Julia Serano

Co-sponsored by the Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change


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