University of Alberta by Lane Robert Mandlis Doctor of Philosophy
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University of Alberta The (Un)Usual Body: Foundational Transphobia in Psychiatry, Law, and Citizenship by Lane Robert Mandlis A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology ©Lane Robert Mandlis Fall 2011 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votne reference ISBN: 978-0-494-81263-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-81263-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Dedication For Moyra, who has helped me to find the strength and the courage to pursue the changes that I needed to make, pushed me to think, write, and live differently, inspired me, and loved me through it all; For Kali the fierce and compassionate; And for Loki the communicator, the trickster, and the grey; To you I offer this work, my gratitude, and my love. Abstract Trans, following the work of Michel Foucault, deserves a genealogy that unveils some of the practices of gendering within psychiatry, law and citizenship discourses. This thesis examines an intersection between these discourses that is most clearly visible in the case of what has been called the transsexed body, the transsexual body, the transgender body, or trans body. I begin by tracing a previously unwritten history of trans embodiments in psychiatry from Imperial Germany through to present day Canada. The incorporation of psychiatry within law offers an important source of practices of gendering citizens. Through an examination of Canadian legal understandings of trans bodies, differences between the processes of homophobia and transphobia are explored in order to make clearer practices within law that produce trans bodies as disingenuous, deceitful, and fraudulent. In this way, law reifies practices of gendering that produce discrete and insular categories of sex that preclude trans bodies. These initial groundings in psychiatry and law are brought to bear on citizenship practices, as demonstrated through a case study of the Canadian passport application process. Through these examinations, the disavowal of the mutability of the body, as embodied by the slippage or movement between sexes of the trans body, becomes a clear sticking point in struggles for equality. The conclusion thus argues for a trans activism that functions at the level of process and is informed by this thesis' genealogical perspective. Acknowledgements First I would like to thank my supervisor - Rob Shields - for his unwavering support for a multi-faceted transdiscipUnary research project so removed from his usual field of study, for assisting me in seeing through the clouds of confusion, and for remaining a strong ally to the end. I would also like to thank Lise Gotell for offering excellent and supportive advice throughout my learning and writing process, for pushing me to greater depths and clarity, and especially for her friendship and support within the academy and beyond. My thanks also go to Pirkko Markula, who graciously and patiently supported me from the beginning of my specialisation work through to this project's end, who offered me engaging and important feedback, and who reminded me to return to the theory when I needed that reminder most. Thank you to Robert Nichols for filling the role of examiner, as well as to Professor Mariana Valverde for accepting the role of external examiner. Your generosity and the depth of your engagement with my work is very much appreciated. I must also thank the Department of Sociology for supporting me throughout this project. My thanks go to all of the students (above all the members of our writing group: Greg Bowden, Michelle Brady, and Tonya Davidson), faculty (especially Bryan Hogeveen who chaired my exam, Amy Kaler, and Steve Kent), and staff (particularly Cristeen, Flora, and Curtis) of the department and the University of Alberta who assisted me in thinking differently, expressing myself more clearly, and laughing more regularly, and who transitioned along with me. I also want to thank those faculty members who are no longer in the Department, but were important to more work: Charles Barbour and Sharon Rosenberg. In addition, I would like to thank the Graduate Program Coordinators, Lynn Van Reede and Nancy Evans for ensuring throughout the entire process that I remained on track. I would also like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for supporting this research with a Doctoral Fellowship, and the Department of Sociology, the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Students' Association, and the University of Alberta for providing travel funding and other financial support throughout my doctoral program. Thank you also to Sophie, Karen & Seana, Lydie & Isabelle, Carol, Mickey & Arron, Tammy, Taryn, Nelson & Mel, Rod, Debra, Sean, Steve, Andrew, Jan, Joe, Karen, and all the other community members, chosen family, and friends who taught me so many different and important things about change and who supported me through my scholarly and personal transitions. Table of Contents Phase 1: A Foundation to Disavowal 1 Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Questions 2 Language 7 Theory - Art - Everyday 16 (Im)mutability 25 Sex (Re)Assignment 31 Methods 33 Phase 2: Trans History and Psychiatry 40 Chapter 2: Nineteenth Century Sexology and Psychiatry 41 Imperial Germany 46 Sexology 55 Nineteenth Century Psychiatry 65 Degeneracy and Forensic Psychiatry 82 Chapter 3: Psychiatry post 1900 94 Twentieth Century Psychiatry 94 The American Psychiatric Association 111 Historical conclusion 119 Phase 3: Law and Immutability 122 Chapter 4: Trans Jurisprudence 123 Towards a Specifically Trans Strategy 125 Human Rights Mechanisms 132 Overview of usual legal strategy 150 Failure of legal strategy 156 Access to Healthcare 158 Intersectionality 164 Access to Documentation 168 Chapter 5: Human Rights, Transsexed Bodies, and Healthcare in Canada: What Counts as Legal Protection? 171 Introduction 171 The Process of Transphobia 172 Access to Healthcare 177 Social Effects of Legal Strategies 192 Conclusions 200 Phase 4: Citizenship and Everyday Life 203 Chapter 6: Citizenship through Documentation 204 The Passport 206 PPT 152 (03-09) 209 Ethnographic Story 1 215 Ethnographic Story 2 221 (Trans)Sex, (Trans)Gender, and the Residual 229 Ethnographic Story 3 244 Conclusion 248 Phase 5: Future Possibilities 250 Chapter 7: Conclusions, Interventions, and Directions 251 Conclusions 251 Interventions 259 Future Directions 262 Works Cited 267 The (Un) Usual Body Phase 1: A Foundation to Disavowal Transgender studies helps demonstrate the extent to which soma, the body as a culturally intelligible construct, and techne, the techniques in and through which bodies are transformed and positioned, are in fact inextricably interpenetrated. It helps correct an all-too-common critical failure to recognize "the body" not as one (already constituted) object of knowledge among others, but rather as the contingent ground of all our knowledge, and of all our knowing. (Stryker, 2006, p. 12) 1 The (Un) Usual Body Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Questions This dissertation is a synthesis, a process, through which seemingly disparate ideas come together in order to consider a larger phenomenon. Using (largely Lacanian) psychoanalytic theory, legal theory, theories of the body and embodiment, and critical social theory; employing in depth case study, archival theory, and experimental writing, I use the transsexed body as the ground from which to reveal, examine, and break apart binaries such as private/ public and inclusion/ exclusion. I do this by considering in depth the passport as a social justice/ human rights issue that both relates to the transsexed body, and is informed by the transsexed body.