Book Review

Reviewed by Delilah Slack-Smith

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Whipping Girl

A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity

by Julia Serano
Published by Seal Press
I.S.B.N.1580051545

It is difficult to know where to start (or stop!) a review of a work as deep and broad as this book, so I'm just going to dive right in.

Like any good feminist text, the book focuses on sexism, privilege, misogyny, objectification, mystification, and discrimination. Unlike most feminist texts however, this text focuses on traditional and oppositional sexism, cissexual privilege, trans-misogyny, trans-objectification, trans-mystification, and discrimination against trans people.

Julia proposes that sexism actually comes in two flavours, oppositional and traditional. She defines oppositional sexism as "the belief that female and male are rigid, mutually exclusive categories" and uses it to explain transphobia and homophobia. She defines traditional sexism as "the belief that maleness and masculinity are superior to femaleness and femininity" and uses it to define misogyny.

Julia defines cissexual privilege as "the double standard that promotes the idea that transsexual genders are distinct from, and less legitimate than, cissexual genders". Julia believes that this results from an excessive sense of entitlement that sees cissexuals judging transsexuals. One result of this is that cissexual experts (e.g. Germaine Greer, Michael Bailey) are often presumed to be in a better position to critique our gender identities than we are.

Misogyny is the "tendency to dismiss and deride femaleness and femininity" and trans-misogyny is its natural extension to trans people. Historically, masculinity has been considered superior to femininity and males superior to females. A central point of the book is that while feminism has made progress on the latter misconception, the former prejudice lingers on, even amongst feminists. Masculinity is supposedly the normal, natural way and femininity is considered artificial, insincere and many people seem incapable of accepting it as a genuine expression of one's personality rather than as a tool for attracting men. Julia's proposition is that this is the main reason that trans women face as much prejudice as they do, even from within the queer community. This proposition appears to be confirmed by the low regard with which femmes are regarded in the lesbian community and by the gay community's preference for straight-acting (i.e. masculine) men.

Trans-objectification is the reduction of trans people to their body parts or lack thereof. Many feminists have commented on men's magazines' penchant for objectifying women, judging them solely by the shape of their bodies. Julia discusses the extension of this phenomenon to trans people, especially trans women. I think most trans people have witnessed trans-objectification first hand on many occasions - people almost never ask strangers about their genitals but they usually feel that they are entitled to make ours their business. Trans men are rarely objectified to the same extent as trans women, which suggests that trans-objectification occurs as the result of misogyny rather than just as the result of transphobia. Ironically, I find this somewhat comforting - Julia's theory is that we are objectified in this fashion precisely because of our femininity.

Just as men have always found women mystifying, so do cissexuals find transsexuals mystifying. Julia uses trans-mystification to refer to the cissexual tendency to forget that while to them transsexuality is a mysterious and taboo magic trick, for us it is normal, even mundane.

Like any minority, especially a marginalised one, transsexuals are vulnerable to discrimination. The especially sad thing is that some of the discrimination against us comes from within the queer community. The best-known American example is the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival but the problem does occur in Australia, as evidenced by Tracie O'Keefe's experience with Sappho's Party. Julia argues that many of the reasons advanced to exclude trans women from such events are in fact anti-feminist. A very common claim is that trans women possess a "male energy" that cissexual women are incapable of possessing, which does seem to be a very anti-feminist argument for purported feminists to make. Another common claim is that trans women, by virtue of possessing or having possessed a penis, are men - Julia argues very convincingly that such a phallocentric viewpoint is harmful to feminism rather than beneficial.

Not all trans people will find the book flattering. Julia questions the increasingly common practice among American trans men of continuing to participate in womyn-born-womyn's groups (e.g. the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival), claiming that they are not really men. It stands to reason that if trans men aren't really men, then trans women aren't really women either, so this undermines acceptance of trans women's gender identities within the lesbian community. Given that the "womyn-born-womyn-only" crowd's acceptance of trans men appears to hinge on the belief that trans men cannot ever possess genuine "male energy", this behaviour appears to undermine the gender identities of both trans men and trans women. I have attended a few lesbian events in Sydney that welcome trans people and have yet to encounter one that welcomed transmen while refusing entry to trans women, so hopefully this is one fashion we will not import from the United States - when I have been at such events, I saw the trans men there as allies rather than rivals and I really do prefer it that way.

Julia writes well and does a very good job of arguing her points. While I do not agree with everything Julia writes in her book, I found myself in total agreement with her on most things. Some of my own experiences parallel hers and what she expresses in her writings seems pretty close to my own feelings in most of these areas, so I couldn't help but be moved by it. In other parts of her book, she makes arguments that would have never previously occurred to me and which make me question how I have dealt with cissexuals and cissexual privilege in the past, so reading it could prove to be a life-changing experience. It's a very fine work of trans feminist literature and I would recommend it to trans people of any gender, to feminists, and to anyone with even a passing interest in gender studies.

Julia Serano has a PhD in Biochemistry from Columbia University and is currently employed as a researcher at University of California, Berkeley, in the fields of evolutionary and developmental biology. She is also a performance artist and has been featured at many conferences and on university campuses, as well as high-profile events such as Ladyfest, Trans March stages, the "Vagina Monologues" and the National Queer Arts Festival. Her writings have been used as teaching materials in college-level gender courses across the U.S.

Delilah Slack-Smith is a thirty-five-year old out-and-proud transsexual living in Sydney who identifies as a femme lesbian. She works as a software engineer and enjoys skiing, kung-fu, going to lesbian venues (where she receives both flattering compliments and bigoted remarks), and drinking wine and beer. She says that unless you wish to become her lover, her genitals are none of your business.

Editorial note: While agreeing with Delilah Slack-Smith that Whipping Girl is an outstanding and thoughtful book on relationships between sexes and genders and society's treatment of both, I wonder how many readers will be confused by Serano's coinage "cissexualism", The cis- prefix is rare in current usage and most people will only have come across it in the context of Cisalpine (the Roman term for anything on their side of the Alps). The cis-, trans- combination occurs in scientific contexts such as cis-trans isomerism, where a complex chemical compound with a double-bond has like groups on the same side of the plan of the double bond called the cis-form while like groups on opposite sides are called the trans-form. Serano is the only person to my knowledge who has transferred the concept into gender literature. And now I've probably confused you more than you were before. Read the book. It is clearly and intelligently written and full of new thoughts and analyses. Well worth while! Editor

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.