Visions of Justice: Whipping Girl Author Julia Serano Considers How We Regard Gender Non-Conformity

By Jackie Leahy

April 27, 2012

Tonight, at 7:30 p.m. in Weinstein Auditorium, scholar Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, will give a lecture entitled “On Gender Entitlement and Perception.”

Transcending Gender, an advocacy group for gender-nonconforming students and their allies at Smith College, is sponsoring Serano’s visit. But, according to Kati Giblin  ’15, the group’s historian, it was actually Serano who contacted the group first, as part of an effort to reach out to gender related organizations at many colleges and universities.

“How we got her here? It’s kind of a funny story,” said Giblin. “Transcending Gender uses a gmail account, but Smith College sets up Smith accounts for every student org … We found out that we had another e-mail account with a handful of e-mails in it, and once we figured out how to log in, we found that Julia Serano had contacted us to help bring her to Smith! So in March, Claire Brown ’14, one of our two co-chairs, e-mailed her and asked if she would still like to visit. Of course, even though Serano has a busy schedule, she still wanted to come to Smith College.” . . . Read More

“We’re always performing gender, but we don’t think about it all the time”

by Alli Langley

April 30, 2013

Nic Bravo darted from the kitchen, to a table, to the bar, back to another table.

She smiled as she refilled water glasses. She prepped silverware and chatted with two customers who came to see her every week at The Jones Eastside, the restaurant where she worked for about a year.

Her dark brown hair and blonde highlights fell much longer on the left side of her face. The 25-year-old wore a striped pink tank top, a black skirt, bright turquoise tights and black flower-printed boots. She stood at 5-foot-9 with a thin build, broad shoulders and a low-pitch voice. . .Read More

Purchase College volleyball player finds support in gender transition

Written by

DAN DEFRANCESCO

PURCHASE — Who is Taylor Edelmann?

He’s a 21-year-old Purchase College senior, a native of Bethel, Conn., and a captain of the men’s volleyball team. He’s a resident assistant, a club co-president and a research assistant. On the off chance he has a spare moment between practices, games and meetings, he’s a drummer in a jam band on campus.

And, he is formerly a she.

Born a female, Edelmann identifies as a male and has been undergoing a physical transition, via testosterone shots, for more than a year and a half. But Edelmann said that’s only a small part of what makes him the person he is. . . Read More