So up until recently I had my uni's only copy of Whipping Girl out on loan (until it was requested by another person) and this is my 2nd readthrough. Only got to Chapter 6 before I had to return it to the library, but there's an idea I kept thinking as I read and made notes.
Serano seems to be aware of oppositional sexism only when it is external to her. In her book (treating it as a snapshot into her views when writing it) she routinely condemns oppositional sexism while her own internalised oppositional sexism is used to make hamfisted and out-of-touch comparisons with trans men and nonbinary people.
On page 108 of the revised edition I was reading, she talks about some other queer theory approaches she doesn't like, such as the idea that gender and sex are constructs, because she thinks they fail to combat oppositional sexism (I wholly disagree with her conclusions academically, but that's an essay for another day). Serano goes on to say that they are "counterproductive in the fight against oppositional sexism because they marginalize and make invisible the experiences of other queers"*
[*note, this is said 18 pages after she tries to claim that nonbinary people can have (I quote) "binary-phobia" against binary trans people. On the surface "marginalize and make invisible the experiences of other queers" sounds like legitimate criticism, however I'm more than concerned she means to imply nonbinary people talking about gender abolition are making binary trans people invisible. This is a recurring problem with Serano's work as her many salient criticisms of legitimate problems are bundled in with exorsexist and transandrophobic arguments that don't hold up, making legitimate criticism suspect on first glance (on the part of well-meaning critics, such as myself and others)].
Serano rails against oppositional sexism, but leans upon gender-essentialist views of trans men for certain arguments to work (e.g. the music festival comparison).
I'm low on spoons rn and this isn't a fully fleshed out post, but the book as it stands seems to have some really really obvious blind spots that have caused transfeminism to go in a direction that has served binary trans women, but few other people. And that should warrant legitimate criticism I think.
