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Transmitting Masculinity: FTM Performance and (In)Visibility in a Gender-Polarized Culture

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Transmitting Masculinity: FTM Performance and (In)Visibility in a Gender-Polarized Culture TRANSmitting Masculinity: FTM Performance and (In)Visibility in a Gender-Polarized Culture by Nicole M. Di Fabio B.A. in Anthropology and Women’s Studies, May 2006 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth A Thesis submitted to The Faculty of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts August 31, 2012 Thesis directed by Barbara D. Miller Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs Codirected by Kathleen M. Torrens Associate Professor of Communication Studies The University of Rhode Island © Copyright 2012 by Nicole M. Di Fabio All rights reserved ii Acknowledgements Special thanks to: Dr. Barbara Miller, for encouraging me to pursue my anthropological interests, taking on this project, and seeing it through to the very end. Dr. Kathleen Torrens, for always offering guidance when I need it, continuing to contribute to my growth as a student and human being, and steering me towards success. Dr. Jen Riley, for starting me on my academic journey, introducing me to critical thinking, and for being a mentor and a friend. All of the interview participants who made this project possible. My work family, for being flexible and creating a professional environment that fosters and values my ambition. My Dad and Mom, for always supporting me and my endeavors. My partner, Megan, for being by my side through it all. iii Abstract of Thesis TRANSmitting Masculinity: FTM Performance and (In)Visibility in a Gender-Polarized Culture The goal of this research is to further examine transgender identified persons who have taken steps to either socially or physically transition from female-to-male and the space that they occupy within Western culture. This project is designed to focus on the FTM experience due to their current lack of visibility in both academic research and scholarship, as well as in the social world, particularly within the United States. Gender performance, community, and (in)visibility among FTM transgender identities and the public/private spaces that they accommodate is explored through interviews that have been conducted with five self-identified trans men. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. iii Abstract of Thesis .............................................................................................. iv List of Figures ................................................................................................... vi Glossary of Terms .............................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Literature and Theory: Discovering Gender Variance and the Trans Man ............... 6 Chapter 3: (In)Visibility of the Trans Man in Western Culture ......................................... 21 Chapter 4: Talking with Trans Men: Interviews and Observations ..................................... 25 Chapter 5: Trans Men and Forward Thinking .............................................................. 44 References Cited ............................................................................................... 56 v List of Figures Figure 1 .......................................................................................................... 16 Figure 2 .......................................................................................................... 23 vi Glossary of Terms Cisgender: “A word used to describe individuals whose gender identity matches the expected norms for their sex (for example, a masculine gender identity and male sex). The prefix 'cis' means aligned with or on the same side of. Cisgender, then, means a gender identity aligned with one's ascribed sex (i.e. non-transgender individuals).” [Shapiro 2010:58] Drag King/Queen: “A performance artist who uses gender as a medium for the purposes of art, entertainment, and sometimes education.” [Bostian, Hill, et al. 2011] Embodiment: “The lived body. A state of being in which the body is the site of meaning, experience, and expression of individuals in the world.” [Shapiro 2010:3] FTM: Female-to-male transgender or transsexual person (used interchangeably with “trans man” for this project). Gender: “A social status and personal identity, defined in the United States as a woman or man. As a social status gender is a set of values, beliefs, and norms (rules for behavior) that are created and enforced by society and assigned to individuals on the basis of birth sex. As a personal identity gender refers to an individual’s sense of self as a man, woman, or alternative gender.” [Shapiro 2010:8] Heteronormativity: “Hierarchical system of sexual value” in which “marital, reproductive heterosexuals are alone at the top” of the sexual pyramid. [G. Rubin 1992[1984]:279] MTF: Male-to-female transgender or transsexual person (used interchangeably with “trans woman” for this project). Patriarchy: “A set of social relations between men, which have a material base, and which, though hierarchical, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women.” [Hartmann 2005[1981]:358] vii Performance: “All the activity of a given participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants.” [Goffman 1959:15] Queer: “Umbrella identity term encompassing lesbian, questioning people, gay men, bisexuals, non-labeling people, transgender folks, and anyone else who does not strictly identify as heterosexual.” [LGBT at the University of Michigan, accessed July 28, 2012] Sex: “Socially interpreted meanings of chromosomes, genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics. In the contemporary United States sex takes the form of male, female, and intersex.” [Shapiro 2010:8] Trans man: An individual who was born as a biological female but “changes their sex or gender after birth through social or medical means.” [Shapiro 2010:19] Trans woman: An individual who was born as a biological male but “changes their sex or gender after birth through social or medical means.” [Shapiro 2010:19] Transgender (abbr. “trans”): “Used as an umbrella term that refers to individuals who change their sex or gender after birth through social or medical means. It can also be used to refer more specifically to individuals whose gender differs from their birth sex but who do not take medical steps to alter their body accordingly.” [Shapiro 2010:19] Transsexual: “A term that refers to individuals who take medical steps (e.g. hormones and surgery) to bring their body into alignment with their gender. Transsexualism is currently pathologized through the physical diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder.” [Shapiro 2010:19] viii Chapter 1: Introduction Since the 1950s, the discipline of anthropology has expanded to discuss concepts of gender and sexuality that had not been well developed in earlier theoretical discussions within the field. Western feminist theory, gay and lesbian theory, and queer theory have slowly emerged in the discipline to introduce how sex, gender, and sexuality have an impact on hierarchy, status, and position in culture and society. The ability to discuss transgender identities is something that has unfolded as a result of feminist, gay/lesbian, and queer theories working in tandem. Anthropologists have incorporated these theoretical approaches into the discipline in order to understand and explain transgender identities, particularly among male-to-female (MTF or trans woman) identified people cross-culturally. Still, female- to-male (FTM or trans man) identified people are somewhat less visible in anthropological studies of sex and gender, although, each of these theories has the ability to contribute to understanding why the FTM experience has been muted. Before the second wave of Western feminism in the mid-20th century, society accepted “experts telling women their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers” (Friedan 2005[1963]:198), so women were in an explicitly inferior position to men and seemingly invisible in society. Feminist theory helped to create a voice for women in Western cultures by elevating the status of women and attempting to extinguish the belief that “woman has always been man’s dependent, if not his slave; the two sexes have never shared the world in equality. And even today woman is heavily handicapped, though her situation is beginning to change” (de Beauvoir 2005[1949]:179). Feminism and the Women’s Movement have situated women in a slightly higher position in American culture by placing women’s issues at the forefront of politics and media so the public could no longer turn their backs on women’s concerns. Unfortunately though, marginalization and subordination are still at work because “patriarchy is not simply hierarchal organization, but hierarchy in which particular people fill particular places” (Hartmann 2005[1981]:359-360). Patriarchy is a complex system of structure and 1 dominance that impacts the position of certain groups over others; so, even as females have seen some relief in their oppression, patriarchy has continued to have an effect on hierarchical organization beyond the man/woman dichotomy. Gay and lesbian issues and theories emerged in similar ways, with lesbians speaking out and branching off from the larger Women’s Movement to form a group of women focused on lesbian theories and politics.
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