I think this book is important because I have never heard from an intersex person’s point of view, and I think that probably applies to most people. All the conversations that are happening around trans, non-binary people and the policies that are being enacted, really aren’t including intersex peoples. (she never heard the term intersex until she was 27!) The amount of shame and secrecy that surround intersex people is made clear through this memoir.

I read through some of the other reviews and many people complained about the memoir being like a resume. Fair enough, but she is an activist so her memoir will include many of those jobs and that journey. But I understand “politics” isn’t always people’s favorite thing but I found it interesting and her very existence is political, so to not expect some of that would be short-sighted. I also saw some saying she was “braggy”. I have issue with this because for some reason when confident, accomplished women talk about those accomplishments it is viewed negatively. And that criticism often comes from other women. She was slut shamed starting at a young age, which she talks about. Reclaiming her own sexuality without shame, as an intersex person, is a pretty big idea of this book. It did not come off as braggy to me, she even comments on the hypocrisy of her sexual shaming and how if it was a man, he would not experience the same shame. So as someone who from birth, was treated as a secret to be kept and something to be shamed about, becomes confident enough to tell her story gets called “braggy”. Big ick.