(I don’t know why the first page is sideways, but the rest is fine)

This book came out the same time I did. I can still remember the feeling of being outside in makeup for the first time (not counting my emo years in high school) so I could pick it up at the book store. The lady at the counter gave me a pin to go with it, and offered to help me put it on my jacket.

In I’m Afraid of Men Vivek Shraya explores the countless microagressions that form our conception of masculinity, and the way that her relation to her body was shaped not only by queerphobia, but by the racism that demands a white european model of beauty