A bold and provocative book centering the voices of trans women and femmes in the pursuit of pleasure and gender liberation.
What are the possibilities of pleasure when we stop labeling our desires? In Trans Pleasure, Brandon Andrew Robinson answers this seductive question by exploring the sex lives of trans women and femmes.
Centering the voices of trans women and femmes through in-depth interviews, Trans Pleasure takes us to the bedroom, to restaurants, to dating apps, and to other spaces that comprise the everyday dating experiences of trans people. Through this erotic journey, Robinson reveals how dominant understandings of sexual identities—which center desires around gender and genitals—harm trans people. They also limit how everyone can love and feel pleasure.
In shifting the focus to comfort and to trans for trans relations, this frank and ambitious book expands our thinking about love, gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire. With this bold exploration of trans pleasure, Robinson makes the provocative claim that discarding sexual identities is the path to gender liberation and true erotic freedom.
Brandon Andrew Robinson is Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, author of Coming Out to the Streets, and coauthor of Race and Sexuality.
"What a relief it is to finally move out of the institutional settings—medical, psychotherapeutic, legal—that impose meaning on trans women, and to instead settle into an exploration of their experiences of pleasure, comfort, and agency. In Trans Pleasure, Brandon Andrew Robinson turns over the mic to trans women to describe who and what they love and desire—a reality that is much queerer, more t4t, and dare I say more lesbian, than the dominant narrative would have us believe. Here, trans women remind us that good sex is not only about pleasure, but also witnessing and comfort."—Jane Ward, author of The Tragedy of Heterosexuality and Not Gay
"Finally—a sociological book that takes trans desire and pleasure seriously! Trans Pleasure is a revolutionary study—an accessibly written, full-throated takedown of compulsory heterosexuality, with what Robinson calls a trans twist. Foregrounding the dating, romantic, and sexual lives of trans women and femmes, especially folks of color, Trans Pleasure maps new and exciting paths to reimagining gender and sexuality and fostering gender liberation and sexual freedom."—Angela Jones, author of Camming: Money, Power, and Pleasure in the Sex Work Industry
"Robinson offers a powerful intervention into the politics of desire, showing how trans women and femmes navigate the sometimes-fraught boundaries of intimacy and identity. Meticulously researched and expansively theorized, Trans Pleasure bridges trans and sexuality studies to illuminate the affective and material stakes of gendered life. It’s a vital, affirming, and transformative text with revolutionary insights into how we ought to (make) love."—TJ Billard, Associate Professor, School of Communication, Northwestern University
192 pp.5.5 x 8.5
9780520410336$27.95|£24.00Paper
Feb 2026