Welcome to another LGBTQ book review! All reviews touch on genre/plot, tropes (if any), quality of LGBTQ content, and avoid most spoilers. Catch up on my last book review of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner. You can find all LGBTQ book reviews here.

Inverse Cowgirl: LGBTQIA Book Overview

Genre/Plot

This memoir recounts the life of intersex activist, Alicia Roth Weigel. The chapters touch on different aspects of her life, ranging from her Ivy League education to her tendency to saddle up with several hot musicians.

Characters/Relationships

Weigel’s bold personality flies off the page! To the point, Weigel is an intersex woman. She discusses feeling queer, but not queer enough to fit in. She talks about fitting in with cisgender, heterosexual women at times, but not enough to be boxed in there. Inverse Cowgirl is, above all, a story about transcending boxes.

LGBTQIA content assessment

This is an extremely necessary read for anyone in the queer community and allies and advocates of the community. I’ll admit that I have not given much thought or energy to the I (intersex) in LGBTQIA, likely for lack of visibility. But after reading this book, it is very easy for me to see how vital the intersex community is as part of our whole queer community. If you’re a non-intersex person in the LGBTQ community, this book is a great way to begin your engagement with the intersex community and gain empathy and understanding of their unique (but similar) challenges.

Inverse Cowgirl: Some spoilers

Again, Inverse Cowgirl is a necessary read for those unfamiliar with the intersex community. Weigel’s memoir shares a full picture of how one intersex person navigates life. Much of what happens throughout Weigel’s book demonstrates the subtle undercurrent of a life impacted by being intersex. She studies at an Ivy-League school, she parties with drugs, she travels the globe (and chases hot men from one destination to the next), she manages political campaigns and aids women’s rights efforts, she sleeps with unnamed famous musicians (not Bad Bunny though), she becomes a visible intersex activist.

All this to say, she lives her life. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with being intersex, sometimes it does. Sometimes, growing up intersex will play backdrop to a life in a way that may not ever be fully understood, much like growing up any letter from the LGBTQIA acronym might.

Weigel is a talented and hilarious writer, and I enjoyed this memoir to the very last sentence. Bonus points for using a fun structure (each chapter is dedicated to a different tattoo she has). Would recommend, would read again. 5/5.

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