Julia Serano Read About Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity

Julia Serano
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
Tuesday, June 19 7:30
Transgender activist and UC Berkeley biology researcher Julia Serano offers a hard-hitting look at societal constructs of femininity and gender identity in her new book. Assuming a decidedly feminist angle in her writing and research, Serano breaks with past studies by openly questioning the validity of many previously accepted theories in feminist thought and academia.

A provocative manifesto, Whipping Girl is a gripping, no holds barred account that debunks popular misconceptions about transsexuality, while exposing the depth of the cultural belief that femininity is frivolous, weak, and passive. Julia Serano, a transsexual woman, shares her experiences pre- and post-transition, revealing at every turn the ways in which fear, contempt, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole.

“Whipping Girl is a delight to read. Julia Serano is a careful and astute critic of the ways that trans women have been stereotyped and dismissed in popular culture, feminism, and psychology, and she repeatedly surprised me with her razor-sharp observations of the pervasive hatred of trans women and all differently gendered people. This is an important text for gender studies classes, as well as for therapists, journalists, and anybody who’d like to keep updated as a sex radical.”
--Patrick Califia, author of Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism

“The demonization of femininity within feminist thought has been a longtime bummer. Here comes Julia Serano, armed with a killer intellect, ample humor, and fantastic personal knowledge to rid our beloved feminism of some misguided conclusions, making it a safer place for all of us. We desperately need this book.”
--Michelle Tea, author of Rose of No Man’s Land and Chelsea Whistle