1 Straddling the scalpel of identity: a critical study of transsexual transition in a familial context Claire Elizabeth Jenkins Doctor of Philosophy Sociological Studies December 2012 2 Acknowledgements Many have helped me. Firstly I would like to thank my immediate family, my ex-wife and my four children, for sharing in my transition which was the genesis of this research. I very much appreciate the invaluable help given by Dr Emily Gray in formulating my original research proposal. Perlin Dobson and David Jackson, my dear friends, have consistently supported me through transition to submission. David read many of my drafts and gave me critical feedback. Perlin gave emotional support when times were difficult. I am very appreciative of the invaluable advice and support given by Kevin Mahoney of Sheffield University Careers Service. These friends together with Nirmal Fernando, David Jones, Professor Stephen Whittle, Dr Roshan das Nair, Jayne Tulip and Imogen Hale were especially helpful when I experienced a major setback. They helped me to re-continue afterwards. I would also like to more formally thank my supervisors, Dr Victoria Robinson, Dr Lorna Warren and Professor Jenny Hockey, who taught me much about sociological writing and thought and who gave extensive critical feedback. Dr Warren has especially helped me regain academic confidence during 2012. I am also grateful for the informed critiques received from Professor Ruth McDonald, Professor Brendan Gough and David Miers. I am especially grateful to Brenda Stephenson and Dawn Montiel for the proof reading early drafts. I would also like to thank Duncan Macmillan House Staff Library and Nottingham Trent University Library Staff for supporting me locally through book acquisition, loans and for obtaining journal articles. I am eternally grateful for the financial support given from Unite the Union’s education bursary fund which helped with my fees. Finally I cannot begin to thank my partner Debbie Griffiths for supporting me through the many good and bad times that have occurred. It is because of her continual support and faith in me that I have completed what has at times been an emotionally difficult undertaking. 3 Abstract In 1999 I was still married to my wife and was a father of four children. When I changed sex and gender we became estranged. We were all distressed by this event which reflected nearly half of all transsexual transitions (De Cuyperea et al., 2006; Whittle et al., 2007). The experience impelled me to critically investigate transition in a familial context; such investigations have been neglected and overlooked in heterosexual and non-heterosexual studies of familial intimacy. I argue that identity is a social construct formed between individuals and others. Transition disrupts heterosexuality’s essentialist biological schema because changes in sex/gender identities are assumed to be fixed, coherent and stable. Transition caused familial intimates’ understandings to become fractured and they became distressed. I interviewed 13 transsexual and 12 familial intimates (some in the same family), using a self-disclosure approach suggested by Oakley (1981), so that they might tell of their transitional experiences. Telephone interviews were used due to their wide geographical dispersion, The transitional biographical narratives of participants were qualitatively analysed and coded using Nvivo. The methodology followed that originated by Plummer (1995) in his empirical study of sexual stories. The results showed that pre-transition transsexual people fear rejection so they adopt various strategies to begin transition. In 86% of the transitions studied cis1 people grieved their loss of identification with the trans person’s pre-transition sex/gender identities. The various strategies used by both trans and cis intimates to preserve relationships post-transition are discussed alongside situations where the new sex/gender identities became unrecognised. The data identified situations where intimates’ transitional distress is diminished and exacerbated. The study increases understanding of institutional heterosexuality, familial intimacies, transgender practices of care/support and transsexual transition. 1 Cis ‘a word used to describe individuals whose gender identity matches the expected norms for their sex’ (Shapiro, 2010: 58). 4 Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 3 List of tables .......................................................................................................................................... 8 List of charts .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction to thesis ............................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 17 An introduction to the literature review ............................................................................................ 17 Institutional Heterosexuality ............................................................................................................ 19 A sociological approach to the study of transgender transition ....................................................... 22 A postmodern sociological approach to understanding identities ................................................... 24 Transgender Identities .................................................................................................................... 33 Contested lives, bodies and identities............................................................................................. 37 The family, intimacy and practices of care ...................................................................................... 48 Transgender studies, the family and identity .................................................................................. 62 Summary of the Literature Review.................................................................................................. 66 Chapter 2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 70 Introduction to chapter .................................................................................................................... 70 Narratives ....................................................................................................................................... 71 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 71 Identity ........................................................................................................................................ 75 Collecting narratives ................................................................................................................... 76 Analysing narratives ................................................................................................................... 79 Reflexivity ................................................................................................................................... 81 Gender Identity Clinics .................................................................................................................... 85 Ethical issues .................................................................................................................................. 86 Research Participants ..................................................................................................................... 88 Source of information about research ........................................................................................ 88 Number of case studies with more than 1 member .................................................................... 89 Membership of the case studies ................................................................................................. 90 Participants (some demographics) ............................................................................................. 91 Age of participants ...................................................................................................................... 93 The Geographical location of research participants ................................................................... 94 Telephone interviews ...................................................................................................................... 95 Quality issues ................................................................................................................................. 97 Reflections on research design and generalisability ..................................................................... 101 5 Summary of methodology chapter ................................................................................................ 105 Chapter 3 Transsexual Transition and familial intimacies ................................................................. 108 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................