RECONCEIVING CROSS-DRESSING: Transphobia and Support for MTF Transgender People Socialising in Manchester’S Gay Village
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RECONCEIVING CROSS-DRESSING: Transphobia and Support for MTF Transgender People Socialising in Manchester’s Gay Village By Lee Robert Jack Middlehurst Ph.D. Sociology and Criminology Manchester Metropolitan University 2013 ABSTRACT This thesis presents investigations of Male-To-Female (MTF) transgender people, mostly those who are cross-dressers/transvestites, socialising in Manchester’s Gay Village. A systematic review of the academic literature related to transgender issues indicates that no previous extensive research has been presented which analyses contemporary gender divergent (trans*) people in Manchester. The incomplete academic knowledge on current transgenderism, particularly transvestic identities, has been recognised by representatives of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the UK Government Home Office. These deficient understandings comprise transphobic discriminations. Therefore, this thesis enhances academic information of contemporary transgenderism. This thesis includes findings and developed theories, deriving from aspects of Grounded Theory and Template Analysis, which reflect the deconstructive methodologies developed in postmodern theory. Postmodernism rejects the ‘grand narratives' of truth and science, with a greater emphasis upon the lived experience and expertise of those studied. The investigations undertaken for this study include a reflective/reflexive ethnographic analysis of the assistance to trans* people in Manchester by individuals and support organisations. Thirty-seven interviews with key informants were conducted. This thesis also deploys digital ethnography to examine Internet trans* supportive discourses, which either relate to or emerge from social circles linked to the Gay Village. Additionally, related quantitative information concerning trans* matters is re-presented which is drawn from 390,227 international online data inputs. Moreover, this study documents the annual transgender Sparkle celebrations in Manchester from 2005 to 2012, which attracts thousands of MTF transgender people (trans* women). The analysis is further sustained by critical explorations of transgender supportive political actions by agents of trans* organisations, the Manchester City Council and the UK national Government. The thesis employs a mix of methods and critical methodology. It challenges conceptual hierarchies in which the trans* person is low down the scale of social acceptance, and instead deconstructs contemporary ‘scientific knowledge’ to provide innovative insights into the actual experiences of present-day trans* identities. The research contributes to knowledge concerning transgenderism and highlights the potentially harmful impacts from inadequate medical, legal and academic recognitions of trans* people. 1 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS Of course, I thank my mum and dad. Without them I wouldn’t be here at all to write this! They’ve also given me so much support and encouragement over the years. Additionally, my closest friend, Liz, has helped me so much, including not complaining when I kept talking and talking and talking about this PhD… My cat’s been a constant (if demanding) supportive companion as well. She’s wanted attention when I just didn’t have time to give it to her because I was writing or reading or out interviewing or out observing things or out talking with representatives from so many organisations… And thank you to my other friends for being there. Several became interviewees too! Great thanks go to Katie Glover who supported my research. She enabled her Gender Society website to host my distinctive international quantitative analyses into transgenderism. I’m grateful to the staff at Manchester Metropolitan University, notably those within the Student Academic Services; the Research, Enterprise and Development Office; and the Equality and Diversity Team. Inevitably, I give thanks to my supervisors and other advisors. Dr. Christian Klesse supported my application to study at the university and has always been there as my supervisor. He assisted my application to become a Public Engagement Ambassador. He encouraged the university to support my trip to Vancouver, Canada, in order to talk about my research. Furthermore, he’s put up with me at times when I’ve been… very impassioned about aspects of my research. Before Prof. Stephen Whittle agreed to become my supervisor, he seemingly knew about aspects of my research. Just a few months after I’d launched my online international questionnaires for transgenderism, he told me he knew about them. That was over a year before he became my supervisor! His advice has powerfully shaped my PhD in unexpected ways (including telling me to know about EThOS). I’m also very grateful to Prof. Steven Miles who assisted in checking my work at the final stages of completing this thesis and giving useful advice to improve it before submission. Certainly, they also strongly shaped my academic writing. This includes that this page is the only time I get to use abbreviations or talk about my pesky cat… 2 RECONCEIVING CROSS-DRESSING: Transphobia and Support for MTF Transgender People Socialising in Manchester’s Gay Village CONTENTS ABSTRACT . 