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Beyond "Born This Way": Reconsidering Trans Narratives

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Beyond University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2019 Beyond "Born This Way": Reconsidering trans narratives Ashley Elizabeth Meyers University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2019 Ashley Elizabeth Meyers Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Other Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Meyers, Ashley Elizabeth, "Beyond "Born This Way": Reconsidering trans narratives" (2019). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 982. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/982 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by ASHLEY ELIZABETH MEYERS 2019 All rights reserved BEYOND “BORN THIS WAY”: RECONSIDERING TRANS NARRATIVES An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Ashley Elizabeth Meyers University of Northern Iowa July 2019 ABSTRACT When most Americans hear the words “trans” or “transgender”, celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner, Chaz Bono, or Laverne Cox likely come to mind along with their highly public stories of medical and social transition. While these celebrity representations have served to increase visibility for the trans community throughout the United States over the past decade, trans representation remains limited in terms of intersectionality and a narrow focus on celebrity stories and themes of essentialization, dysphoria, and medical transition. At the same time, research on trans narratives also remains focused almost exclusively on trans women and men who experience dysphoria and undergo medical transition. This leaves the following questions: What are the consequences of such a narrow focus on only one kind of trans story within the media? How did the representations we know today develop in the first place? What are the experiences of trans people who do not fit into the dominant narrative like? What can we learn from these experiences, representations, and histories in terms of theory and activism? To answer these questions, in this thesis I will present a qualitative textual analysis of interviews with seven trans people from various backgrounds on their gendered life experiences and compare them to trans celebrity narratives, historical narratives, and alternative narratives trans people have formed for themselves. While the stories collected and analyzed in this study are not generalizable to all trans people, as case studies they will enhance our knowledge of trans narratives, experiences, and identities. BEYOND “BORN THIS WAY”: RECONSIDERING TRANS NARRATIVES A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Ashley Elizabeth Meyers University of Northern Iowa July 2019 ii This Study by: Ashley Elizabeth Meyers Entitled: Beyond “Born This Way”: Reconsidering Trans Narratives has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts ______________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Carolyn Hildebrandt, Chair, Thesis Committee ______________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Heather Jeronimo, Thesis Committee Member ______________ ______________________________________________________ Date Dr. Benjamin Baker, Thesis Committee Member ______________ ______________________________________________________ Date Dr. Jennifer Waldron, Dean, Graduate College iii DEDICATION For my loving grandmothers, JamieAnn and Peggy Meyers, who taught me the importance of personal narratives. And for my mother, who inadvertently helped to inspire this project. And to everyone who shared their stories with me and made this project possible. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Carolyn Hildebrandt, for sharing her expertise as a seasoned researcher. This project would not have been possible without her diligence and care as an advisor. I would also like to thank Dr. Benjamin Baker for sharing his expertise in narrative theory and practical advice on interviewing methods. The interviews presented in this thesis benefited tremendously from his presence. I would also like to thank Dr. Jeronimo for her invaluable input on the theoretical foundations on which this project is built. Her insights added greater depth to my analysis and understanding of trans narratives and identities. This project would not be what it has become without the efforts and support of such an interdisciplinary, expert, and committed committee behind me. I would also like to thank my participants for their willingness to speak with me and put their stories out there. Without them I would have no stories to tell. Also, I would like to thank my cohort, who were there through every step of the process and supported me as peers in countless and unique ways. I also would like to thank my parents and grandmothers for their support and unconditional love. They were always there to cheer me on when I needed it most. Finally, I also wish to acknowledge all the feminist, queer, gender non- conforming, and trans theorists and activists, known and unknown, that have gone before me. It is because of them and their tireless work and sacrifices in the name of justice that I have the privilege of conducting this research in an era of relative visibility, openness, and safety. Today I stand on their gigantic shoulders. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................11 Queer Trans Feminist Theory, Trans Identities and Narratives ..................................11 The Literature on Trans Narratives .............................................................................19 Historical “Trans” Narratives ......................................................................................25 Trans Celebrity Narratives ...........................................................................................39 Alternative Narratives .................................................................................................46 CHAPTER 3. METHODS .................................................................................................53 Oral History .................................................................................................................53 Participants ...................................................................................................................54 Procedure .....................................................................................................................56 Narrative Analysis .......................................................................................................59 CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS ................................................................................................64 “Caitlyn Jenner is Fine, But…”: Introducing Trans Narratives Beyond the Celebrities and Themes of Essentialization, Dysphoria, and Binary Medical Transition .....................................................................................................................64 “You’re Full of Phases”: The Fluidity of Identities in the Narrated Experiences of Trans People ............................................................................................................65 “Twitter and Tumblr Are Your Friends”: The Role of Online Platforms in the Gendered Self-Discovery Narratives of Young Trans People in the Early Twenty-First Century ...................................................................................................72 vi “What Makes Me Trans is the Euphoria and How I Identify”: Trans People’s Narrated Experiences of Gender Euphoria and the Meaning of Transness .................75 “It’s Different for Everyone”: The Process of Transition in the Narrated Experiences of Nonbinary People and Their Trans Men and Women Counterparts ................................................................................................................85 “My Blackness Informs My Transness”: Intersectionality in the Narrated Experiences of Trans People .......................................................................................92 “None of These Labels Work Anymore”: The Intersections of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, Heteronormativity, and Gatekeeping in the Narrated Experiences of Trans People .......................................................................................98 “If I Were in Charge…”: Directions for Future Representation as Conceived by Participants ................................................................................................................103 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................110 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................116 APPENDIX A. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ......................................................................120 APPENDIX B. RECRUITMENT MATERIALS ...........................................................126
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