The arrow toward What Even is Femininity points this way

#40days40books entry 33

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano is a thorough examination of all of the ways sexism and cissexism work in our culture to diminish and demean people who are feminine.

She shares her own experiences in this highly thoughtful and well-researched book that examines the bases for cissexism against transwomen, and its connection to sexism and its constant need to rate femininity and/or its expression as 'less than' masculinity. She uses her background in biochemistry to organize her thoughts and build arguments about and against the kinds of discrimination that target transwomen. It is a book that ought to be read and read again.

We read this book in our Feminists in Love reading group and I am so glad that we did. Serano's arguments are fascinating, yes, but more importantly, they are accurate and intriguing. I was left with a ton of questions that were in no way part of the scope of this book, but that I think are correct to ask. The biggest one that I've had is about how femininity is defined, determined, and disseminated in the larger culture. We see constant depictions of feminine women and men, but masculinity is more specifically named in my culture consumption and that is of interest to me.

Serano is also the person whose definition of the supposed goal of femininity (to be sexually appealing to men) struck me as coherent and unique in my experience. She, of course, complicates that expectation throughout the book.

I still haven't sent my copy to my niece. At some point I will just buy one for her. This book is incredibly important reading. The conversations left in its wake are difficult and messy and go to uncomfortable places, and those are needed places. My own perceptions of how to be a woman are unexamined, and that's not how I want to move through the world. Who even knows what it would be to be a woman in a world that didn't hate us. Asking the question sparks a lot of anger and despair. The anger is motivating; the despair gets a cookie and vitamins and hydration.

#40days40books list