who am I? I've spent the last years as a freelance games critic, written for pretty much every gaming publication under the sun, and have a passion for digging down to the stories PR teams are not eager to talk about.
I love weird little indie games about sex imps living in Anne Hathaway's mouth, big sprawling JRPGs, and serious in depth discussions of the artistic value of video game character buttock designs.
I'm always looking for interesting stories about games, the people making them, and the stories that happened along the way to store shelves. If you've got a hot scoop, drop me an email or hit me up on Twitter.
I love weird little indie games about sex imps living in Anne Hathaway's mouth, big sprawling JRPGs, and serious in depth discussions of the artistic value of video game character buttock designs.
I'm always looking for interesting stories about games, the people making them, and the stories that happened along the way to store shelves. If you've got a hot scoop, drop me an email or hit me up on Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 253 reviews
January 11, 2022
A very necessary anthology! My middling rating is mostly due to my confusion at the structuring - mainly, why nearly 40% of the essays were by the editor when in the introduction she said that each author was "selected above hundreds of other writers" and therefore one can assume there were plenty of texts to choose from. Now of course there's nothing wrong with an editor having a presence in an anthology, but I feel like with this percentage of text by a singular author, the book probably should've been a personal memoir with guest contributors instead of an anthology.
The main draw of an anthology, for me, is the diversity of voices and experiences, so it was a bit of a bummer that every second to third essay I would glance at the author name and be like "oh, her again" and feeling like there wasn't going to be anything that new in the essay that followed. That feeling is probably unfair to Dale, who is a good writer and had very interesting thoughts and experiences to share, but for me, personally, it just worked against this book.
Most of the essays in here were very interesting, educational and entertaining, but as with most anthologies focused on a very specific concept, there was some repetition of structure, style and concept. The variety of experiences and identities was wonderful, but the shortness of the essays felt at times a bit limiting.
But these technical gripes aside, I think this anthology has a lot to offer, especially to younger trans and queer readers, and I'm very appreciative of its existence.
The main draw of an anthology, for me, is the diversity of voices and experiences, so it was a bit of a bummer that every second to third essay I would glance at the author name and be like "oh, her again" and feeling like there wasn't going to be anything that new in the essay that followed. That feeling is probably unfair to Dale, who is a good writer and had very interesting thoughts and experiences to share, but for me, personally, it just worked against this book.
Most of the essays in here were very interesting, educational and entertaining, but as with most anthologies focused on a very specific concept, there was some repetition of structure, style and concept. The variety of experiences and identities was wonderful, but the shortness of the essays felt at times a bit limiting.
But these technical gripes aside, I think this anthology has a lot to offer, especially to younger trans and queer readers, and I'm very appreciative of its existence.
June 25, 2021
There are quite a few essays in this book that were a very interesting read and I learned a lot from them. So, overall this gets a recommendation from me.
However! A whole whoppin' 11 out of 29 segments were by the editor, and that is just too much no matter how you spin it, especially when the introduction states that were several hundreds of submissions for this book. So either the Dale essays should have been kept to a minimum - or at the very least saved for follow-up volumes.
Not a bad book by any means, but a bit of a missed opportunity, I'm afraid.
However! A whole whoppin' 11 out of 29 segments were by the editor, and that is just too much no matter how you spin it, especially when the introduction states that were several hundreds of submissions for this book. So either the Dale essays should have been kept to a minimum - or at the very least saved for follow-up volumes.
Not a bad book by any means, but a bit of a missed opportunity, I'm afraid.
July 3, 2021
Firstly, this book is incredibly important. Let's get that out of the way. This book absolutely needs to exist; it's going to mean so much to many people, and we need stories of gender euphoria and joy just as much as we need stories of dysphoria and rage. For the very fact that this book is so groundbreaking and has clearly been written with real love and happiness, it's great.
That said, I just don't understand why, as the editor of a purportedly diverse anthology, you would include 11 of your own essays, and 1 from your wife. There are 29 essays in here, and 12 of them - nearly half! - are either by the editor or her partner. That, to me, is incredibly poor editorial practice. It also absolutely means that the book suffers from a feeling of unevenness. If I read an anthology, as I very often do, I read it because I'm deliberately seeking differing perspectives and narratives. If I want to read all about one person's experiences, I'll pick up a memoir. In the introduction, we hear that Laura Kate Dale received hundreds of submissions for this book, which begs the question of why she only decided to include 17 of them. I genuinely think it would have been a much better and more enlightening book if she'd had just the one essay in here and allowed space for other writers to tell their stories.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy her chapters in it, because I did; I just didn't think that the structure of this book worked particularly well. There were some real stand-out essays in here (Mia Violet's essay on being a bridesmaid was my favourite!) and I think they would have been given more of a chance to shine had they not all been so outnumbered by the editor. It felt like a missed opportunity for some more diverse narratives and writing styles to be included.
