The Lasting Transgender Legacy Of Julia Serano’s "Whipping Girl"

When fellow trans people ask me about what books they could read to make sense of themselves, I always mention Whipping Girl by trans activist and trans philosopher Julia Serano.

Why? Simply because she has this amazing ability to see through stereotypes and prejudices – including those shared by trans people – and help you move beyond them. 

(Julia Serano has been one of the trans activists who most clearly has debunked the fetish/autogynephilia narrative of MTF transgender). 

In this Buzzfeed article  Meredith Talusan writes about  Whipping Girl  introducing the term transmisogyny into the language. Serano uses the term to discuss the intersection of transphobia and misogyny that permeates the lives of trans women. 

Talusan explains:

For Serano, her conception and use of the term is rooted in her activism, and came out of deeply practical need. “I was actively involved in challenging trans-woman exclusion within queer women’s communities,” she said. “One of the things I encountered over and over and over again within those communities was people saying, ‘I can’t be transphobic. We’re letting in all these trans men into our events.’ And it became a way for me to point out that, oh well, you know, you’re saying that you’re not transphobic but you are being transmisogynistic.”

The concept of transmisogyny has become widely used by trans women not just to describe our experience but also to account for how cisgender people evaluate trans people. A good example is the public’s scrutiny of Caitlyn Jenner’s appearance and actions, even as it’s willing to give many cisgender people a pass on both casual and extreme transphobia.