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Double Edge: The Intersections of Transgender and BDSM
Double-Edge: The Intersection of Transgender and BDSM is a smart book that tackles difficult, fascinating, controversial subjects with panache and compassion. It's the latest public service from the fierce and tender pagan priest, activist, farmer, community organizer, oracle, nightmare of those devoted to normal and ordinary, and all-around role-model Raven Kaldera, whose complex identity gives him a rather comprehensive perspective on the topics of kinky sex, alternative relationships, and gender variance.
278 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2010
2 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Raven Kaldera
89 books107 followersA female-to-male transgendered activist and shaman, Raven Kaldera is a pagan priest, intersex transgender activist, parent, astrologer, musician and homesteader. Kaldera is also the author of "Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook" from XLibris Press. The founder and leader of the Pagan Kingdom of Asphodel and the Asphodel Pagan Choir, Kaldera has been a neo-pagan since the age of 14, when he was converted by a "fam-trad" teen on a date. Since then, he's been through half a dozen traditions, including Gardnerian, Dianic, granola paganism, Umbanda, Heithnir, and the Peasant Tradition. He is currently happily married to artist and eco-experimentalist Bella Kaldera, with whom he co-founded the Institute for Heritage Skills.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 30, 2013
While this book delivers on content, documenting compelling personal experiences from a broad range of individuals, it fails to establish a sense of direction that might give greater meaning to those experiences.
What this book is—and I feel it succeeds in this sense—is a broad, open-minded survey of a number of people who identify as some variety of "transgender" (and let us not, please, embark here upon that feckless debate as to what that word means). Each of these people has a unique and interesting story about their gender identity and how that has impacted their means of sexual expressions, and these stories are presented respectfully and objectively, most often in the person's own words. While BDSM is obviously a significant theme of the book, by no means is it the (pun intended) dominant one. If your only goal is to learn about some of the experiences of people who face challenges deeply fundamental to their sense of self, this book absolutely delivers.
What this book is not, to my disappointment, is an attempt to bring coherency to this breadth of opinions and experiences. The book is largely an information dump; interesting information, to be sure, but without a structure to all that information to transcend into some meaningful learning. There's little sense of actionability towards some problem, or even a strong sense of identifying a problem at all; and while there's certainly nothing wrong with this degree of objectivity, it does keep the book from establishing any philosophical stance and, by extension, a greater sense of purpose.
What this book is—and I feel it succeeds in this sense—is a broad, open-minded survey of a number of people who identify as some variety of "transgender" (and let us not, please, embark here upon that feckless debate as to what that word means). Each of these people has a unique and interesting story about their gender identity and how that has impacted their means of sexual expressions, and these stories are presented respectfully and objectively, most often in the person's own words. While BDSM is obviously a significant theme of the book, by no means is it the (pun intended) dominant one. If your only goal is to learn about some of the experiences of people who face challenges deeply fundamental to their sense of self, this book absolutely delivers.
What this book is not, to my disappointment, is an attempt to bring coherency to this breadth of opinions and experiences. The book is largely an information dump; interesting information, to be sure, but without a structure to all that information to transcend into some meaningful learning. There's little sense of actionability towards some problem, or even a strong sense of identifying a problem at all; and while there's certainly nothing wrong with this degree of objectivity, it does keep the book from establishing any philosophical stance and, by extension, a greater sense of purpose.
September 27, 2023
The topic is really interesting but I felt like the book was structured in a way that made it a bit of a chore to read. There pretty much is no overarching structure to it, it’s just a collection of interviews with various trans people who do bdsm, and after two months of picking away at the book I’ve decided to leave it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews