Marissa Alexa McCool’s Shiny New Science Vagina is a no-holds-barred memoir detailing her journey through gender confirmation surgery, an experience she delivers with unfiltered honesty, humor, and surprising depth. Published in 2018, the 178-page paperback chronicles everything from navigating insurance battles to postoperative recovery, with no shy topics, including “the sexy parts.”
Her story begins with the labyrinthine process of getting approved: consultations, psychological evaluations, insurance clearances, and emotional preparation. McCool recounts each step with a sharp wit, poking fun at awkward medical jargon and bureaucracy. She frames this as the intro to the main event: “going under” and what follows, those intimate days, weeks, and months that come after waking up with a “shiny new science vagina.”
McCool blends radical vulnerability (“I was scared, but also excited”) with timely cultural commentary. As she recovered, global conversations about trans healthcare and surgical access were evolving fast, in the U.S. and abroad. She reflects on this with remarkable honesty, noting how her physical transformation paralleled changes in societal awareness.
Her writing isn’t clinical; it’s visceral. Readers get the full spectrum: pain management (and its often giggle-inducing misadventures), the terror of moving after surgery, and yes, the intimate parts of sexual recovery, hands-on, raw, and empowering. McCool addresses readers directly, as if fielding every awkward question you’ve ever hesitated to ask a trans person. She invites empathy by laughing at her own mishaps, like fumbling a first shower without her catheter, “a performance art piece in the making,” she quips.
Drawing on reflections shared in interviews, Marissa explains her motivation: to demystify trans surgery and offer a resource devoid of shame or sensationalism. She’s answered countless questions privately, but this memoir was written as a public service. She also notes the timeliness: releasing the memoir amid heated cultural debates was both terrifying and necessary.
Despite its explicit subject matter, Shiny New Science Vagina is deeply human. It isn’t just about bodies, it’s about identity, self-worth, and stepping into the world authentically. Belief in oneself is woven throughout, as McCool counters the notion that surgery is the “end goal.” She reframes it as one bend in a winding journey, necessary for some, empowering for many, but not the full story.In summary, Shiny New Science Vagina is:
Radical transparency: A memoir that doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable, the intimate, or the hilarious.
Educational and empowering: Serving as a guide for those considering surgery and an eye-opener for everyone else.
Culturally resonant: Aligned with McCool’s broader mission of visibility and normalization in uncertain times.
For trans readers, medical practitioners, allies, or anyone who’s ever looked away from gender clinic doors or wondered “what really happens after the surgery,” this book offers clarity, laughter, and a sense of shared humanity. It’s a testament to living boldly, surviving intimately, and telling the truths that many feel but few articulate.
Marissa Alexa McCool delivers a memoir that is as educational as it is entertaining, and yes, as “tell-all” as promised. Shiny New Science Vagina doesn’t just answer questions; it affirms existence, reclaims narrative, and leaves you rooting for every step, stumble, and triumphant stride on her path to becoming fully herself.
Available via Amazon
Photo via The Heroines of My Life
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