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Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano
ralowe's review against another edition
2.0
ever since a rape-apologist insurrecto-bro introduced me to the term "cis"ќ i've been obsessed with knowing its etymology, bringing me to julia serano, who gets it from emi koyama. incidentally (from emi's website):
Emi used to identify as this gender and that gender, and even the neither gender--but nowadays she's tired of it all. "Genderqueer" used to work just fine when it was a non-identity, but now that there are communities of genderqueer people who identify with the label "genderqueer" it no longer quite applies.
my deal has been, and what the insurrecto-bro in question seemed to vibe, was that "cis"ќ as socially deployed unmakes the anarchy "queer"ќ causes to identity and everything else; instilling for the power/knowledge nexus some solidity to metaphysical fantasy and those in power who crave it, so that those who actually choose to identify as "cis"ќ can foreclose any other future bodily fate across time and space. yet as serano defines it, "cis"ќ is worse than straight. it means you see all bodies as they apparently present, end of story. my friend julz told me they found serano incredibly life-changing when they moved to the bay from fresno, particularly on the issue of transmisogyny prior to laverne cox's "person of the year"ќ *time* cover, and after the regime marked by trump's, but julz never finished the book. despite a redundant manuscript and that feels like it is written through trauma, i think the points it makes, and its material utility are vitally important. but in a way that is differently dangerous to how "cis"ќ is important for patriarchy when used by the insurrecto-bro trans ally, creating (i really want to believe unintended) distance effect, where the queer/trans means of production has been separated from the queer/trans producer. "cis"ќ takes on an administrative rather than direct mode (just as critics have commented with "queer"ќ). julz feels that as long as there needs to be a "trans"ќ there needs to be a "cis"ќ. strictly my trip with "cis"ќ, as mattilda sycamore notes, is whether it's
"helpful to define this boundary instead of redefining everything? i'm not saying we don't need an us and them. I know this is how many of us find one another, dance with the scars into arms that might hold not only to harm. When I came of age in the "ч90s, everything was binary. But the beauty of queer and trans analysis over the past few decades is that it has refused to create either/or categories, or, when not refusing, has refused to give in."ќ
serano contradicts herself frequently throughout this insanely under-edited text: sometimes passionately binary, at other times indifferent to such trifles. serano opposes opposition while pushing for rather explicitly politically divided embodiments: science's object and essence are given wide berth. as defined by fred moten, blackness tends toward an essentialism where essence and performance are not mutually exclusive. nowadays i'm starting to believe that everything is nothing but performance, change, energy and movement, a la alfred north whitehead via deleuze. i can't believe i just typed that, i kind of hate delueze. people are reasonably frustrated and lost in such an idea of a performative trans since it suggests some kind of fraudulent agentive activity, or confirms the straight world's transphobic ruse: when i think of performance it's the decidable discreet metaphysical presence, motivated and non-arbitrary, behind the sign regardless, like judith butler gets from jacques derrida talking about ferdinand saussure, solidified and reified and calcified and sedimented with every single use and re-use and repetition within language itself"У it's the play of a presence that is only there as long as you need it to be; this in our real world is as material and present as it always has been, is or ever could be. this performative refuses the treatment of lived experience and people with indifference; it is the very means of administration but also fugitivity. the performative is not a license to abandon real responsibilities, but an injunction to be fully present and real. is it possible to be cis and trans at the same time? emi writes:
"Today, Emi does not identify with any particular gender, but she does not so strongly identify with the state of having no gender to claim that as an identity either. Honestly, she thinks that having an identity--especially gender identity--is kind of weird: how she views herself depends on the human relationships and interactions that surround her, rather than arising from some intrinsic core sense of self."ќ
on the trip of a prospective cis/trans simultaneity (even though i don't want to have to use the word "cis"ќ ever again in life) i am reminded by a brilliant paper given by kai green on a black trans optic of darkness. this notion inspires in me the possibility for a pedagogic regard the kills administrative certanity through making space for what we may yet feel and already know. in that arrives and departs limitless enfleshments in a cogent, capable and responsible messiness of kin, perhaps modeled most infamously in chris vargas' broadsheet for the museum of transgender hirstory & art (MOTHA)"_
Emi used to identify as this gender and that gender, and even the neither gender--but nowadays she's tired of it all. "Genderqueer" used to work just fine when it was a non-identity, but now that there are communities of genderqueer people who identify with the label "genderqueer" it no longer quite applies.