I'd love to see more books in this vein in the future, and I really do hope that this book reaches all the people who need it. I just wish it had been edited differently.
That said, I just don't understand why, as the editor of a purportedly diverse anthology, you would include 11 of your own essays, and 1 from your wife. There are 29 essays in here, and 12 of them - nearly half! - are either by the editor or her partner. That, to me, is incredibly poor editorial practice. It also absolutely means that the book suffers from a feeling of unevenness. If I read an anthology, as I very often do, I read it because I'm deliberately seeking differing perspectives and narratives. If I want to read all about one person's experiences, I'll pick up a memoir. In the introduction, we hear that Laura Kate Dale received hundreds of submissions for this book, which begs the question of why she only decided to include 17 of them. I genuinely think it would have been a much better and more enlightening book if she'd had just the one essay in here and allowed space for other writers to tell their stories.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy her chapters in it, because I did; I just didn't think that the structure of this book worked particularly well. There were some real stand-out essays in here (Mia Violet's essay on being a bridesmaid was my favourite!) and I think they would have been given more of a chance to shine had they not all been so outnumbered by the editor. It felt like a missed opportunity for some more diverse narratives and writing styles to be included.
I'd love to see more books in this vein in the future, and I really do hope that this book reaches all the people who need it. I just wish it had been edited differently.
January 3, 2023
the concept of this book is definitely a 5/5. so often works about trans folks are sad and distressing. i loved that this work focused on the feeling of gender euphoria and i enjoyed reading essays about these writers’ favourite moments in their transitions. one of my favourite essays was Yas Lime’s “The Myth of the Yak” as i found their words deeply relatable.
however, this book is only a 3/5 for me because of some structural issues. the editor writes in her introduction that she received hundreds of essays to be featured in this book, but 11/29 essays were written by her. i found that after a few her’s became rather redundant and i would’ve liked to see more diverse stories from the hundreds of writers who were not featured. to me, this book feels a bit more like a wrongly advertised memoir than an anthology.
i also noticed a few editing errors throughout the book. overall i was a little disappointed with the presentation of the book. stories like these ones are extremely important, i just wish they were treated with the same care so often given to other works that have been published.
however, this book is only a 3/5 for me because of some structural issues. the editor writes in her introduction that she received hundreds of essays to be featured in this book, but 11/29 essays were written by her. i found that after a few her’s became rather redundant and i would’ve liked to see more diverse stories from the hundreds of writers who were not featured. to me, this book feels a bit more like a wrongly advertised memoir than an anthology.
i also noticed a few editing errors throughout the book. overall i was a little disappointed with the presentation of the book. stories like these ones are extremely important, i just wish they were treated with the same care so often given to other works that have been published.
June 11, 2021
Today is my stop on the blogtour for 𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘙 𝘌𝘜𝘗𝘏𝘖𝘙𝘐𝘈 edited by Laura Kate Dale.
Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours and Unbound for having me along on the tour, and for sending me a copy of the book 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️💕
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𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦; 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.
𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 - 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵.
𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.
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I've said before that I think non-fiction books can often be a bit dry, and so can be harder to read than fiction, but that absolutely wasn't the case for Gender Euphoria.
The essays collected within this book are full of heart, emotion, love, and genuine joy.
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𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 - 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 ... 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.
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It was a real tonic to read the genuinely joyful stories within the pages of this collection.
Several times I found myself crying, not because of the hardships that the authors had faced (though of course they have all had hardships to deal with), but through the sheer vulnerability and emotion that they poured into their accounts, where they focussed on their moments of euphoria.
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𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.
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When I read Jane Aerith Magnet's story, her/their relief at finally feeling accepted at a Pride event, and being in an environment where they could relax just being who they are, felt palpable.
I felt the relief and pent up emotion coming through in their account.
If stories like this don't inspire empathy and understanding, I honestly don't know what will.
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𝘐 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 - 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺 ... 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.
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Some of the stories were genuinely funny in parts, and it was good to hear some of the writers finding some humour in the process of aligning to their gender identity.
Laura Kate Dale's account of crying at cynical advertising that pulled on the heartstrings made me smile - especially with being a HSP myself I can empathise with some of those overwhelming emotions that catch us off guard.
This also highlighted the fact that gender euphoria can occur in unexpected moments, and they aren't always just in the 'big' milestones or moments; rather gender euphoria can be experienced during seemingly innocuous moments in any given day.
