Review: Gender Euphoria, Edited by Laura Kate Dale

● This ground-breaking anthology brings together an eclectic cohort of trans, nonbinary, agender, gender-fluid and intersex contributors to share their experiences of “gender euphoria” – bringing stories of joy, belonging and positivity to the conversation around transition
● Moments of gender euphoria include an agender dominatrix being called
‘Daddy’, an Arab trans man getting his first tattoos, and a trans woman
embracing her inner fighter
● Gender Euphoria reached its funding target in less than a week, and has over 1,000 backers

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.

Gender Euphoria seeks to show the world the sheer variety of ways that being non cisgender can be a beautiful, joyful experience. What each of the book’s essayists 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 brought unimaginable joy into their lives.

My Review

Thanks to Anne Cater for organising this blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Wow!

I found this book extremely moving. I cried a few times reading about people’s experiences. There were chapters that really resonated with me and I found it helped me deal with some personal issues by reading of other’s experiences.

I enjoyed this book, for all that.

The individual chapters cover a variety of circumstances and life events, most of the writers are fairly young so they have a lot of time ahead of them to settle into themselves. The writing is very good, very professional. It is highly emotive and deeply honest writing.

I don’t know what else to write, I don’t need a lot of words to say this is a fabulous insight into the lives of trans, non-binary and intersex people, and a helpful antidote to the usual narratives of misery that is often pushed.

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About the Editor

Laura Kate Dale is a full-time video game critic, video creator, podcaster and author. Her first book was Uncomfortable Labels, a memoir about growing up at the intersection of being a member of the LGBT community and living with autism, and she writes regularly on the theme of transgender rights and experience. She can be found tweeting at @LaurakBuzz, where she has over 53k followers.

[Rosie’s note: gods, I wish people would stop saying autistic people ‘live with autism’ – autism isn’t an unruly roommate, it’s literally how our brains are made!]