DOCSLIB.ORG

The Transgendered Phenomenon and Its Challenge to Ethnology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Transgendered Phenomenon and Its Challenge to Ethnology UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1998 Indexing androgyny: The transgendered phenomenon and its challenge to ethnology Christopher Todd White University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation White, Christopher Todd, "Indexing androgyny: The transgendered phenomenon and its challenge to ethnology" (1998). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 874. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/4b14-t311 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the t«rt directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infomiaticn Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INDEXING ANDROGYNY: THE TRANSGENDERED PHENOMENON AND ITS CHALLENGE TO ETHNOLOGY by C. Todd White Bachelor of Arts University of Nebraska, Lincoln 1990 Master of Arts University of Missouri, Kansas City 1994 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies University of Nevada, Las Vegas M ay 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1390811 UMI Microform 1390811 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1998 C. Todd W hite All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas A p r i1 27 1998 The Thesis prepared by C. Todd W h ite Entitled INnFXTNfi ANDROGYNY: THF TRAN-SfiENHFRFD PHENOMFNQN- AND ITS CHALLENGE TO ETHNOLOGY is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts L . 1 . V Dean of the Gradifiitc College txaminat^iyC.of)imi^(ec Member / ExiVuinaTtUTTcoinniittcc Member ijrniiitntc Qoluyc Facultif' ^'prcsciitatiz'f 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT INDEXING ANDROGYNY: THE TRANSGENDERED PHENOMENON AND ITS CHALLENGE TO ETHNOLOGY by C. Todd White Dr. William Jankowiak, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Anthropology University of Nevada, Las Vegas This thesis will focus on the hfe experiences of transsexual individuals living in the Las Vegas community. This is an ethnographic study that includes field research, extensive interviews, and library research. Through this study I hope to gain better insight as to what motivated these individuals to seek surgical sex reassignment. I wish to explore the similarities and differences between preoperative transsexuals and other transgendered persons, and I hope to tie the experiences of local transsexuals to the experiences of transsexuals in other parts of America in order to determine if there are any social or environmental conditions that may affect transsexuality, such as the availability of estrogen or the degree of acceptance of alternative gender roles within a community. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................üi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1 1 Prologue..................................................................................................................................2 Introduction: One Plus One Equals Six.......................................................................... 2 Introductions......................................................................................................................... 3 Terms and Concepts .............................................................................................................6 Overview ............................................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER TWO: ON THE PRAGMATICS OF AN ANDROGYNOUS STYLE OF SPEAKING.................................................................... 16 Conclusion............................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER THREE: "I AM WOMAN": THE NARRATIVE OF A TRANSSEXUAL IN PRISON..........................................................................................29 Transsexuals and Hijras: Some Cross Cultural Considerations................................ 33 CHAPTER FOUR: ROLE REVERSALS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES...................................... 37 One Body, Two Spirits ..................................................................................................... 39 Gender: The Gender Continuum................................................................................... 44 The Cross Over ...................................................................................................................48 APPENDIX A: TRANSCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW................................................................ 53 APPENDIX B: GRADUATE COLLEGE PERMISSIONS AND QUESTIONNAIRE .............. 58 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Informed Consent............................................................................................................... 58 Questions for Transsexual Interviews.......................................................................... 61 References Cited..................................................................................................................63 VITA ................................................................................................................................................68 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my consultants for this study, Marty, MeUnda, Bridgitte, and Michelle, without whose confidence and support this project could never have been completed. I also thank my primary advisors on this thesis. Dr. Gary Palmer, Dr. Wilham Jankowiak, and Dr. P. Jane Hafen, and my colleagues Heather Bennett and Steve Audelo for their support and editorial assistance. Thanks to David Valentine, Walter L. Williams, and Wesley Thomas for their criticisms and perspectives. Thanks also to William L. Leap for providing the forum in which chapter two developed and to Susan Frenk, who selected it for publication and helped shape it into competed form. Special thanks to Robert M. Foster, Jr., for patience and understanding and for giving me such a wonderful place to live as I embarked on this project. And most of all, I thank my parents, Barbara and Eric White and Clarence and Deane Geier for a lifetime of support and encouragement. VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER ONE Prologue During a recent faculty meeting at an urban University in the Southwestern United