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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵
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Some of the stories resonated with me more than others, but I loved that within this collection there is a real variety of representation.
This is not an essay collection that focuses on the trans experience through a singular lens; it is truly intersectional, and diverse, and spectacular for that very reason.
It spans a whole plethora of faiths, religions, backgrounds, upbringings, abilities and lifestyles. But it isn't what separates people that is most noteworthy, it is what people have in common.
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𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪����𝘨𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴.
𝘌𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰-𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘦.
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(Continued in comments)
Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours and Unbound for having me along on the tour, and for sending me a copy of the book 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️💕
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𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦; 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.
𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 - 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵.
𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.
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I've said before that I think non-fiction books can often be a bit dry, and so can be harder to read than fiction, but that absolutely wasn't the case for Gender Euphoria.
The essays collected within this book are full of heart, emotion, love, and genuine joy.
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𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 - 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 ... 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.
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It was a real tonic to read the genuinely joyful stories within the pages of this collection.
Several times I found myself crying, not because of the hardships that the authors had faced (though of course they have all had hardships to deal with), but through the sheer vulnerability and emotion that they poured into their accounts, where they focussed on their moments of euphoria.
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𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.
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When I read Jane Aerith Magnet's story, her/their relief at finally feeling accepted at a Pride event, and being in an environment where they could relax just being who they are, felt palpable.
I felt the relief and pent up emotion coming through in their account.
If stories like this don't inspire empathy and understanding, I honestly don't know what will.
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𝘐 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 - 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺 ... 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.
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Some of the stories were genuinely funny in parts, and it was good to hear some of the writers finding some humour in the process of aligning to their gender identity.
Laura Kate Dale's account of crying at cynical advertising that pulled on the heartstrings made me smile - especially with being a HSP myself I can empathise with some of those overwhelming emotions that catch us off guard.
This also highlighted the fact that gender euphoria can occur in unexpected moments, and they aren't always just in the 'big' milestones or moments; rather gender euphoria can be experienced during seemingly innocuous moments in any given day.
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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵
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Some of the stories resonated with me more than others, but I loved that within this collection there is a real variety of representation.
This is not an essay collection that focuses on the trans experience through a singular lens; it is truly intersectional, and diverse, and spectacular for that very reason.
It spans a whole plethora of faiths, religions, backgrounds, upbringings, abilities and lifestyles. But it isn't what separates people that is most noteworthy, it is what people have in common.
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𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪����𝘨𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴.
𝘌𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰-𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘦.
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(Continued in comments)
May 1, 2022
Um livro sobre momentos positivos e de euforia relacionados a genero com textos de varias pessoas trans e nao binaries. Uma leitura muito interessante e até meio quentinho no coraçao de ler
December 10, 2021
Gender Euphoria does some things very well, but felt generally underwhelming. Let me explain: I was happy to see a collection of essays on this theme, because from what I can see, especially younger parts of trans* communities often focus on the downsides and suffering of being trans. Entirely understandable, of course, but it's all the more important to talk about the flip side. The direction and presence of this book is both welcome and refreshing.
In some ways, the book also does diversity well: Trans men are represented to a surprising degree, given their frequent absence in other publications. Parenting and pregnancy, autism, gay and lesbian relationships, de- and retransitioning, non-binary and intersex experiences, body hair, haircuts, tattoos and clothes (from bridesmaid dresses to wedding suits to all the things punk), and of course sex and kink.
No one book can do all possible ways of diversity justice, of course. For example, people from outside the UK/US/Australia are only represented in two essays, from Brazil and Sri Lanka, which, I think, is perfectly. fine. What's less fine is that a whopping eleven out of twenty-nine essays are by the editor, Laura Kate Dale, plus one by her wife. Considering that "every author hand-picked to contribute an essay to this anthology was selected above hundreds of other writers", it would have been a much better idea to give more voice to other experiences – especially since I found the editor's essays some of the least interesting in the book.
YMMV on that part, of course, but editing an anthology is different from padding your essay collection with some other authors. There were, after all, so many degrees of diversity left: I'd have loved to see more authors from different countries, or different ages (I think the oldest author was around 40), different class backgrounds and jobs (transitioning must be different in a construction crew compared to a C-level executive), or as an athlete, and so on.
In some ways, the book also does diversity well: Trans men are represented to a surprising degree, given their frequent absence in other publications. Parenting and pregnancy, autism, gay and lesbian relationships, de- and retransitioning, non-binary and intersex experiences, body hair, haircuts, tattoos and clothes (from bridesmaid dresses to wedding suits to all the things punk), and of course sex and kink.
