Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Womanhood

by Trixie Mattel

If you love Ru Paul’s Drag Race like I do, then you might have fallen in love with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. Trixie, with her deep love for Dolly Parton and Barbie, and Katya, who is ultra-flexible and deeply honest about recovering from addiction, have to be two of the most popular drag queens to have graduated from RPDR. If, like me, you’re a bit of a superfan, you might have also watched their show UNHhhh and Trixie’s documentary Moving Parts. If that’s the case, and you loved both and want more, then come sit with me because this book is for you.

In three sections (Beauty and Style, Homemaking, and Relationships) the duo deliver short, punchy chapters covering everything about being a woman today. And the two would be the first to point out how delicious it is that men dressing as women are telling women how to be themselves. They revel in their satirical, tongue-in-cheek humour, all delivered with a surprising amount of heart.

And while they’re dropping truth bombs and f-bombs, you will probably howl with laughter just like I did.

The book is full of witty repartee such as…

“Everything you’ve done, we’ve done with fuller lashes.”

And…

“Think of interior design as putting your house in drag.”

And also…

“The skin is your largest organ (unless you are my second boyfriend – Matthew – woof!).”

A great treatise on the intricacies of life, this is not. Did it give me hours of laughter? Yes, definitely. They are subverting the self-help genre in the same way that drag (in all its varied forms) subverts genres of its own. Trixie and Katya live and thrive in their subversive, ironic space and as a reader I was carried along, laughing my way through it all.

Touchingly, in the chapters on relationships and self-love there are some beautiful poignant moments when the tongue is removed from the cheek and a heartfelt, sincere Katya and Trixie describe the difficulties of loving yourself or getting over a breakup.

Because I cannot even pretend to be capable of objectivity when it comes to these two, I must give this book an equally heartfelt SQUEE. Their sincerity, wit, humour and complete lack of respect for any/all rules is liberating. It made me smile and it made me happy and I read it cover to cover in a matter of hours. I went without breakfast to finish it, that’s how invested I was in it. To read this book was to feel free to be entirely myself, at least for a bit.

– Lara

The RuPaul’s Drag Race legends, stars of UNHhhh, and expert biological women share the secrets of their feminine mystique in this satirical guide to beauty and homemaking. 

Drag superstars Trixie Mattel and Katya have long captivated fans with their stunning looks, onscreen chemistry, and signature wit. In Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood, the pair channel that energy into an old-school etiquette guide for ladies.

In essays, conversations, and how-to sections peppered with hilarious, gorgeous photos, Trixie and Katya will advise readers on beauty and fashion and tackle other vital components of a happy home, such as money, self-love, and friendship; sharing advice and personal stories in high-concept fashion.

Informative, humorous, and heartwarming, Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood is the book that their fans have been waiting for.

Humor, LGBTQIA, Nonfiction