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women and Self-Efficacy: a Comparison of Lesbian
    WOMEN AND SELF-EFFICACY: A COMPARISON OF LESBIAN, HETEROSEXUAL, ANDROGYNOUS, AND FEMININE TYPED WOMEN By Elisa B. Setmire A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Art In Psychology: Counseling May, 2007 WOMEN AND SELF-EFFICACY: A COMPARISON OF LESBIAN, HETEROSEXUAL, ANDROGYNOUS, AND FEMININE TYPED WOMEN By Elisa Setmire Approved by the Master’s Thesis Committee: ________________________________________________________________________ Emily Sommerman, Major Professor Date ________________________________________________________________________ T. Mark Harwood, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________________________________ Chris Aberson, Committee Member Date T. Mark Harwood, Graduate Coordinator Date ________________________________________________________________________ Chris A. Hopper, Interim Dean Date Research, Graduate Studies & International Programs ABSTRACT WOMEN AND SELF-EFFICACY: A COMPARISON OF LESBIAN, HETEROSEXUAL, ANDROGYNOUS, AND FEMININE TYPED WOMEN. by Elisa B. Setmire This study examined lesbian women in comparison to heterosexual women across the constructs of gender-role identity and general self-efficacy. The measurements employed in this research design included the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bem, 1978) and the Sherer Self-Efficacy Scale (Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice, Dunn, Jacobs, and Rogers, 1982); sexual orientation was assessed through self-identification. As predicted, general
    [Show full text]
  • Hegemonic Masculinity and Transphobia Marilyn Chung Southern Illinois University Carbondale, [email protected]
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Theses Theses and Dissertations 5-1-2017 Hegemonic Masculinity and Transphobia Marilyn Chung Southern Illinois University Carbondale, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses Recommended Citation Chung, Marilyn, "Hegemonic Masculinity and Transphobia" (2017). Theses. 2089. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2089 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY AND TRANSPHOBIA by Marilyn Chung B.S., University of California, Davis, 2014 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree Department of Psychology in the Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale May 2017 THESIS APPROVAL HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY & TRANSPHOBIA By MARILYN CHUNG A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the field of Psychology Approved by: Tawanda M. Greer-Medley, PhD, Chair Kathleen Chwalisz Rigney, PhD Kristen M. Barber, PhD Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale 1/17/2017 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF MARILYN CHUNG, for the MASTERS OF ARTS degree in PSYCHOLOGY, presented on January 17, 2017 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY AND TRANSPHOBIA MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Tawanda Greer-Medley Transphobia research has focused on predictors and correlations of prejudice toward transgender people. Consistently, male participants have higher transphobic attitudes compared to female participants in various studies. Further, males are overrepresented in crimes against transgender people.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aesthetics of Mainstream Androgyny
    The Aesthetics of Mainstream Androgyny: A Feminist Analysis of a Fashion Trend Rosa Crepax Goldsmiths, University of London Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in Sociology May 2016 1 I confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Rosa Crepax Acknowledgements I would like to thank Bev Skeggs for making me fall in love with sociology as an undergraduate student, for supervising my MA dissertation and encouraging me to pursue a PhD. For her illuminating guidance over the years, her infectious enthusiasm and the constant inspiration. Beckie Coleman for her ongoing intellectual and moral support, all the suggestions, advice and the many invaluable insights. Nirmal Puwar, my upgrade examiner, for the helpful feedback. All the women who participated in my fieldwork for their time, patience and interest. Francesca Mazzucchi for joining me during my fieldwork and helping me shape my methodology. Silvia Pezzati for always providing me with sunshine. Laura Martinelli for always being there when I needed, and Martina Galli, Laura Satta and Miriam Barbato for their friendship, despite the distance. My family, and, in particular, my mum for the support and the unpaid editorial services. And finally, Goldsmiths and everyone I met there for creating an engaging and stimulating environment. Thank you. Abstract Since 2010, androgyny has entered the mainstream to become one of the most widespread trends in Western fashion. Contemporary androgynous fashion is generally regarded as giving a new positive visibility to alternative identities, and signalling their wider acceptance. But what is its significance for our understanding of gender relations and living configurations of gender and sexuality? And how does it affect ordinary people's relationship with style in everyday life? Combining feminist theory and an aesthetics that contrasts Kantian notions of beauty to bridge matters of ideology and affect, my research investigates the sociological implications of this phenomenon.
