Scan barcode
Reviews
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano
innessfree's review against another edition
4.0
Responded to all my questions and challenged every assumption with aplomb. I came away feeling more educated and empathetic, and grateful for it.
klparmley's review against another edition
3.0
This is an excellent book about gender and the privileges that are connected to it. I am not a fan of the author's style of writing. I would have rated the book more highly if it had been easier to read some thing I was truly interested in.
sucreslibrary's review against another edition
3.5
first half is much better than the second. it is (very darkly) humorous to see the reviews on this from 2010 acting like TERFs and proponents of 2nd wave feminism have mostly died out so the book isn't "relevant". at times it feels like serano has a condescending view of nonbinary/genderqueer/etc ppl, though i do understand and agree with a lot of her frustrations as far as the "community" goes. other parts of this (like the essay "putting the feminine back into feminism") felt like an ominous look into where we currently are re: choice feminism and how things seem to have regressed significantly (see: girl math, explaining things "for the girls", etc.) and i found myself cringing through the entire essay. theres also some very prescient takes in here about trans men weaponizing their privilege in trans spaces/not being there for trans women that are sadly still very relevant today, especially in certain sections of the internet that like to kick up discourse that inevitably has transmisogyny at its core.
lots to think about and im glad i finally read this one.
lots to think about and im glad i finally read this one.
lbarsk's review against another edition
5.0
Really fucking excellent. A crucial read for anybody at all, from the most ignorant person wondering "what being trans means" to the most erudite gender scholars. I especially love the concepts Serano puts into words and uses throughout the book, like "effemimania" and this idea of a subconscious sex versus a conscious sex and then a gender presentation. She spells everything out so clearly and breaks down what it's like to live as a trans woman in modern-day America SO DEFTLY that it's hard not to share every page with friends and strangers alike -- throughout my reading this book I told EVERYONE about it.
It's an excellent "trans 101" primer for those individuals wanting/needing to learn more, but it also is very real and human and deep and cannot be dismissed as "just something for trans people to read." Everyone needs to read this book, especially in the light of the Orlando attack.
It's an excellent "trans 101" primer for those individuals wanting/needing to learn more, but it also is very real and human and deep and cannot be dismissed as "just something for trans people to read." Everyone needs to read this book, especially in the light of the Orlando attack.
sourbutchkid's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
The things I agreed with I really agreed with, and the things I disagreed with I really disagreed with….