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Whipping Girl A Transsexual Woman on Sexism & the Scapegoating of Femininity

by Julia Serano
Whipping Girl A Transsexual Woman on Sexism & the Scapegoating of Femininity

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ISBN13: 9781580051545
ISBN10: 1580051545



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Staff Pick

Whipping Girl illustrates the multipronged obstacles trans women face with insuppressible wit, starting with and fed by a base societal dismissal of and hatred toward femininity. Author Julia Serano is a brilliant biologist, activist, and writer all at once, and the diversity of her approach is obvious in the wide reach of her ideas. If you have any interest in understanding the struggles trans women have before them or have an interest in being an ally in the fight, this is the place to start. Recommended By Cosima C., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

A provocative manifesto, Whipping Girl tells the powerful story of Julia Serano, a transsexual woman whose supremely intelligent writing reflects her diverse background as a lesbian transgender activist and professional biologist. Serano shares her experiences and observations — both pre- and post-transition — to reveal the ways in which fear, suspicion, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole.

Serano's well-honed arguments stem from her ability to bridge the gap between the often-disparate biological and social perspectives on gender. She exposes how deep-rooted the cultural belief is that femininity is frivolous, weak, and passive, and how this "feminine" weakness exists only to attract and appease male desire.

In addition to debunking popular misconceptions about transsexuality, Serano makes the case that today's feminists and transgender activist must work to embrace and empower femininity — in all of its wondrous forms.

Review

"Serano has...either opened a door into a new world or widened the scope of an already informed discussion of gender, transsexuality and femininity. From either perspective, her work is worth investigating." San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Julia Serano is a writer and spoken-word artist on the subject of gender with a PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University. She is a researcher at UC Berkeley in the field of evolutionary and developmental biology and has performed her spoken word at such high-profile events as the National Queer Arts Festival, San Francisco Trans and Dyke March Stages, Ladyfest Bay Area, and The Vagina Monologues. Serano's work has appeared in Bitch magazine's BITCHFest, Clamor, Kitchen Sink, The Believer, The San Francisco Chronicle, and on Invisible Ink Radio (NPR). Julia lives in the Bay Area.

4.5 6

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Average customer rating 4.5 (6 comments)

`
Christin , August 24, 2012 (view all comments by Christin)
This was an excellent book! She very clearly (and using plain language!) lays out the issues and problems faced by trans women in our society and shows how they may seem specific to trans women, but once you scratch the surface they really stem directly from traditional sexism and our societal devaluing of femininity in general. Also, I will love her forever for clearly articulating some of the problems I had with the hardcore pomo deconstructionists when I was in grad school. Back then I could never seem to put everything that was bothering me together and we were never taught any kind of critique of those pomo and/or gender performativity theories AT ALL because pretty much everyone there worships at the Altar Of Butler. Forget that, I’m with Julia!

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thomass_n , April 21, 2012
Very informative dialog

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yonayona , January 01, 2011 (view all comments by yonayona)
I'm a trans dyke myself, but I was very isolated and didn't know any sort of queer or trans community till I moved to Oregon. A lover of mine who has been acting as a mentor to me has been enlightening me on the subject of trans feminism, and it's been really empowering. Whereas I once let my body and experience be exploited and mislabeled by cis people, I now am proud of who and what I am and use language for myself that makes sense to me. With that said, I feel like we're currently in the '70s of trans feminism, as it were. Trans women are just starting to really talk about our experiences and produce our own works which represent us the way WE want to be represented, and I believe this book is a major step in the right direction. In it, Serano deconstructs the oppression of trans women and, further, all feminine people in our society. Femininity and womanhood are viewed as artificial and inferior, she argues, while masculinity and manhood are valorized, even within feminist spaces. My aforementioned lover has experienced going to a conference or something of the sort wearing a dress and being ignored and condescended to, and then going the next day butch and being respected and having everyone agreeing with her. Of course, this book is not without its problems. I feel that Serano's vocation of biology gets the better of her and she ends up essentializing gender a bit much. Further, she tends to be a little too binary-centric. Still, this is a great book, one of the few that I actually bought after borrowing. I recommend that anyone read it, especially trans women.

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sonsnop123 , June 14, 2008
I have known some transgenders - some in the process and some that have gone thru the whole surgical process and they appear much happier in their new life

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ppriebe1 , June 14, 2008 (view all comments by ppriebe1)
I have met a few transgenders. Some fully converted, ( thats my term ) some that don't know what they want, and others that just seem mental. This book does open a window that most never see. These are real life people, not play actors going for the oscar. If you really want to see thier souls, read this book!

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librarylapin , June 10, 2008 (view all comments by librarylapin)
This book was incredible. I consider myself a pretty conscious girl but I had no idea how much I was missing in analyzing the cultural context of this topic. Julia Serano does an excellent job of mixing her profession (biologist) with her personal experiences to leave the reader feeling empowered and ready to go out there and fight the good fight.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781580051545
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
05/14/2007
Publisher:
SEAL PRESS
Pages:
408
Thickness:
1.00
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2007
Author:
Julia Serano
Author:
Julia Serano
Author:
Julia Serano
Author:
Julia Serano
Media Run Time:
B
Subject:
Transsexuals
Subject:
Feminism
Subject:
Transsexualism.
Subject:
Gender Studies-General

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