    [Show full text]
  • Butch-Femme by Teresa Theophano
    Butch-Femme by Teresa Theophano Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. Entry Copyright © 2004, glbtq, inc. Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com A butch-femme couple The concept of butch and femme identities have long been hotly debated within the participating in a group lesbian community, yet even achieving a consensus as to exactly what the terms wedding ceremony in "butch" and "femme" mean can be extraordinarily difficult. In recent years, these Taiwan. words have come to describe a wide spectrum of individuals and their relationships. It is easiest, then, to begin with an examination of butch-femme culture and meaning from a historical perspective. Butch and femme emerged in the early twentieth century as a set of sexual and emotional identities among lesbians. To give a general but oversimplified idea of what butch-femme entails, one might say that butches exhibit traditionally "masculine" traits while femmes embody "feminine" ones. Although oral histories have demonstrated that butch-femme couples were seen in America as far back as the turn of the twentieth century, and that they were particularly conspicuous in the 1930s, it is the mid-century working-class and bar culture that most clearly illustrate the archetypal butch-femme dynamic. Arguably, during the period of the 1940s through the early 1960s, butches and femmes were easiest to recognize and characterize: butches with their men's clothing, DA haircuts, and suave manners often found their more traditionally styled femme counterparts, wearing dresses, high heels, and makeup, in the gay bars. A highly visible and accepted way of living within the lesbian community, butch-femme was in fact considered the norm among lesbians during the 1950s.
    [Show full text]
  • Androgyny by Tina Gianoulis
    Androgyny by Tina Gianoulis Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. tanya (2008) by Lola Entry Copyright © 2004, glbtq, inc. Flash is part of her Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com "epicene" series, which the artist describes as Created by combining the Greek words for man (andros) and woman (gynaika), "girls who look like boys androgyny describes the blending of male and female characteristics within a single and vice versa." Image courtesy Lola individual. Though the term "hermaphrodite" is sometimes given as a synonym for Flash. androgyne, androgyny is generally understood today to be a psychological blending of Copyright © 2008 Lola gender traits, while hermaphroditism describes those who possess some of the actual Flash. sex organs of both genders. Androgyny has long been embraced by strong women, soft men, members of queer communities, and others who do not easily fit into traditionally defined gender categories. The Androgyne as a Divine Union of Earthly Principles Some cultures have revered the androgyne as a divine union of earthly principles, and many religions have worshipped gods that represented the combination of male and female. The Greek god of wine and sensuality, Dionysos, was believed to be androgynous, as was Hapi, the Egyptian god of the Nile. Practitioners of the Voudoun religion of Africa, South America, and the Caribbean honor the androgyne Obatala as the creator of humankind and the bringer of peace. The Vikings worshipped the valkyrie Bruennhilde, the androgynous daughter of Wotan, king of the gods. Hindu, Christian, and Wiccan religions all have deities or demi-deities with androgynous qualities. Distinctions between Sex and Gender To understand androgyny, it is important to explore the differences between sex and gender.
    [Show full text]
  • Sex, Gender, and Androgyny in Virginia Woolf‟S Mock
    SEX, GENDER, AND ANDROGYNY IN VIRGINIA WOOLF‟S MOCK-BIOGRAPHIES “FRIENDSHIPS GALLERY” AND ORLANDO SARAH HASTINGS Bachelor of Arts in Political Science Kent State University May, 2002 Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH at the CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY December, 2008 This thesis has been approved For the Department of ENGLISH And the College of Graduate Studies by Thesis Chairperson, Dr. Karem Department and Date Dr. Jeffers Department and Date Dr. Dyers Department and Date SEX, GENDER, AND ANDROGYNY IN VIRGINIA WOOLF‟S MOCK-BIOGRAPHIES “FRIENDSHIPS GALLERY” AND ORLANDO SARAH HASTINGS ABSTRACT This is an examination of sex, gender, and androgyny in Virginia Woolf‟s “Friendships Gallery” and Orlando. These texts, written twenty years apart, highlight Woolf‟s development as a feminist who seeks to obliterate the assumed sex and gender binary. She accomplishes this through a mock biography format. Her first attempt highlights the androgynous nature of the main character Violet, whereas in Orlando her message of the constrictive nature of an assumed link between sex and gender is far more emphatically proven though the utilization of the titular character undergoing a biological sex change that ultimately leaves his/her gender unaffected. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………….. iii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….... 1 II. “FRIENDSHIPS GALLERY”……………………...………………...8 III. ORLANDO…………………………………………………………...23 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………...……………………………………………. 48 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION As a predominant figure in the 20th century Modernist literary movement, Virginia Woolf is renowned for her stylistic innovativeness. Woolf‟s experimentation with her linguistic approach to conveying a story or character not only flouted the pre- conceived expectations of Victorian literature, but those of Victorian society as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Trans-Phobia and the Relational Production of Gender Elaine Craig
    Hastings Women’s Law Journal Volume 18 Article 2 Number 2 Summer 2007 1-1-2007 Trans-Phobia and the Relational Production of Gender Elaine Craig Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hwlj Part of the Law and Gender Commons Recommended Citation Elaine Craig, Trans-Phobia and the Relational Production of Gender, 18 Hastings Women's L.J. 137 (2007). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hwlj/vol18/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Women’s Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Trans-Phobia and the Relational Production of Gender Elaine Craig* In 1431, Joan of Arc, a nineteen-year-old cross-dresser, was burned alive at the stake because she refused to stop dressing in men's clothing.' Nearly six centuries later, in 2002, Gwen Araujo, a seventeen-year-old male-to-female transsexual, was strangled to death by two men who later claimed what can be described as a "trans panic defense" because they hadn't realized that Gwen was biologically male before they had sex with her.2 Individuals who transgress gender norms are among the most despised, marginalized, and discriminated against members of many societies. 3 A deep seated fear of transgender individuals reveals itself in a plethora of contexts and across a wide spectrum of demographics. Perhaps most disturbingly, intolerance towards and discrimination against transgender individuals is found not only among the ranks of those whose gender offers them opportunity and privilege, but also among those whose own gender identity and expression has been a source of oppression and persecution.
