Anthropologist · Journalist · Author
Sybilla Claus
Critical and uplifting stories about freedom, feminism and the choices young women face today.
Rebel Girls
Uplifting stories about courageous young women — Sybilla Claus's new book about the girls who pay the price for an online culture that turns their bodies into a problem.
Dutch edition · September 2024
Gender Rebels
Critical stories for brave young women
The first feminist book for girls and mothers that puts today's taboos on the table: online madness and self-diagnosis, the confusion around biological sex, the growing number of girls going into transition, and the silence around women's oppression in Islam.
Forty girls and women contributed. With contributions from psychologist Liesbeth Woertman, biographer Jolande Withuis, political scientist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, psychiatrist Riittakerttu Kaltiala and detransitioners speaking out for the first time.
See also: about the English edition · meet the girls · the team
What Sybilla writes, in her own words
"You cannot switch sex; no one can escape their biological sex."
— Sybilla Claus in Reformatorisch Dagblad, October 2024
"A confused child has a right to honest help from a therapist who is willing to question them critically."
— Sybilla Claus on the conversion-therapy bill
"Many parents have no idea what is happening to their daughters."
— Sybilla Claus on girls and social media
Earlier work
2019 · AMBO|ANTHOS
Onbekend maar niet vergeten
With Carina van Leeuwen
Forensic investigation into the unidentified dead of Amsterdam — from DNA and facial reconstruction to visiting relatives whose loved ones finally get a name back.
2008 · KIT PUBLISHERS
Standplaats Harare
Reportage from Zimbabwe
A book on Zimbabwe — political developments, human rights and daily life under Mugabe and after.
JOURNALISM
Trouw & De Telegraaf
Hundreds of articles
Political analysis, opinion and reportage on women's oppression, transgender care, freedom of speech and Zimbabwe.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Woman, gender, queer, non-binary, transphobia — short answers, full FAQ below.
What is a woman? What is a girl?
A woman is an adult human being of the female sex with XX chromosomes. A girl is a child of the female sex. This is biology, and you cannot change your chromosomes.
What is gender?
Gender is the role society assigns to women and men. It differs per culture — and the beauty is that you can define it yourself. Don't let anyone convince you you are behaving out of your prescribed gender role.
Are we feminists transphobic?
No, not at all. We love everyone. Drawing boundaries is not transphobia, but a prerequisite for female self-determination. Women who want to protect domestic-violence shelters, women's prisons or girls' sports act out of physical vulnerability and real trauma — not hatred.
Why do we have to define being a woman?
A feminism that denies the biological reality of women loses the analytical capacity to name sexism, sexual violence and reproductive exploitation. The category 'woman' as a political subject is indispensable.
A talk, interview or new assignment?
Get in touchSybilla Claus
Anthropologist, journalist and author. Author of Gender Rebels (2024) and the upcoming Rebel Girls (Spinifex, 2026).
Published by Uitgeverij 't Haantje · © Sybilla Claus