I recently read a book by Julia Serano titled Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity that caught my attention because of its perspective on the devaluing of femininity, especially within the transgender / transsexual community. Due to my interest in this book, I decided to conduct a search for more information, and came across a rather informative interview with Serano that was published by Bitch Magazine.
One of the most intriguing points raised was that our view of femininity is male-centric. Furthermore, current feminist efforts to combat sexism can in fact create new forms of sexism. Serano writes, "Whenever I hear a feminist argue that women are subordinating themselves to men when they dress up, to me it sounds like a slightly toned-down version of 'women who dress provocatively are asking for it.' It’s the same argument." Serano's vision of a new approach to valuing femininity was riveting, and I highly recommend the book to everyone, but especially feminists who are taught that feminine traits should be avoided at all costs.
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