    [Show full text]
  • Concepts & Categories of LGBTQA+ Identities
    Concepts & Categories of LGBTQA+ Identities This partial list of terms provides basic information to support further discussion and reading. Language is constantly changing; we encourage you to continue researching. Please note all terms should be chosen by a person for themselves. Allyship: The practice of self educating about Coming out: Coming to terms with one’s sexual heterosexism and cisgenderism, educating others, and orientation or gender identity. Can also mean stating actively supporting LGBTQA+ individuals and causes. openly that one is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Allyship is practiced both by cisgender and straight queer, and/or asexual. The term is usually used by people who support and advocate for the rights of members of the LGBTQA+ community, and LGBTQA+ people and by LGBTQA+ people who advocate heterosexual and cisgender people can experience a across communities. While the term “ally” implies a similar process of coming to terms with their identity as complete identity, “allyship” is an ongoing process. an ally. Asexual: A term people may use to describe their Gay: A term people may use to describe their identity experience of little to no sexual attraction to people of as a man whose romantic, emotional, physical, and/or any gender. Asexuality is a sexual orientation, and is not sexual attractions are to men. This term is also the same as celibacy or abstinence. There is a great sometimes claimed by lesbians and bisexual people. diversity in how members of the asexual community experience sexual and romantic attraction, desire, Gender & Gender-Inclusive Pronouns: A arousal, and relationships. pronoun is a part of speech that takes the place of other nouns.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Introducing LGBTQ Psychology
    1 Introducing LGBTQ psychology Overview * What is LGBTQ psychology and why study it? * The scientific study of sexuality and ‘gender ambiguity’ * The historical emergence of ‘gay affirmative’ psychology * Struggling for professional recognition and challenging heteronormativity in psychology What is LGBTQ psychology and why study it? For many people it is not immediately obvious what lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychology is (see the glossary for defini- tions of words in bold type). Is it a grouping for LGBTQ people working in psychology? Is it a branch of psychology about LGBTQ people? Although LGBTQ psychology is often assumed to be a support group for LGBTQ people working in psychology, it is in fact the latter: a branch of psychology concerned with the lives and experiences of LGBTQ people. Sometimes it is suggested that this area of psychology would be more accurately named the ‘psychology of sexuality’. Although LGBTQ psychology is concerned with sexuality, it has a much broader focus, examining many different aspects of the lives of LGBTQ people including prejudice and discrimination, parenting and families, and com- ing out and identity development. One question we’re often asked is ‘why do we need a separate branch of psychology for LGBTQ people?’ There are two main reasons for this: first, as we discuss in more detail below, until relatively recently most psychologists (and professionals in related disciplines such as psychiatry) supported the view that homosexuality was a mental illness. ‘Gay affirmative’ psychology, as this area was first known in the 1970s, developed to challenge this perspective and show that homosexuals are psychologically healthy, ‘normal’ individuals.
