[andrei_says_]

Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski. It is sold as a book about human sexuality, with a somewhat click-baity subtitle, but turned out to be a beautifully compassionate invitation to self-acceptance and kindness in the context of sexuality, trauma, relationships.

It has some of the best-written (no-fluff, non-patronizing, direct-while-gentle-and-kind) description of trauma and dealing with trauma of all kinds.

One of the life-changing premises for me (paraphrased): 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 women have had trauma-inducing experiences, from sexual coercion to assault to rape. While only 5% of the population acts as (mostly male) perpetrators, there are all these other (also majority male) partners who live with the women carrying the trauma and dealing with it. Doing this without any kind of understanding or education is very difficult, and even a small amount of understanding goes a long way.