University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-08-26 Authenticating and Legitimizing Transgender Identities Online: A Discourse Analysis West, Alyssa Megan Marie West, A. M. M. (2019). Authenticating and Legitimizing Transgender Identities Online: A Discourse Analysis (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110840 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Authenticating and Legitimizing Transgender Identities Online: A Discourse Analysis by Alyssa Megan Marie West A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2019 © Alyssa Megan Marie West 2019 ii Abstract The number of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) individuals who are presenting for counselling is increasing, and yet counsellors feel unprepared and lack confidence working with gender-variant people, which has resulted in negative therapeutic experiences. Consistent with social-justice practice, knowledge of how clients understand themselves is necessary to ensure the outcomes of counselling (Arthur & Collins, 2010a). A key resource TGNC individuals are using to engage in identity exploration are online communities. In this research I applied Potter and Wetherell’s (1987) approach to discourse analysis to explore the talk and text of three such online communities. I identified that the participants made sense of their identity using three discourses: (a) felt sense, (b) authenticity, and (c) legitimacy. I discuss these findings within the context of the current social climate and existing literature regarding TGNC individual’s identity development. I offer suggestions for infusing this insight into trans- affirmative counselling practice(s) and discuss implications for future research. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, thank you to all of the gender-diverse individuals whose voices were the foundation of this study, scholarly or otherwise; they are at the heart of this research. To my co- supervisors, Dr. Tom Strong and Dr. Kaori Wada. I cannot count the ways in which I have benefited from your mutual contributions. I am so grateful for the time and wisdom that you have shared with me. Thank you to my family, who were the first to instill within me the values I held at the center of this project, and who have always, without question, encouraged my pursuits. In particular, thank you to my parents for teaching me determination by leading with their example. To my friends, thank you for every check in, reassurance, and reminder that there was an end, which helped immensely to get me across the finish line. I am also grateful for my second family, the Chudiak’s, who are a constant source of laughter and sustenance. Finally, to Tyler. Thank you for your unwavering belief in me. i Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. i List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Current Study .......................................................................................................... 5 Defining Key Terms ............................................................................................... 6 Personal Influences and Positionality ..................................................................... 8 Overview of Chapters ........................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 11 The Social Construction of Sex and Gender ......................................................... 13 Historical and Contextual Considerations. ........................................................... 14 Biological-Essentialist Discourse. ........................................................................ 15 A Medical Discourse of Incommensurable Difference and Deviance.................. 17 Psycho-Medical Discourse.................................................................................... 21 Social-Centric Discourses ..................................................................................... 27 Feminist Discourses .............................................................................................. 32 Trans-exclusionary discourses. ................................................................. 34 Queer and Transgender Discourses ...................................................................... 36 TGNC Individuals and the Internet: Digital Discourses ....................................... 39 Online identity exploration ....................................................................... 41 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................... 47 Qualitative Inquiry and Researcher Reflexivity ................................................... 47 Social Constructionism and Discourse Analysis .................................................. 50 Interpretative repertoires. .......................................................................... 53 A theory of dominating discourses. .......................................................... 58 The digital as discourse. ............................................................................ 61 Data Source ........................................................................................................... 65 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 68 r/NonBinary. ............................................................................................. 69 r/genderqueer. ........................................................................................... 70 r/asktransgender. ....................................................................................... 70 Sample selection. ...................................................................................... 71 ii Section summary. ...................................................................................... 72 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 72 Quality of Research............................................................................................... 73 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 4: Findings ........................................................................................................... 77 Discourse of Felt Sense: Analytic Example.......................................................... 84 Discourse of Authenticity: First Analytic Example .............................................. 88 Discourse of Authenticity: Second Analytic Example ......................................... 91 Discourse of Legitimacy: First Analytic Example................................................ 95 Discourse of Legitimacy: Second Analytic Example ........................................... 98 Discourse of Authenticity and Related Sub-Discourses ..................................... 101 Exception to the gender binary. .............................................................. 101 Affirmation. ............................................................................................ 104 Exploration. ............................................................................................. 105 Discourse of Legitimacy and Related Sub-Discourses ....................................... 106 Biological essence discourse................................................................... 107 Social constructionism suggests fabrication. .......................................... 109 A note on social constructionism. ........................................................... 111 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................... 111 Chapter 5: Discussion ..................................................................................................... 113 Discursive Constraints ........................................................................................ 114 Revisiting the Epistemological Framework .......................................................