    [Show full text]
  • Flags and Symbols Gilbert Baker Designed the Rainbow flag for the 1978 San Francisco’S Gay Freedom Celebration
    Flags and Symbols ! ! ! Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag for the 1978 San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Celebration. In the original eight-color version, pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony and violet for the soul.! " Rainbow Flag First unveiled on 12/5/98 the bisexual pride flag was designed by Michael Page. This rectangular flag consists of a broad magenta stripe at the top (representing same-gender attraction,) a broad stripe in blue at the bottoms (representing opposite- gender attractions), and a narrower deep lavender " band occupying the central fifth (which represents Bisexual Flag attraction toward both genders). The pansexual pride flag holds the colors pink, yellow and blue. The pink band symbolizes women, the blue men, and the yellow those of a non-binary gender, such as a gender bigender or gender fluid Pansexual Flag In August, 2010, after a process of getting the word out beyond the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) and to non-English speaking areas, a flag was chosen following a vote. The black stripe represents asexuality, the grey stripe the grey-are between sexual and asexual, the white " stripe sexuality, and the purple stripe community. Asexual Flag The Transgender Pride flag was designed by Monica Helms. It was first shown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in 2000. The flag represents the transgender community and consists of five horizontal stripes. Two light blue which is the traditional color for baby boys, two pink " for girls, with a white stripe in the center for those Transgender Flag who are transitioning, who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender, and those who are intersex.
    [Show full text]
  • Psychological Androgyny and Attitudes Toward Postoperative Transsexuals
    PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POSTOPERATIVE TRANSSEXUALS HONORS PROJECT ADVISOR Dr. Arno F. Wittig Thomas E. Hemmelgarn 8 August 1976 ') " i ",";, , ! . ; 1t, PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POSTOPERATIVE TRANSSEXUALS The purpose of this study was to investigate the rela­ tionship between psychological androgyny in males and females and tolerance/intolerance toward individuals who had comple­ ted sexual transformation (postoperative transsexuals) and were using the rest room facilities of their reassigned sex. Eighty students from various introductory classes at Ball State University were administered the Bem Sex Role Inven­ tory to determine levels of androgyny. Several days later, subjects were asked to describe the appearance of an individ­ ual who they were led to believe was a postsurgical transsex­ ual in an effort to establish tolerance levels. Subjects were compared to an independant control population which responded to a "normal" (as compared to transsexual) cue. Chi-Square tests were used to determine if tolerance/intolerance levels were significant for the various groups. Results indicated a significant relationship between significantly sexed indi­ viduals and tolerance levels when compared to the control group. No other androgyny level exhi bi ted a significant relationship. There were no significant sex differences with respect to intolerance of postsurgical transsexuals. A long neglected aspect of research dealing with transsexualism is the postsurgical acceptance of the transsexual in the reassigned sex. Both lay and professional groups have shown difficulty in accepting the colloquial definition of transsexualism, which expresses the idea that the psychological sex of the transsexual is "trapped" in the body of the antagonistic sex. To use the example of the male to female transsexual, the genetic male has incessantly felt that he is feminine in gender despite the presence of "growths".
    [Show full text]
  • Reiterations of Misogyny Embedded in Lesbian and Feminist Communities' Framing of Lesbian Femme Identities
    Uncompromising Positions: Reiterations of Misogyny Embedded in Lesbian and Feminist Communities' Framing of Lesbian Femme Identities Anika Stafford is a PhD student with the Introduction Centre for Women's and Gender Studies at There is a popular conception that the University of British Columbia. Her work misogyny, a hatred of women, is solely has been published in anthologies such as perpetuated by "men" as a group against Queers in American Popular Culture and "women" as a group. This notion has Who's Your Daddy? And Other Writings on contributed to the idea that lesbians and/or Queer Parenting. She is currently conducting feminists would not be capable of institutional ethnographic research on perpetuating misogyny. However, misogynist transgender people and elementary school conceptualizations of female bodies have experience. created insidious cultural norms wherein associations with traits deemed feminine Abstract come to be seen in a derogatory light. As Queer femmes in 1950s bar cultures were everyone, regardless of gender or gender often not viewed as "real lesbians;" radical expression, is indoctrinated into dominant feminism condemned femmes as trying to cultural misogynist systems of power, please patriarchy. This paper investigates everyone is implicated in reproducing or ways such views regarding femmes reiterate challenging such norms. misogynist notions of female bodies. It places Within feminist/queer theory, much femme narratives challenging such debate has taken place regarding lesbian conceptualizations as contesting butch-femme bar cultures of the 1950s and counter-cultural reiterations of misogyny. 1960s. Despite myriad debates regarding Résumé revolutionary potentials of such gendered Les femmes queer dans la culture des bars identities, an examination of how views of des années 50 souvent n’étaient pas vues femininity within feminist/queer discourses comme de “vraies lesbiennes”, le féminisme can reiterate misogynist views of female radical condamnait les femmes queer disant bodies has remained under-theorized.
    [Show full text]