Julia Serano

Julia Serano is a true Renaissance woman: a writer, performer, activist, musician, and biologist. Her latest book, Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back (Seal Press, 2022), has just been released — you can read praise, reviews, and excerpts from the book via that link.

Julia is best known for her book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity (Seal Press, 2007, 2016), a collection of personal essays that debunk many of the myths and misconceptions that people have about trans women, femininity, and the subjects of gender and sexism more generally. NPR called it “...a foundational text for anyone hoping to understand transgender politics and culture in the U.S. today, particularly as experienced and shaped by trans women.” In addition, Ms. Magazine ranked it #16 on their list of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time.

Her other notable books include Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive (Seal Press, 2013), which was a finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction and was named to several best books of the 2010s list. And Julia’s first full-length foray into fiction, 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel (Switch Hitter Press, 2020), was the winner of the Publishing Triangle’s 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, an Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) 2021 silver medalist in LGBT+ Fiction, and one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books of 2021.

Julia’s writings have also appeared in over twenty anthologies and in media outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Salon, AlterNet.org, The Advocate, Out, Bitch, and Ms. Magazine. In addition, they are often used as teaching materials in gender studies, queer/LGBTQ studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and human sexuality courses in colleges across North America.

Julia is also an accomplished spoken word artist and musician. She is a slam poetry champion (having previously qualified for finals and semifinals in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Jose). In addition, she has performed spoken word at a variety of high-profile events, including Toronto Pride, San Francisco Pride Main Stage, The San Francisco Dyke March, Ladyfest Bay Area, and The National Queer Arts Festival. As a musician, Julia was the lyricist-guitarist-vocalist for the indie-rock trio Bitesize. During their heyday, Bitesize released two critically acclaimed CDs, toured up and down the West Coast, and received college radio airplay nationwide. Julia’s current lo-fi noise-pop solo music project is called *soft vowel sounds*.

In addition, Julia has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University and spent 17 years as a researcher at UC Berkeley in the fields of genetics, evolution, and developmental biology. Her understanding of biology, along with her life experiences as a trans woman, give her a unique perspective on gender and sexism that challenges many commonly held beliefs. She has given performances, presentations, and keynote talks on topics related to feminism and LGBTQ+ issues at a diverse array of colleges and conferences.