Sybilla Claus (ed.) — Gender Rebels
Gender Rebels: Critical Stories for Courageous Girls is a Dutch-language collection compiled by journalist and anthropologist Sybilla Claus. The book was published in September 2024 by Uitgeverij 't Haantje and runs to 368 pages. The same publisher also publishes the website coalitievrouwenrechten.nl. Claus worked as a journalist for Dutch newspapers for thirty years, including as a foreign affairs editor.
What it is about
In the collection, forty girls and women from the Netherlands and abroad write about gender, identity, religion and the online world. Recurring themes include self-diagnosis through social media, confusion about biological sex, the rising number of girls undergoing transition and the position of women in Islam. Alongside the personal stories are contributions from psychologist Liesbeth Woertman, biographer Jolande Withuis, political scientist Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Finnish psychiatrist Riittakerttu Kaltiala. Women who have reversed their transition also share their experiences, a subject explored in greater detail under detransition.
The editor
On her own website, Claus describes herself as an anthropologist, journalist and writer. By her own account, she wrote hundreds of articles for Trouw and De Telegraaf, including on the oppression of women, transgender healthcare, freedom of expression and Zimbabwe. Her earlier books include Standplaats Harare (2008), a collection of reports and analyses from Zimbabwe, and Onbekend maar niet vergeten (2019), which she wrote with Carina van Leeuwen and which deals with the investigation of unidentified deaths in Amsterdam.
The publication
The collection is a €23 paperback. The publisher describes its target audience as courageous girls and everyone reading along with them. According to the publisher, the book addresses taboos that girls are currently facing. The personal stories alternate with contributions from experts, placing lived experience and analysis side by side. The book therefore ties in with the subjects covered on this site under young people.
The English-language edition
The English edition is titled in full Rebel Girls: Uplifting Stories About Courageous Young Women and is due to be published on 16 June 2026. It runs to 400 pages and has been expanded to include fifty contributions from different countries. The authors named include American journalist Lisa Selin Davis. The Australian publisher also lists mental health problems, bullying, discrimination and neurodiversity among its themes. Claus's website additionally mentions a Taiwanese edition. The society page provides broader context.
Why it is included in this archive
The book is one of the few Dutch-language publications aimed directly at girls and their parents. It is written from an explicitly gender-critical and feminist perspective and should be read in that context. In 2026, an English-language edition titled Rebel Girls was published by Spinifex Press; that publisher previously released Jennifer Bilek's book. See also the page on developments in the Netherlands.