my deal has been, and what the insurrecto-bro in question seemed to vibe, was that "cis"ќ as socially deployed unmakes the anarchy "queer"ќ causes to identity and everything else; instilling for the power/knowledge nexus some solidity to metaphysical fantasy and those in power who crave it, so that those who actually choose to identify as "cis"ќ can foreclose any other future bodily fate across time and space. yet as serano defines it, "cis"ќ is worse than straight. it means you see all bodies as they apparently present, end of story. my friend julz told me they found serano incredibly life-changing when they moved to the bay from fresno, particularly on the issue of transmisogyny prior to laverne cox's "person of the year"ќ *time* cover, and after the regime marked by trump's, but julz never finished the book. despite a redundant manuscript and that feels like it is written through trauma, i think the points it makes, and its material utility are vitally important. but in a way that is differently dangerous to how "cis"ќ is important for patriarchy when used by the insurrecto-bro trans ally, creating (i really want to believe unintended) distance effect, where the queer/trans means of production has been separated from the queer/trans producer. "cis"ќ takes on an administrative rather than direct mode (just as critics have commented with "queer"ќ). julz feels that as long as there needs to be a "trans"ќ there needs to be a "cis"ќ. strictly my trip with "cis"ќ, as mattilda sycamore notes, is whether it's
"helpful to define this boundary instead of redefining everything? i'm not saying we don't need an us and them. I know this is how many of us find one another, dance with the scars into arms that might hold not only to harm. When I came of age in the "ч90s, everything was binary. But the beauty of queer and trans analysis over the past few decades is that it has refused to create either/or categories, or, when not refusing, has refused to give in."ќ
serano contradicts herself frequently throughout this insanely under-edited text: sometimes passionately binary, at other times indifferent to such trifles. serano opposes opposition while pushing for rather explicitly politically divided embodiments: science's object and essence are given wide berth. as defined by fred moten, blackness tends toward an essentialism where essence and performance are not mutually exclusive. nowadays i'm starting to believe that everything is nothing but performance, change, energy and movement, a la alfred north whitehead via deleuze. i can't believe i just typed that, i kind of hate delueze. people are reasonably frustrated and lost in such an idea of a performative trans since it suggests some kind of fraudulent agentive activity, or confirms the straight world's transphobic ruse: when i think of performance it's the decidable discreet metaphysical presence, motivated and non-arbitrary, behind the sign regardless, like judith butler gets from jacques derrida talking about ferdinand saussure, solidified and reified and calcified and sedimented with every single use and re-use and repetition within language itself"У it's the play of a presence that is only there as long as you need it to be; this in our real world is as material and present as it always has been, is or ever could be. this performative refuses the treatment of lived experience and people with indifference; it is the very means of administration but also fugitivity. the performative is not a license to abandon real responsibilities, but an injunction to be fully present and real. is it possible to be cis and trans at the same time? emi writes:
"Today, Emi does not identify with any particular gender, but she does not so strongly identify with the state of having no gender to claim that as an identity either. Honestly, she thinks that having an identity--especially gender identity--is kind of weird: how she views herself depends on the human relationships and interactions that surround her, rather than arising from some intrinsic core sense of self."ќ
on the trip of a prospective cis/trans simultaneity (even though i don't want to have to use the word "cis"ќ ever again in life) i am reminded by a brilliant paper given by kai green on a black trans optic of darkness. this notion inspires in me the possibility for a pedagogic regard the kills administrative certanity through making space for what we may yet feel and already know. in that arrives and departs limitless enfleshments in a cogent, capable and responsible messiness of kin, perhaps modeled most infamously in chris vargas' broadsheet for the museum of transgender hirstory & art (MOTHA)"_
jdk_andes's review against another edition
4.0
This has been called a foundational text for modern feminism, and having read it I can see why. In exploring the ways in which gender impacts herself and others, Serano mixes memoir, philosophy, sociology, and psychology in a comprehensive yet accessible way. And though (as Serano says herself in the preface to the second edition) things have changed since its original publication, this book remains a must-read for anyone looking to understand feminism, gender, and trans activism.
beansandrice's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
An invaluable resource for any trans woman. Serano's perspectives are vital and important when dealing with trans life in a cis public, but some of her analysis of power dynamics in queer spaces (especially amongst different kinds of genderqueer folks) is a bit lacking.
11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
Ive changed my mind about this review upon thinking more about it. I've decided it's probably right for me to focus more on internalizing some of what I've read and promoting the great amount of agreements I had with it than to share my criticisms at this point. This book got me thinking about a lot.
emilyjessica's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of stuff I agree with or have thought of before. Good amount of new stuff that made me think. Some things that I wasn't too happy about, lots of use if the word "natural" - not my fav. But discussion on dichotomies and that we should value femininity instead of trying to not have it: completely wonderful and what I was writing about last year. I read this as light reading in short bursts, so I think that means it's accessible to people without any background in feminist or queer studies. Who are, of course, the who I always maintain need it most.