No one book can do all possible ways of diversity justice, of course. For example, people from outside the UK/US/Australia are only represented in two essays, from Brazil and Sri Lanka, which, I think, is perfectly. fine. What's less fine is that a whopping eleven out of twenty-nine essays are by the editor, Laura Kate Dale, plus one by her wife. Considering that "every author hand-picked to contribute an essay to this anthology was selected above hundreds of other writers", it would have been a much better idea to give more voice to other experiences – especially since I found the editor's essays some of the least interesting in the book.
YMMV on that part, of course, but editing an anthology is different from padding your essay collection with some other authors. There were, after all, so many degrees of diversity left: I'd have loved to see more authors from different countries, or different ages (I think the oldest author was around 40), different class backgrounds and jobs (transitioning must be different in a construction crew compared to a C-level executive), or as an athlete, and so on.
June 15, 2021
MY TOUGHTS. Well this was a book I would never pick up in a book in a book shop. The main reason being where it would probably be shelved. So when the chance to go on this tour curiosity got the better of me. One main reason was because I know the author Roz White who is a trans woman; and apart knowing her as a person I know nothing of transgender people. So I opened this book with some trepidation, not knowing what to expect and would I have some hidden prejudices. But I was presently surprised by what I read. The fight they face to identify with the gender they feel comfortable with and not what they were assigned at birth.They face the fear of coming out to family and friends and how these may react to the news. Also they face prejudice from work colleagues and religious leaders. For many transgender or non-binary people the path is easier than others; eg. the so called liberal west. In many places and counties the way of life and religion make the journey harder to navigate. Many feel euphoria when they make the change to the gender they feel comfortable with and when they are addressed by parents and friends by their new name and chosen sex.Thanks to Laura for editing this book and to all the contributors for their stories. I feel this book was humorous, tragic, life affirming in turns. But above all it is Educational. Another reason I wanted to read this book is because I have a nephew who is transitioning and I feel that this will be good resource for him.
August 6, 2021
I liked a lot of the essays, but unfortunately, a lot of the essays by the main author (Laura Kate Dale) dragged on for me. And I won't lie - I was kind of frustrated that in the intro she mentioned that there were so many submissions she had to cut for this book meanwhile she wrote 11 out of 29 essays herself :( I would have rather had more of a compilation so we could get more varied perspectives!
June 14, 2021
So I absolutely loved reading this book!
Thank you to the publisher (Unbound) for sending me a review copy.
The essays all focus on what the title says — gender euphoria — but the range of experiences, authors and identities is vast, from a Sri Lankan disabled trans man to a Welsh agender sex worker. The editor, Laura Kate Dale, has a few essays in here too, something which I might ordinarily grumble about (I like my essay collections even) but I loved all of her stories so I’ve got no complaints there.
I’m not transgender but I am queer, and reading this book was such an affirming, wonderful experience I hope everyone, cis or trans, gets to enjoy. It made me realise how often the trans stories (as well as queer stories more widely) have something horrible happen in them, which may sadly be realistic but also paints a rather gloomy view of life. This book is the perfect antidote to that.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Now all I’ve got to do is decide how I can share this with as many people as possible, as I’m quite keen to hold on to my copy… Looks like I will be borrowing this one to any and all friends who would like to read this!
Thank you to the publisher (Unbound) for sending me a review copy.
The essays all focus on what the title says — gender euphoria — but the range of experiences, authors and identities is vast, from a Sri Lankan disabled trans man to a Welsh agender sex worker. The editor, Laura Kate Dale, has a few essays in here too, something which I might ordinarily grumble about (I like my essay collections even) but I loved all of her stories so I’ve got no complaints there.
I’m not transgender but I am queer, and reading this book was such an affirming, wonderful experience I hope everyone, cis or trans, gets to enjoy. It made me realise how often the trans stories (as well as queer stories more widely) have something horrible happen in them, which may sadly be realistic but also paints a rather gloomy view of life. This book is the perfect antidote to that.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Now all I’ve got to do is decide how I can share this with as many people as possible, as I’m quite keen to hold on to my copy… Looks like I will be borrowing this one to any and all friends who would like to read this!
April 3, 2024
Delightful 🏳️⚧️
In a sea of books about dysphoria and transphobia, with a weirdly growing third category of cringy trans-themed self-help books, this is a breath of fresh air.
