★★★★★ 5
this is the book you’re looking for
Format: Paperback
I’d just finished reading Jules Gil-Peterson’s A Short History and felt a little unsatisfied and uncomfortable with all the orientialism. I picked this up and was immediately sure I had the antidote.
Bhatt is clear, direct, and uncompromising. She avoids filler and gets right to the heart of things—“how is this not like blackface?” gets dealt with more thoroughly and decisively than I have ever seen it within the first few pages. She reveals the transmisogyny lurking in even nominally queer social and intellectual movements, and also finds pockets of beautiful solidarity and common ground in some surprising places. Above all, her love for women shines through every word.
This book cleared up some misconceptions I had, made me cry, and will make me a better partner and comrade to trans women. Buy it.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2025
