Whipping Girl

Newly revised and updated, this classic manifesto is "a foundational text for anyone hoping to understand transgender politics and culture in the U.S. today" (NPR)

Named as one of 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time by Ms. Magazine

A landmark of trans and feminist nonfiction, Whipping Girl is Julia Serano's indispensable account of what it means to be a transgender woman in a world that consistently derides and belittles anything feminine. In a series of incisive essays, Serano draws on gender theory, her training as a biologist, her career in queer activism, and her own experiences before and after her gender transition to examine the deep connections between sexism and transphobia. She coins the term transmisogyny to describe the specific discrimination trans women face-and she shows how, in a world where masculinity is seen as unquestionably superior to femininity, transgender women's very existence becomes a threat to the established gender hierarchy.

Now updated with a new afterword on the contemporary anti-trans backlash, Whipping Girl makes the case that today's feminists and transgender activists must work to embrace and empower femininity-in all of its wondrous forms-and to make the world safe and just for people of all genders and sexualities.

Julia Serano is a highly regarded writer and thinker on the subjects of gender, feminism, and LGBTQ issues. She is best known for her 2007 book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, which garnered rave reviews-The Advocate placed it on their list of "Best Non-Fiction Transgender Books," and readers of Ms. Magazine ranked it #16 on their list of the "100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time." Julia's writings have also appeared in numerous anthologies in feminist, queer, and progressive magazines and websites (including Bitch Magazine, Out, AlterNet.org, Ms. Magazine blog, and Feministing.com) and are regularly used as teaching materials in gender studies, queer studies, psychology, and human sexuality courses in colleges across North America.

Julia's background as a writer, performer, activist, and biologist (she has a PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University) makes her a unique voice on the subjects of gender and sexism. She has the rare gift of being able to present complex ideas from feminism and gender/queer theory, and to interweave them with her personal experiences as a bisexual trans woman, in a clear, compelling, and entertaining manner.

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