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 2 PREVIOUSLY ASSESSED ASPECTS OF THE RESEARCH . 7 1. THESIS INTRODUCTION . 8 Prelude Modernism, Postmodernism and Poststructuralism Social Geography and Manchester’s Cosmopolitan Gay Village The Research Development The Research Chapters in This Thesis 2. REVIEWING LITERATURE 2.1 HISTORY OR HIRSTORY . 29 Chapter Introduction Early Transgenderism The Age of Enlightment Contemporary Transgenderism Conclusion 2.2 MEDICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND ACADEMIC ANALYSES . 42 Chapter Introduction Medical Analyses of Transgenderism The Psychoanalyses of Cross-dressing The Psychological Views of Nurture Influencing Transvestism Biological Determinism of Transgenderism Analyses of Transvestism Within Social Science Viewpoints The Empire Strikes Back Analyses of Transgenderism in the UK Conclusion 2.3 NON-ACADEMIC ANALYSES . 79 Chapter Introduction Historical Review of Transgenderism Within Visual Performances Women’s Magazines Featuring Transgenderism Newspapers Featuring Transgenderism Examinations of Transgenderism by MTF Trans* People 1) Trans* Biographies 2) Trans* Magazines Conclusion 3 3. HISTORY OF MANCHESTER AND THE GAY VILLAGE . 106 Chapter Introduction The Development of Manchester The Development of the Gay Village Conclusion 4. OPENING THE METAL BOX: METHODOLOGIES AND METHODS 4.1 METHODOLOGIES . 117 Chapter Introduction The Postmodern Research Framework The Melancholia of Researchers The Development of Empathic Research Ethnographic Researching Queering Research of Transgenderism Feminist Standpoint Grounded Theory Template Analysis Participant Observation Participatory Action Research Personal Awareness Conclusion 4.2 METHODS . 144 Chapter Introduction Preparations for the Research Quantitative Research 1) Pilot Questionnaires 2) International Online Questionnaires Qualitative Research 1) Digital Ethnography and Email Interviews 2) Ethnographic Research and Interviewing in ‘Reality’ 3) Focus Group Interviewing 4) Interviewing Individuals 5) Analyses of the Interviews Outcomes and Impacts of My Research Conclusion 5. TERMINOLOGIES . 170 Chapter Introduction Transsexualism and Transvestism Transvestism and Cross-Dressing (or Cross Dressing or Crossdressing or…) Queer Identities Insider Terminologies 1) Transvestite and Cross-dresser 2) Transsexual Cissexual and Cisgender Conclusion 4 6. GEN(D)ERALISED PERCEPTIONS . 189 Chapter Introduction False Perceptions Gender Insecurities Passing Transvestic Fetishism and Fétichisme A Cross-dresser’s Self-perceptions The Village in Space Transsexualism Vs. Transvestism Binaries Conclusion 7. ONLINE SUPPORT . 207 Chapter Introduction Trans* Support and the Village Before the Internet Contemporary Trans* Support on the Internet 1) ‘UK Angels’ 2) ‘Rose’s Forum’ 3) ‘TVChix’ 4) Mainstream Websites Conclusion 8. SOCIAL SUPPORT . 223 Chapter Introduction Support for Trans* People in Manchester The Development of the Northern Concord From the Northern Concord to the Manchester Concord The Change of Venue for the Manchester Concord Conclusion 9. CONNECTIONS OF TRANS* IDENTITIES . 235 Chapter Introduction Connections between Transvestism and Transsexualism Social Connections of Trans* Identities in the Village Counselling for Trans* People Conclusion 10. VISUAL EXPRESSIONS . 247 Chapter Introduction Clothing and Gender Dysphoria Drag and Drab Gaining Skills and Self-Belief Power and Sex Power and Trauma Power and Politics Conclusion 5 11. SPARKLE . 262 Chapter Introduction Eight Years On Development of the Sparkle festivals Sparkle 2010 Sparkle 2011 Sparkle 2012 Conclusion 12. TRANSPHOBIA . 282 Chapter Introduction Violence in the Village Transphobic Incidents Within and Near the Village ‘Heterosexualisation’ of the Village Transphobic Gay People in the Village Transphobia Outside the Village The Gradual Dissolution of Transphobia in Manchester? Conclusion 13. POLITICAL SUPPORT 13.1 TRANS* ORGANISATIONS . 296 Chapter Introduction TransForum TREC Conclusion 13.2 HUMAN RIGHTS, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS . 305 Chapter Introduction The Trans Research Review The Assistance for Trans* People by Manchester City Council The Assistance for Trans* People by National Government Representatives 1) The Equality Act (2010) 2) The Trans Community Statement of Need: Version 26 April 2011 3) Advancing Transgender Equality: a Plan for Action Combining the Social and Political