There’s not really an overarching structure, it’s just a collection of stories of transgender euphoria, so I devoured the chapters that jumped out to me the most and then slowly got through the rest (some of my favourites were: Gender affirmation through girly sleepovers, Reflections: a bridesmaid on beauty and letting go, The first signs hormones were working for me, The tipping point: getting gendered correctly without making an effort, and Drunken compliments and body positivity in the club).
It’s not all euphoria, a lot of the authors discuss some pretty deep trauma, but only so much as is needed to explain the good stuff. It’s awful that even in this space that is explicitly about the happy side of being trans, there’s still a lot of pain, but you can’t always tell the story properly without it. And it’ll unfortunately continue to be a big part of the stories we tell until we get through this latest wave of phantasmic trans panic.
But it’s so important to highlight positive trans experiences because even though it’s the dysphoria that seems to help cis folks understand our whole deal and toss us a couple of rights here and there, the euphoria can be just as important if not more so to help transgender people figure themselves out. You don’t always realize the Mental Health™ you’ve always had is dysphoria until you get a taste of being gendered correctly. Insert joke about fish asking how the water is here.
The main criticisms I have for the book are 1) that not all the stories are stupendous (I’d say they range from 3-5 stars) and the writing style varies wildly from chapter to chapter (but that’s kind of the point of the book, so it’s also a strength). And 2) that it’s very trans femme focused, I think only like 1/3 of the book is any other identity, but that makes it all the more relevant to me so I ain’t taking marks off my review for that lol
Also, I loooove the cover so much. It’s the most aggressively trans design I’ve ever seen and it’s so pretty and I love it 🩷🩵🤍
Thanks to my incredible fiancée for getting me this, love you 💕
In a sea of books about dysphoria and transphobia, with a weirdly growing third category of cringy trans-themed self-help books, this is a breath of fresh air.
There’s not really an overarching structure, it’s just a collection of stories of transgender euphoria, so I devoured the chapters that jumped out to me the most and then slowly got through the rest (some of my favourites were: Gender affirmation through girly sleepovers, Reflections: a bridesmaid on beauty and letting go, The first signs hormones were working for me, The tipping point: getting gendered correctly without making an effort, and Drunken compliments and body positivity in the club).
It’s not all euphoria, a lot of the authors discuss some pretty deep trauma, but only so much as is needed to explain the good stuff. It’s awful that even in this space that is explicitly about the happy side of being trans, there’s still a lot of pain, but you can’t always tell the story properly without it. And it’ll unfortunately continue to be a big part of the stories we tell until we get through this latest wave of phantasmic trans panic.
But it’s so important to highlight positive trans experiences because even though it’s the dysphoria that seems to help cis folks understand our whole deal and toss us a couple of rights here and there, the euphoria can be just as important if not more so to help transgender people figure themselves out. You don’t always realize the Mental Health™ you’ve always had is dysphoria until you get a taste of being gendered correctly. Insert joke about fish asking how the water is here.
The main criticisms I have for the book are 1) that not all the stories are stupendous (I’d say they range from 3-5 stars) and the writing style varies wildly from chapter to chapter (but that’s kind of the point of the book, so it’s also a strength). And 2) that it’s very trans femme focused, I think only like 1/3 of the book is any other identity, but that makes it all the more relevant to me so I ain’t taking marks off my review for that lol
Also, I loooove the cover so much. It’s the most aggressively trans design I’ve ever seen and it’s so pretty and I love it 🩷🩵🤍
Thanks to my incredible fiancée for getting me this, love you 💕
July 31, 2024
What an uplifting and inspiring series of stories! My only complaint is that I would have liked more variety in the authors rather than seeing the same ones repeated multiple times.
September 16, 2021
This collection is such a wonderful antidote to the negative media narratives that circulate about trans people, and to the many important but painful stories shared by trans people about gender dysphoria. In this beautiful, crowdfunded anthology, trans, non-binary and intersex writers share deeply personal stories about moments of joy and gender euphoria directly related to coming out as non-cisgender. This is a generous, honest and moving collection of insights into the joy of living out your gender identity authentically and unapologetically, which has much to offer to cis and trans readers alike. Yes yes yes get a copy
May 28, 2023
Like a lot of the other reviews, I agree that there could have been a better balance between other essays and those written by Laura Kate Dale (the editor). 11 out of 29 were written by Laura, which was practically every other essay. Given the amount of people who submitted to be featured and weren’t included, I think less essays by Laura would have been better. Especially so since the other essays often offered more unique and diverse perspectives. My favourite was written by Mari Wrobi which shared life as an intersex non-binary person. Would still recommend reading this collection though as it’s a great starting point for learning more on trans experiences!
