A review by lbarsk
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano

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.