Julia Michelle Serano (; born 1967) is an American writer, musician,

spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

performer,

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (fil ...

– bi activist, and biologist. She is known for her

transfeminist Transfeminism, also written trans feminism, has been defined by scholar and activist Emi Koyama as "a movement by and for trans women who view their liberation to be intrinsically linked to the liberation of all women and beyond." Koyama not ...

books ''

Whipping Girl ''Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity'' is a 2007 book by the gender theorist, biologist, and writer Julia Serano. The book is a transfeminist manifesto that makes the case that transphobia is rooted ...

'' (2007), ''Excluded'' (2013), and ''Outspoken'' (2016). She is also a prolific public speaker who has given many talks at universities and conferences. Her writing is frequently featured in queer, feminist, and popular culture magazines.

Life

Assigned male at birth, Serano has stated that she first consciously recognized in herself a desire to be female during the late 1970s, when she was 11 years old. A few years later, she began

crossdressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

. At first, she crossdressed secretively, but she eventually started identifying herself openly as a "male crossdresser." Serano attended her first support group for crossdressers in 1994 while she lived in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

.''Serano, Julia. "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity''," Seal Press, 2007. Soon afterward, Serano moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

where she met her wife, Dani, in 1998. Around then, Serano began identifying as not only a crossdresser but also

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and

bigender Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typica ...

. In 2001, she began medically transitioning and identifying as a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

Career

Serano earned her PhD in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

and molecular biophysics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She researched genetics and developmental and evolutionary biology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

for 17 years. Serano is the author of '' Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity''. Her second book, ''Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive'', was published on September 10, 2013, by Seal Press. It was named the 16th best nonfiction book of all time by readers of Ms. Magazine. Her third book, ''Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism'', she published herself under Switch Hitter Press, which she founded along with Switch Hitter Records. ''Outspoken'' is a 2017

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

finalist. Her 2020 book, ''99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel'', also published by Switch Hitter, won the

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards pro ...

’s 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and was an ''Independent Publisher'' Book Awards 2021 silver medalist in LGBT+ Fiction. Her work has appeared in queer, feminist, and pop culture magazines, including '' Bitch'', '' Clamor'', ''Kitchen Sink'', ''LiP'', ''make/shift'', and ''Transgender Tapestry''. Excerpts of her work have appeared in ''The Believer'' and ''The

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' and on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. Serano has spoken about transgender and trans women's issues at numerous universities, often at queer-, feminist-, psychology-, and philosophy-themed conferences. Her writings have also been used in teaching materials in

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

courses across the United States. Serano is a

slam poet A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery ...

and has given spoken-word performances at universities as well as at events such as the National Queer Arts Festival, San Francisco

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

Dyke March and

Trans March Annual marches, protests or gatherings take place around the world for transgender issues, often taking place during the time of local Pride parades for LGBT people. These events are frequently organized by trans communities to build community, ad ...

stages,

Ladyfest Ladyfest is a Community organization, community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for feminist and women artists. Individual Ladyfests differ, but usually feature a combination of band (music), bands, musical groups, performa ...

, outCRY!, Femme 2006 and in ''

The Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run in at Westside Theatre. The play explores c ...

''. She was a guitarist and vocalist for the band Bitesize from 1997 through the early 2000s and has also recorded solo music. Serano organizes and hosts ''GenderEnders'', a performance series that features the work of transgender,

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

, and genderqueer artists and allies that has produced 20 shows. She received a grant to curate "The Penis Issue: Trans and Intersex Women Speak Their Minds," a spoken-word event, as part of the 2007 National Queer Arts Festival. She writes social justice articles on the website ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'' about topics like transgender identity, LGBTQ+ visibility, and identity politics.

Personal life

She lives in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Works

Books

* * * * * *

Anthologies

* *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serano, Julia Living people Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area American women biochemists American molecular biologists American spoken word artists Columbia University alumni Bisexual rights activists Bisexual women Bisexual writers Evolutionary biologists LGBT people from California American LGBT musicians LGBT scientists from the United States American LGBT writers Slam poets Transfeminists Transgender musicians Transgender scientists Transgender women Transgender writers Transgender rights activists Women evolutionary biologists Women molecular biologists Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area 1967 births Thomas Jefferson University alumni