Julia Serano
Julia Serano | |
---|---|
Serano in 2018 | |
Born | 1967 (age 56–57) |
Nationality | American |
Education | Philadelphia University PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from Columbia University (1995) |
Employer | UC Berkeley (2003–2012) |
Known for | Trans and bi activism, coining the terms "subconscious sex" and "transmisogyny", criticism of Blanchard's transsexualism typology, writing, spoken word performance |
Notable work | Whipping Girl, Excluded, Outspoken |
Website | www |
Julia Michelle Serano (/səˈrænoʊ/; born 1967)[1] is an American writer, musician, spoken-word performer, transgender and bisexual activist, and biologist. She is known for her transfeminist books, such as Whipping Girl (2007), Excluded (2013), and Outspoken (2016). She is also a public speaker who has given many talks at universities and conferences. Her writing is frequently featured in queer, feminist, and popular culture magazines.
Life
Serano, who was assigned male at birth, 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. 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.[2][3]
Soon afterward, Serano moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where she met her wife, Dani, in 1998. During this time, Serano began identifying as not only a crossdresser but also transgender and bisexual. In 2001, she began medically transitioning and identifying as a transgender woman.[3]
Career
Serano earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from Columbia University.[4] She researched genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Berkeley for 17 years.[5][6]
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.[7] It was named the 16th best nonfiction book of all time by readers of Ms. Magazine.[8] Her third book, Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism, she published herself under Switch Hitter Press,[9] which she founded along with Switch Hitter Records.[10] Outspoken is a 2017 Lambda Literary Award finalist.[11] Her 2020 book, 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel, also published by Switch Hitter, won the Publishing Triangle's 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction[12] and was an Independent Publisher Book Awards 2021 silver medalist in LGBT+ Fiction.[13]
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 and on NPR.[14]
Serano has spoken about transgender and trans women's issues at numerous universities, often at queer, feminist, psychology, and philosophy-themed conferences.[15][16][17][18] In 2023, she gave the keynote address at the Moving Trans History Forward conference at the University of Victoria.[19] Her writings have also been used in teaching materials in gender studies courses across the United States.[20][21]
Serano is a slam poet and has given spoken-word performances at universities as well as at events such as the National Queer Arts Festival, San Francisco Pride Dyke March and Trans March stages, Ladyfest, outCRY!, Femme 2006 and in The Vagina Monologues.[22] She was a guitarist and vocalist for the band Bitesize from 1997 through the early 2000s and has also recorded solo music.[23][16]
Serano organizes and hosts GenderEnders, a performance series that features the work of transgender, intersex, 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.[22]
She writes social justice articles on the website Medium about topics like transgender identity, LGBTQ+ visibility, and identity politics.[24][25]
Personal life
She lives in Oakland, California.[26][27]
Works
Books
- Either/Or. Switch Hitter Press. 2002. OCLC 58926464.
- Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Seal Press. 2007. ISBN 9781580051545. OCLC 81252738.
- Serano, Julia (2013). Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive. Basic Books. ISBN 978-1580055048.
- Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism. Switch Hitter Press. November 2, 2016. ISBN 978-0996881005.
- 99 Erics: A Kat Cataclysm Faux Novel. Switch Hitter Press. 2020. ISBN 978-0996881043.
- Sexed Up: How Society Sexualises Us, and How We Can Fight Back. Basic Books. May 17, 2022. ISBN 9781541674806.[28]
Anthologies
- Friedman, Jaclyn; Valenti, Jessica, eds. (2008). "Why nice guys finish last". Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape. Berkeley, Calif.: Seal Press. pp. 227–240. ISBN 9781580052573. OCLC 227574524.
- Diamond, Morty, ed. (2011). "Cherry Picking". Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary. San Francisco: Manic D Press. ISBN 9781933149561. OCLC 709681495.
References
- ^ Nadia Abushanab Higgins, Feminism: Reinventing the F-Word, Twenty-First Century Books, 2016, p. 99.
- ^ Serano, Julia. "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity," Seal Press, 2007.
- ^ a b Serano, Julia. "Welcome to switch hitter dot net!". Juliaserano.com. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ Her doctoral dissertation is titled: Messenger RNA localization in the Drosophila oocyte
- ^ "Julia Serano – Transforming Care Conference". Transforming Care Conference. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ McCook, Alison (May 1, 2010). "A Transforming Field". The Scientist. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Serano, Julia (October 2013). Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive. Basic Books. ISBN 978-1580055048.
- ^ "Ms. Readers' 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time: The Top 10 and the Complete List! - Ms. Magazine". October 10, 2011.
- ^ Serano, Julia (2016). Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism. Switch Hitter Press. ISBN 978-0996881005.
- ^ "SWITCHHITTER.NET". switchhitter.net. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
- ^ "29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- ^ "Here are the Winners of the 2021 Publishing Triangle Awards". Publishing Triangle. May 12, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results". Independent Publisher. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "Serano, Julia". Litquake. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ "A Social Justice Advocate's Perspective on Call Out Culture, Identity Politics, and Political Correctness – Julia Serano". University of Maine. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ a b Mrzljak, Romana (February 24, 2016). "Trans Activist and Writer Julia Serano to Speak at Webster University". The Vital Voice. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Zhang, Henry (February 27, 2014). "Queer Trans Conference engages with safety, policing". The Phoenix. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Gargano, Jason (November 5, 2013). "Literary: Julia Serano". CityBeat Cincinnati. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ "Moving Trans History Forward 2023 - University of Victoria". UVic.ca. March 22, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ Olsen, Sarah (March 19, 2015). "Women's History Month residency to feature trans activist and biologist". Wright State Newsroom. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ "OUT100: Trans Writer Julia Serano". OUT Magazine. November 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ a b "Julia Serano Renaissance Woman!". Retrieved February 20, 2008.
- ^ Serano, Julia. "Bitesize! -hammering the final nail into indie rock's coffin-". Bitesize!. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ "Julia Serano - Medium". Medium. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ Lopez, German (August 9, 2016). "The debate about transgender children and "detransitioning" is really about transphobia". Vox. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ "Pride Month: A Conversation with Julia Serano – June 24, 2020".
- ^ Carstensen, Jeanne (June 22, 2017). "Julia Serano, Transfeminist Thinker, Talks Trans-Misogyny". The New York Times.
- ^ Bianco, Marcie (July 13, 2022). "Author Julia Serano Separates Sex From Stigma in Sexed Up". The Advocate. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
External links
- Living people
- Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area
- American women biochemists
- American molecular biologists
- American spoken word artists
- Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
- Bisexual rights activists
- Bisexual women musicians
- Bisexual women writers
- Bisexual poets
- Bisexual scientists
- American evolutionary biologists
- LGBT people from California
- American LGBT poets
- American LGBT scientists
- Slam poets
- Transfeminists
- Transgender poets
- Transgender scientists
- Transgender women musicians
- Transgender women writers
- Transgender rights activists
- Women evolutionary biologists
- American women molecular biologists
- Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area
- 1967 births
- Thomas Jefferson University alumni
- American transgender writers
- American bisexual writers
- Transgender bisexual women