October 27, 2021
This is a wonderful idea for an essay collection but the execution is middling. I loved reading essays about trans joy and it's a severely underrepresented topic. However, of the 29 essays, 11 were by the editor and one was by the editor's partner. This limited the collection a lot because it could've really been elevated by more diverse perspectives. There's so many people out there who deserve to have their voice heard.
My favourite essay was Mari Wrobi's. I even showed it to my mother because I knew she'd find it super interested too.
My favourite essay was Mari Wrobi's. I even showed it to my mother because I knew she'd find it super interested too.
February 17, 2022
this is a really lovely and hopeful book that brought up thing i haven’t thought about nor do trans people ever have the opportunity to voice. i really loved it.
the only gripe i have is that the editor claims she had “hundreds” of submissions from people - and yet 11 of the 29 stories in this book were her own. every second chapter was her story. i fail to see how she couldn’t have lessened her own number of chapters to give to other people, especially with the number of essay submissions she had. that’s the only gripe i have.
the only gripe i have is that the editor claims she had “hundreds” of submissions from people - and yet 11 of the 29 stories in this book were her own. every second chapter was her story. i fail to see how she couldn’t have lessened her own number of chapters to give to other people, especially with the number of essay submissions she had. that’s the only gripe i have.
August 7, 2023
I understand where some of the complaints about this book are coming from. Certainly we need more stories from an abundance of perspectives, especially non-white, non-English ones.
However, I haven't had a chance to read any of the author's thoughts on gender euphoria itself, which isn't the focus of her other works, so I found a lot in there to be universally relatable.
There is also, frankly, a lot of trans writing out there that is inaccessible unless you are also deeply embedded and well-read in some intersecting ideologies, and I found it refreshing, here, to have a mixture of simple and complex euphorias to maximise both relatability and curiosity.
The chapters on sex, tattoos and video games really stood out to me as relatable, while other essays on faith and parenting gave me a desire to dig deeper into the way those massive topics intersect with our ability to feel euphoric in our selves and our lives.
As a trans person I am just immensely grateful that this book exists and rather than lambast the editor for choices made in this edition, I instead look forward to more anthologies by this author and other authors that will certainly open the gates wider to more diverse experiences within the trans, non-binary and agender bracket.
However, I haven't had a chance to read any of the author's thoughts on gender euphoria itself, which isn't the focus of her other works, so I found a lot in there to be universally relatable.
There is also, frankly, a lot of trans writing out there that is inaccessible unless you are also deeply embedded and well-read in some intersecting ideologies, and I found it refreshing, here, to have a mixture of simple and complex euphorias to maximise both relatability and curiosity.
The chapters on sex, tattoos and video games really stood out to me as relatable, while other essays on faith and parenting gave me a desire to dig deeper into the way those massive topics intersect with our ability to feel euphoric in our selves and our lives.
As a trans person I am just immensely grateful that this book exists and rather than lambast the editor for choices made in this edition, I instead look forward to more anthologies by this author and other authors that will certainly open the gates wider to more diverse experiences within the trans, non-binary and agender bracket.
July 25, 2022
My enjoyment is more of a 3/5 stars but the importance and impact this book has is definitely a 5/5. So let’s compromise on 4 stars.
Overall, the book was great. Fantastic variety and representation and it tells exactly what it’s supposed to tell; moments of gender euphoria.
I personally am not a big nonfiction reader (I like listening to nonfiction) so this was harder for me to really get into. On top of that, short stories are not my favorite either. I find myself really liking the stories of Laura because there were so many of them, but the single additions and stories did not hit home to me. Were they good stories? Yes. Were they satisfying enough? No. That’s where I got bored.
Definitely highly recommend, especially for readers without a lot of experience of people who are trans or nonbinary.
Overall, the book was great. Fantastic variety and representation and it tells exactly what it’s supposed to tell; moments of gender euphoria.
I personally am not a big nonfiction reader (I like listening to nonfiction) so this was harder for me to really get into. On top of that, short stories are not my favorite either. I find myself really liking the stories of Laura because there were so many of them, but the single additions and stories did not hit home to me. Were they good stories? Yes. Were they satisfying enough? No. That’s where I got bored.
Definitely highly recommend, especially for readers without a lot of experience of people who are trans or nonbinary.
June 25, 2022
I own this book.
I grabbed this book from my university's read one, leave one, take one shelf and I do not regret it. This book is filled with essays from several creators chatting about their experiences with gender and gender identity. As a cis-gendered person, I have often only heard of stories about dysphoria and the harrowing experiences many face when coming out publically. While this book recognises that many of these authors have faced negative experiences in their journeys, it talks about the euphoria in day-to-day life in living their authentic lives and the moments that validated their experiences. This book is wonderfully diverse and incredibly informative. I'm glad I read it.
