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Horse Barbie

A Memoir

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
“A moving chronicle of trans resilience and joy” (Vogue) from one of Out100’s Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ Storytellers
“Groundbreaking . . . [Rocero] quite literally models what triumph can look like.”—Glamour (Women of the Year)

WINNER OF THEM’S AWARD FOR LITERATURE • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Book Riot, Elle, Esquire

As a young femme in 1990s Manila, Geena Rocero heard, “Bakla, bakla!,” a taunt aimed at her feminine sway, whenever she left the tiny universe of her eskinita. Eventually, she found her place in trans pageants, the Philippines’ informal national sport. When her competitors mocked her as a “horse Barbie” due to her statuesque physique, tumbling hair, long neck, and dark skin, she leaned into the epithet. By seventeen, she was the Philippines’ highest-earning trans pageant queen.
A year later, Geena moved to the United States where she could change her name and gender marker on her documents. But legal recognition didn’t mean safety. In order to survive, Geena went stealth and hid her trans identity, gaining one type of freedom at the expense of another. For a while, it worked. She became an in-demand model. But as her star rose, her sense of self eroded. She craved acceptance as her authentic self yet had to remain vigilant in order to protect her dream career. The high-stakes double life finally forced Geena to decide herself if she wanted to reclaim the power of Horse Barbie once and for all: radiant, head held high, and unabashedly herself.
A dazzling testimony from an icon who sits at the center of transgender history and activism, Horse Barbie is a celebratory and universal story of survival, love, and pure joy.
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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Model and activist Geena Rocero shares her story in this poignant and powerful memoir. Her narration is full of life--sometimes buoyantly joyous, sometimes breathless with tension, sometimes playful and tinged with laughter. She recounts her teen years as a pageant queen in the Philippines, her immigration to the U.S., the years she spent closeted while working as a model, and her eventual coming out and career as an advocate. Her outstanding narration is supported by a top-notch audio production that includes music, the sounds of crowds clapping and cheering, the thuds of a heartbeat, and more. It's an immersive experience that highlights both the transphobia Rocero has faced and the joy she has found in art, trans and Filipino community activism, and family. L.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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