Nina Paley is an American animator and anti-transgender extremist.
Paley is involved in the free culture and “gender critical” movements.
Background
Nina Carolyn Paley was born May 3, 1968 in Urbana, Illinois. Paley’s parent Hiram Paley was a mathematician.
Paley graduated from University High School in 1986 and attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two years before dropping out.
Paley began publishing comics at a young age before moving into animation in 2002 following a divorce.
Paley directed the animated features Sita Sings the Blues (2008) and Seder-Masochism (2018). After having many problems navigating legal clearance for music recorded in the 1920s by Annette Hanshaw, Paley got involved in the free culture movement. Paley releases work under a copyleft license and has created work supporting intellectual property reform.
Paley has been active in debates about overpopulation and has done work for the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.
Anti-trans activism
Paley identifies as gender critical and has made a number of controversial comments about gender identity and expression.
In 2020, Paley was one of 58 signatories to an open letter defending author and anti-transgender activist J.K. Rowling. A number of the signatories have been involved in gender critical activism.
In 2021, Paley and Corinna Cohn started the podcast Heterodorx to discuss gender controversies. In 2023 Paley created a set of playing cards featuring extremists and outliers in recent gender controversies.
References
Merli, Melissa (May 18, 2008). First movie ‘a full-time job’ for Uni High grad, illustrator. The News-Gazette http://www.news-gazette.com/living/2008-05-18/first-movie-full-time-job-uni-high-grad-illustrator.html
Merli, Melissa (October 21, 2012). Studio Visit: Nina Paley. The News-Gazette http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2012-10-21/studio-visit-nina-paley.html
Merli, Melissa (June 13, 2013). Urbana artist Paley putting quilt art on display. The News-Gazette http://www.news-gazette.com/arts-entertainment/local/2013-06-13/urbana-artist-paley-putting-quilt-art-display.html
Merli, Melissa (August 10, 2014). Paley’s ‘This Land Is Mine’ a viral hit. The News-Gazette http://www.news-gazette.com/arts-entertainment/local/2014-08-10/paleys-land-mine-film-viral-hit.html
Ramanathan, Lavanya (September 25, 2008). An Ancient Tale, Newly Animated. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092404245.html
Scott, A.O. (December 24, 2009). Legendary Breakups: Good (Animated) Women Done Wrong in India. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/movies/25sita.html
Bell, Melissa (April 6, 2012). Online leaders look to create offline experiences. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2012/04/05/gIQAUH5E0S_story.html
Dey, Jim (May 7, 2019). Furor over gender issues puts Urbana artist’s film in crosshairs. The News-Gazette https://www.news-gazette.com/news/jim-dey-furor-over-gender-issues-puts-urbana-artists-film-in-crosshairs/article_5a620967-c4dd-5b70-b86d-5729e2097134.html
Hellen, Nicholas (September 27, 2020). Literati rally to JK Rowling’s defence in row over Cormoran Strike book. The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/literati-rally-to-jk-rowlings-defence-in-row-over-cormoran-strike-book-vk5frvvj0
Resources
Nina Paley (ninapaley.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)