I grabbed this book from my university's read one, leave one, take one shelf and I do not regret it. This book is filled with essays from several creators chatting about their experiences with gender and gender identity. As a cis-gendered person, I have often only heard of stories about dysphoria and the harrowing experiences many face when coming out publically. While this book recognises that many of these authors have faced negative experiences in their journeys, it talks about the euphoria in day-to-day life in living their authentic lives and the moments that validated their experiences. This book is wonderfully diverse and incredibly informative. I'm glad I read it.
November 1, 2022
A diverse and eye-opening collection of something that always is lacking from dominant narratives around trans people: how utterly liberating and beautiful the experience can be. If anything, people should read this book to show that it would be a crime not to let trans people feel comfortable in their own bodies and gender identities.
January 23, 2022
A nice collection of moments of trans joy.
August 1, 2022
De verdad quería que me gustara. Lamentablemente terminó siendo una colección de ensayos un tanto decepcionante.
Reconozco y aprecio que logra exponer las experiencias de una gran diversidad de personas trans, es interesante e importante leer acerca de la variedad de identidades que componen el espectro trans-nobinario. Pero esta misma diversidad (que se supone es parte esencial de la recopilación, la editora incluso se dió el espacio para explicar que los ensayos escogidos fueron seleccionados de entre cientos de postulaciones) se ve frustrada porque la editora, Laura Kate, es la autora de 11 de 29 ensayos... ¿realmente valía la pena poner esos 11 textos en lugar de darle espacio a más voces?...
En fin, le doy 3 estrellas porque creo que es importante que autores trans tengan el espacio para expresar la experiencia que les ha tocado vivir, especialmente cuando se ve la identidad trans desde lo positivo, desde la euforia, para así ir construyendo un nuevo entendimiento, porque ser trans no es malo.
Tristemente, creo que en cuanto a la calidad de relatos hay algunos que se caen. La recurrencia de textos escritos por Laura me terminó por frustrar y ya después de su quinto (“The Tipping Point: Getting Correctly Gendered Without Making an Effort”) dejé de leerlos para poder abordar con mayor tiempo y atención a la variedad de autores. De todas formas el formato simple y corto que tiene cada ensayo hace que su lectura sea como estar leyendo una carta de un amigue que no te habla desde hace mucho. Hay cierta familiaridad, vulnerabilidad, un sentimiento de cercanía en cada uno de los textos.
Reconozco y aprecio que logra exponer las experiencias de una gran diversidad de personas trans, es interesante e importante leer acerca de la variedad de identidades que componen el espectro trans-nobinario. Pero esta misma diversidad (que se supone es parte esencial de la recopilación, la editora incluso se dió el espacio para explicar que los ensayos escogidos fueron seleccionados de entre cientos de postulaciones) se ve frustrada porque la editora, Laura Kate, es la autora de 11 de 29 ensayos... ¿realmente valía la pena poner esos 11 textos en lugar de darle espacio a más voces?...
En fin, le doy 3 estrellas porque creo que es importante que autores trans tengan el espacio para expresar la experiencia que les ha tocado vivir, especialmente cuando se ve la identidad trans desde lo positivo, desde la euforia, para así ir construyendo un nuevo entendimiento, porque ser trans no es malo.
Tristemente, creo que en cuanto a la calidad de relatos hay algunos que se caen. La recurrencia de textos escritos por Laura me terminó por frustrar y ya después de su quinto (“The Tipping Point: Getting Correctly Gendered Without Making an Effort”) dejé de leerlos para poder abordar con mayor tiempo y atención a la variedad de autores. De todas formas el formato simple y corto que tiene cada ensayo hace que su lectura sea como estar leyendo una carta de un amigue que no te habla desde hace mucho. Hay cierta familiaridad, vulnerabilidad, un sentimiento de cercanía en cada uno de los textos.
June 8, 2022
There are so many books in our community about the pain of gender *dysphoria*; it's lovely to for once see a set of essays celebrating moments of gender joy. I appreciated the wide range of stories and writing styles, but two pieces resonated particularly strongly with me, both for their writing and their content: Samara-Jade Sendek's "Adrenaline Fix: Turning Masculine Pursuits into Feminine Identity" and Katherine Cross' "The Radical Vulnerability of Trans Sex."
