Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back

"When the mainstream transgender rights movement was still a glimmer on the horizon, Julia Serano's smash-hit manifesto Whipping Girl revolutionized the way we think about gender. With the movement for trans rights now at the center of our cultural debates, Julia Serano returns with a groundbreaking exploration of what it means to be sexualized. We tend to think of sexualization-that is, when people are reduced to their sexual bodies-as an issue that only affects women. But, as Serano deftly reveals, society sexualizes everyone along dehumanizing double standards, to disastrous effects. She shows how a predator-and-prey dynamic leads straight men to both admire and deride their partners, how bisexuals are stereotyped as "greedy," and how trans people aremaligned as "entrappers" of cisgender people. Along the way, she unpacks why queerness is thought of as contagious, how people of color are sexualized to justify violence against them, and more broadly, how sexualization harms us all. Julia Serano confronts these arbitrary social rules, showing us that they're not natural or innate but instead are constructed. She then reveals powerful new ways to resist, by affirming consent and redefining courtship, so that we can forge life-affirming values for futuregenerations. Written with an activist's passion, a scientist's meticulous research, and a bisexual trans woman's wealth of lived experiences, Sexed Up provides a breath of fresh air for seasoned activists and newcomers alike. Engaging, lively, and provocative, written with a persuasive blend of personal anecdotes and scientific evidence, Sexed Up shows us why Julia Serano remains an unmatched voice leading us toward necessary change"--
The author of the groundbreaking manifesto Whipping Girl—and a pioneering activist, biologist and trans woman—argues that sexualization is a far more pervasive problem and that liberation from sexual violence comes through collectively confronting sexualization itself. 20,000 first printing.
The author of landmark manifesto Whipping Girl exposes the violent ways we are all sexualized–then offers a bold path for resistance Feminists have long challenged the ways in which men tend to sexualize women. But pioneering activist, biologist, and trans woman Julia Serano argues that sexualization is a far more pervasive problem, as it’s something that we all do to other people, often without being aware of it. Why do we perceive men as sexual predators and women as sexual objects? Why are LGBTQ+ people stereotyped as being sexually indiscriminate and deceptive? Why are people of color still being hypersexualized? These stereotypes push minorities farther into the margins, and even the privileged are policed from transgressing, lest they also become targets. Many view sexualization as a mere component of sexism, racism, or queerphobia, but Serano argues that liberation from sexual violence comes through collectively confronting sexualization itself.