julia serano
Julia Serano is a true Renaissance woman—a writer, poet, activist, musician, and biological researcher. A male-to-female transsexual, she uses her talents and perspective to fight for the empowerment of femininity and provides a whole new take on the nature vs. nurture debate. Serano challenges the queer and feminist communities to rethink their celebration of female-to-male transsexuals while dismissing their male-to-female counterparts.
Serano is a slam poetry champion, qualifying for finals and/or semifinals in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Jose. She curated San Francisco's Gender Enders performance series, which has fundraised for Camp Trans, the annual protest held outside of the Michigan Womyn's Festival. Serano’s many public appearances include Stanford University and UC Santa Cruz university, as well as at The National Queer Arts Festival, The San Francisco Pride Dyke March, and Trans March, Ladyfest, outCRY!, Femme 2006, and the 2004 UC Berkeley Production of the Vagina Monologues.
Holding a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University, Serano spends her days exploring the field of developmental and evolutionary biology as a researcher at UC Berkeley. On nights and weekends, she performs with her noise-pop band, Bitesize, on guitar and vocals and as a lyricist.
A prolific writer, Serano has been published in Bitch, Clamor, Kitchen Sink, LiP, and Transgender Tapestry. Recently, she authored Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. A book of essays, it explores the concept of gender, finding a middle ground between social and biological perspectives. She also debunks the myth that trans-women transition in order to attract men. This belief, she says, is rooted in the idea that "women have no worth beyond their ability to be sexualized".
An electrifying speaker, Julia Serano’s presentation span the realms of spoken-word performance, book talks, and thoroughly plumb the most pressing issues related to gender, sexism, and transsexuality.