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August 8, 2024due to the nature of the book i don't feel like its appropriate to assign a star based rating to it, i would like, however, to share a few of my thoughts about it.
firstly, i found multiple stories contained in this anthology (mainly the ones towards the end of the book) to be very interesting and engaging, with the idea behind its overall creation being interesting and undoubtedly necessary. with this said, i found most of the stories to be extremely green, mainly regarding the writing style (i don't feel its my place to talk on the contents), to the point where i debated whether to dnf the book (tho i'm glad i didn't since the most interesting and well written stories were just around the corner).
as many others have said, i also found the quantity of the stories written by the editor a little redundant, though i can understand the thoughts process behind such decision.
all in all i would recommend this book purely for what it offers - stories about gender euphoria - though with a little bit more editing it would've been a more enjoyable read for me.
firstly, i found multiple stories contained in this anthology (mainly the ones towards the end of the book) to be very interesting and engaging, with the idea behind its overall creation being interesting and undoubtedly necessary. with this said, i found most of the stories to be extremely green, mainly regarding the writing style (i don't feel its my place to talk on the contents), to the point where i debated whether to dnf the book (tho i'm glad i didn't since the most interesting and well written stories were just around the corner).
as many others have said, i also found the quantity of the stories written by the editor a little redundant, though i can understand the thoughts process behind such decision.
all in all i would recommend this book purely for what it offers - stories about gender euphoria - though with a little bit more editing it would've been a more enjoyable read for me.
January 16, 2022
Osui ja upposi, tietty. Virkistävää ja ehdottoman tärkeetä saada lukea transtarinoita euforian kautta. Hymyilytti.
<3 <3 <3 <3
Pidin hieman outona, että kirjan ~kolmestakymmenestä tekstistä melkein puolet olivat toimittajan omia, kun niitä esipuheen mukaan lähetettiin hänelle satoja. Se hänelle sallittakoon, tietenkin, ja fiilistelin kyllä kaikkea lukemaani. Dale on taitava kirjoittaja. Kuvittelisi kuitenkin, että haluttaisiin nostaa niin monta ääntä kuin suinkin kansiin mahtuu. Joka tapauksessa kolahteli kyllä aivan vitusti.
<3 <3 <3 <3
Oma euforiahetki: Kun sain taisteltua ensimmäisen binderini päälle ja toljotin itseäni peilistä ihan pöljänä ja itkuisena. Että tolta mun kuuluu näyttää.
<3 <3 <3 <3
Pidin hieman outona, että kirjan ~kolmestakymmenestä tekstistä melkein puolet olivat toimittajan omia, kun niitä esipuheen mukaan lähetettiin hänelle satoja. Se hänelle sallittakoon, tietenkin, ja fiilistelin kyllä kaikkea lukemaani. Dale on taitava kirjoittaja. Kuvittelisi kuitenkin, että haluttaisiin nostaa niin monta ääntä kuin suinkin kansiin mahtuu. Joka tapauksessa kolahteli kyllä aivan vitusti.
<3 <3 <3 <3
Oma euforiahetki: Kun sain taisteltua ensimmäisen binderini päälle ja toljotin itseäni peilistä ihan pöljänä ja itkuisena. Että tolta mun kuuluu näyttää.
July 25, 2022
i loved this book, made me feel and think and excited for things to come
i also kind of want to lend it to everyone i know just so they could find a part of themselves in it too but also understand parts i could deeply relate to as well
kinda horrible at writing this review, i actually even had dreams about it all after reading
my only caveat is that i kind of wish there were less excerpts from the editor and more of other people, it just felt a bit unfair
i also kind of want to lend it to everyone i know just so they could find a part of themselves in it too but also understand parts i could deeply relate to as well
kinda horrible at writing this review, i actually even had dreams about it all after reading
my only caveat is that i kind of wish there were less excerpts from the editor and more of other people, it just felt a bit unfair
March 21, 2024
I ran out of time on my library loan on this one and had to return it before I finished the last few essays.
Really liked the concept of this book, featuring essays highlighting positive stories of trans and nb experiences, but in practice the delivery was a little repetitive. A large number of the essays were written by the editor.
Really liked the concept of this book, featuring essays highlighting positive stories of trans and nb experiences, but in practice the delivery was a little repetitive. A large number of the essays were written by the editor.
December 28, 2021
3.5
Oh how these experiences resonate w me! Dysphoria usually takes front and center in discourse around gender identity but stories highlighting euphoria was such a breath of fresh air <3
Oh how these experiences resonate w me! Dysphoria usually takes front and center in discourse around gender identity but stories highlighting euphoria was such a breath of fresh air <3
September 1, 2024
beautiful book. i find myself coming back to it when im at my lowest, and it helps me to feel a bit more hopeful :)
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