by Lina Schmidt, ’15
Stanford Students for Queer Liberation would like to invite you to “What We Think of Blue and Pink,” a discussion with activist Julia Serano on Tuesday, January 15th at 7:30 PM in the Black Community Services Center. Students of all disciples are welcome at Dr. Serano’s talk, which will examine social conceptions of gender — for example, the idea that pink is “for girls” and blue is “for boys.” Such prejudices are reinforced through media, literature, and even theories of psychology. Dr. Serano examines this in her book, Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman On Sexism and the Scapegoating of Feminity.
Whipping Girl broke ground when it came out in 2007, because it provides a way of looking at gender that makes room for everyone’s differences and different experiences, while finding the underlying patterns. Her book opened room for people to think clearly about how to make the world fairer without forcing anyone to deny who they are.
Described as a “true renaissance woman,” Dr. Serano is not only an author but a scientist and a poet. As a result, she has a unique perspective that she has continued developing, online and offline. Members of STATIC, SSQL, QSA, the Program in Feminist Studies, GradQ and the GSC are excited to share — and would like you to share in it as well! Regardless of your level of experience with activism or gender and sexuality studies, this talk is a great opportunity to think about what shapes our culture. Julia is open to questions, so please feel free to ask.
In order to ensure accessibility, we ask that you come fragrance-free to the event. (Two guides here.) Please contact esqg@stanford.edu if you have questions about accessibility.
Lina Schmidt is a sophomore from Bainbridge Island, Washington. Currently undeclared, she enjoys playing music and is interested in how gender and sexuality affect musical performance. She hopes to see you at this event, and can be reached at lina93@stanford.edu.