Intersex by Thea Hillman
This reviewed was originally posted on Goodreads
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thea Hillman’s book is thoroughly beautiful, written in a way that makes you feel like you’re her one and only confidant, not just a reader. The book is structured as a series of short essays, some of which are obviously based on talks she has given in her career as an activist, performer, public speaker, and educator.
I think a bigger, more mainstream publisher (the book is published by Manic D Press) would have really pushed Thea to stick more strictly to the theme of growing up and coping as intersex. As the book it is, it’s a slightly messy piece of writing about the intersections of class, gender, biological sex, sexual orientation, desire, and the anxieties of self. That complexity is interesting and wonderful – I don’t really see how it would be possible for her to write her story along one of those lines without the others. That said, I personally would’ve given the book a different title. Thea’s struggle with being intersex is a core theme of the book, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s what the book is *about*.
View all my reviews on Goodreads.
March 31, 2009
