Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism

by Julia Serano

In her third book A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism, Julia Serano chronicles her own personal evolution and the many shifts in transgender activism that have occurred since the dawn of the twenty-first century. It is a personal history of where transgender activism has recently been, and a passionate & insightful analysis of where it should head in the future. This collection compiles forty-eight of her previously unpublished and difficult to find trans-themed writings, including her early slam poems and spoken word, essays and manifestos written contemporaneously with her acclaimed books Whipping A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity and Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive, plus her recent work addressing differences within transgender communities and activism. These pieces are augmented with thoughtful introductions and interludes that contextualize the issues at hand and previous periods in transgender activism. Combining elements of memoir, historical account, gender theory, and activist philosophy, this book is a must for anyone who has appreciated Serano's previous books and/or has an interest in transgender identities, experiences, perspectives, and progress.

Genres: Queer, LGBT, Feminism, Nonfiction, Transgender, Gender, Politics

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Julia Serano is an Oakland, California-based writer, spoken word performer, activist, and biologist. She is the author of several award-winning books, including Whipping Girl, Excluded, and her debut novel 99 Erics. Julia's forthcoming book – Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back – will be released by Seal Press in May, 2022. Julia’s other writings have appeared in over twenty anthologies, in news and media outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, Salon, The Daily Beast, and Ms., and have been used as teaching materials in college courses across North America.

Reviews

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not very politically active outside of passing out a few act-up flyers in the 1980s and one protest in downtown Bridgeport in the 1990s I mostly just vote and donate and go to the occasional meeting. I suppose I could become more active but being older and not used to doing much I could do more but it doesn't seem likely. I admire people like Serano who are much more committed to their cause. She writes on Transgender issues with a passion. She is probably about my age but she has done a hell of a lot more with her time.

update 7/6/2021 First read Serano shortly after coming out. She is a good guide on the terrain of politics as it relates to Transfemme politics. Of course, no one author should be the only source on the political issues and terrain but Serano grapples with most major issues transwomen contend. Good primer.

Update 1/7/2022 Some of the early stories in Serano's transition seem to hit me. Some of the revelations and fears have a resonance with me in my early stage transition. The anxiety of presenting for the first few times and furtive attempts at trying out girl mode tentatively at first and growing more confident over time. Of course, I came out in a better climate thanks largely to activists like Serano.

https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Docum...

https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfO3...
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following reviews


READING PROGRESS
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December 12, 2020 – Shelved as: american-history
December 12, 2020 – Shelved as: early-twenty-first-century
December 12, 2020 – Shelved as: lbgtqia
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December 12, 2020 – Shelved as: politics
December 12, 2020 – Shelved as: economics
December 12, 2020 – Finished Reading

[Trauermaerchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was interesting, I found it to be at times too shallow and not differentiated enough, especially when it came to the concepts of femininity and masculinity. While most likely unintentional, the way the author talks about butches feels at times invalidating / uncomfortable. Again, I think this is moreso an issue of clumsy wording but I had a hard time with it.

The writing itself would probably translate better over speech but it wasn't really my style either way. Like I already mentioned I would've wanted more careful wording at times and it just overall wasn't for me melodically. Still, I appreciated it's directness.

I'm sure one can find a lot of value in this but I've read other texts on this topic I prefered.

[Ozy Frantz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am generally a huge fan of Serano's, but this book left me cold. I think her spoken-word pieces lose a lot by being transcribed instead of spoken, and generally come off as shapeless and limply confessional. Many of these essays I had already read. She indulges one of her worst traits: her obsession with feminist inside baseball of limited interest to anyone who doesn't live in San Francisco. A few essays, such as her essay on female/feminine embodiment fantasies, were truly insightful. At her best, Serano uses transness as a lens to examine gender as a whole; this collection sticks narrowly to trans issues and is the poorer for it.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find Julia's work so interesting and motivating. Her thoughts on the divisive nature of activism and how we can work together to meet our common goals of less oppression/sexism/etc., are so well-written.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this! Skipped around in it but appreciated the writing about transmisogyny and cissexism, particularly the chapter Cissexism and Cis Privilege Revisited: Part 2 and it’s discussion of reverse discourse vs. decenterin the binary.

[WallofText · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read A Personal History of the "T-word" (and some more general reflections on language and activism)


Really fascinating! A bit clunky with the footnotes but great insights into the evolution of language in the trans community and activist circles more broadly.

[Ferris Mx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful and carefully reasoned. Whipping Girl is definitely the better starting place though.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Serano is always long-winded with flashes of brilliance. She likes to propose new classification systems and concepts and vocabulary, which are usually insightful and helpful but sometimes a bit much. This book was in the same vein, except that its mission as a chronicle of her time as an activist led her to include some pieces that were repetitive for the sake of completeness. I liked the spoken-word pieces and especially liked the essay where she talks about assimilation, integration, and separatism. There's always a point in her work where I grab a pencil and start underlining because something seems so insightful. But in this book the extensive footnotes, introductory notes, and cross-references between chapters weighted the book down, and it required a little push to get myself to finish.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not very politically active outside of passing out a few act up flyers in the 1980s and one protest in downtown Bridgeport in the 1990s I mostly just vote and donate and go to the occasional meeting. I suppose I could become more active but being older and not used to doing much I could do more but it doesn't seem likely. I admire people like Serano who are much more committed to their cause. She writes on Transgender issues with a passion. She is probably about my age but she has done a hell of a lot more with her time.

https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Docum...

https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfO3...