"Whipping Girl" by Julia Serrano is a must-read

[suzifrommd]

I just finished reading "Whipping Girl" by Julia Serrano.

It seems like every page was a validation of my experience as a Trans woman. It is by far the most perceptive work I've every come across about the way the world interacts with trans women.

I especially related to the way she described the internal experience of being transgender. The way I've heard it described by others never quite resonated with me, but she set down in print exactly what it was like for me to discover my gender.

Has anyone else had a similar reaction to this book?

[Eva Marie]

I just finished reading "Whipping Girl" by Julia Serrano.

It seems like every page was a validation of my experience as a Trans woman. It is by far the most perceptive work I've every come across about the way the world interacts with trans women.

I especially related to the way she described the internal experience of being transgender. The way I've heard it described by others never quite resonated with me, but she set down in print exactly what it was like for me to discover my gender.

Has anyone else had a similar reaction to this book?

Eva goes to amazon.com and places an order this morning for that book

[Tanya W]

This is my first post in Susan's! I was scrolling through the forums, trying to gauge whether I would join or not - and then saw this thread. I registered immediately.

'Whipping Girl' is one stunner of a book, the most resonant with my own experience bar none. I understand Serano's style may not be for everyone, but it is definitely worth a try. She has a lot of excerpts from both 'WG' and a new book (hooray!) on her website, as well as many other writings. Take a look.

As for me, well as mentioned above I am signed up now and will get around to posting an introduction in the next couple days.

[Jill F]

I read this book a couple of months ago.  She has many valid points and a unique perspective but I thought this book came off as a bit condescending at times and she played the whiny victim card a bit too much for my taste.  She hit this experience from a few different angles that hadn't even occurred to me, and all things considered I am happy to have read it. 

Do I have to write a better one? 

You haven't seen scathing yet.

[Eva Marie]

I just finished this book last night. It read a lot like a very long research paper to me, I found it a little dry and clinical, and toward the end I found that it was getting a bit tedious to get through. I also found it hard to remember all of the terms that were coined and were used later in the book. An index at the back of the book would have been a very useful feature for me to be able to look back and refresh my memory about those terms.

She did make a lot of good points about things that I have never thought about. I thought that overall it was worth my time to read it.

[KabitTarah]

It's a very slow, clinical read... but a primer on modern feminism. Still... I'm not finished and won't be too soon!! (About 60% complete). It is not a story - it's non-fiction and not particularly autobiographical... but it's still a must read. Many of my views on feminism have changed from this book and I have a TON of highlighted passages that match my personal experiences.

(Yay for Kindle )

I also liked "The Transgender Guidebook" by Dr. Anne L. Boedecker, which was a more practical guide to help me lay down a path ahead (when all the family who knew had basically abandoned me for a couple months)... it's probably not that useful to anyone who already has a timeline (and especially who've progressed down it).