Liminal (trans)formative spaces: A temporary escape from intersectionality

Abstract

This paper is an examination of identity narratives of a small group of trans‐national transpeople in Australia. We reveal the complex identity journey undertaken by this group. Transpeople of Sub‐continental origin consume a temporarily transformational journey negotiating, resisting and subverting the dominant discourses that construct heterosexuality, gayness, whiteness and femininity. They carve out temporary liminal spaces of resistance within which to perform as “weekend women.” We identify transforming, transitioning, transcending across gender and ethnic boundaries, and see being enabled by specific transnational consumption imaginaries in liminal spaces meshed by intersectional of race/ethnicity and gender. We follow intertwined discourses that forms a “matrix of domination” and the way liminal thirdspaces create temporarily decolonized spaces that enable them to escape this matrix and perform a (trans)formative, movement back and forth between their weekday/weekend differently gendered/cultured selves. Ultimately, these decolonized thirdspaces bring only temporary release with inevitable return to their weekday male identity.

Troubling genderS and consumer well‐being: Going across, between and beyond the binaries to gender/sex/ual and intersectional diversity

“…First, this special issue explores the multiple ways genderS are lived in physical trans and nonbinary bodies and/or expressed due to intersectional dynamics and sexual orientations. Trans, in these articles, encompasses the idea of transitioning (temporarily or permanently) across or between genders, de-gendering or transcending the binaries (Ekins & King, 1999; see Davis & Paramanathan, 2024 in this special issue), as well as just being "expressly trans" (Hansman & Drenten, 2024). For example, expressly trans research is taken up by Duncan-Shepherd and Hamilton (2022) 1 who illuminate the multiple ways symbolic violence is encountered by and affects agender, genderqueer, non-binary and/or transgender consumers, uncovering the presence of symbolic violence in sociocultural systems/practices (media), interpersonal dynamics (family, marketplace/space interactions), and individual actions [self-policing and shapeshifting (presenting as more masculine or feminine or undetectable depending on perceived threats)].…”

“…Likewise, Rocha et al's (2024) study of transgender consumers' experiences of intimate apparel reveals that while clothing can be liberating, comforting, and support trans people's identity construction, the lack of having affordable and well-fitting options, and the transphobia of marketspaces, can result in experiences and sentiments of marginalizations, vulnerability and stigmatization. Davis and Paramanathan (2024) leverage an intersectionality lens and Collins ' (1990) idea of the matrix of domination to explore transitions, transformations, and transcendences across gender and ethnic boundaries. Their study of trans-national trans people in Australia captures how consumers utilize a gender liminal, decolonizing thirdspace, becoming weekend women to temporarily escape and resist the expected, masculine gender performances/ embodiments of the corporate world and their diasporic community.…”

“…Their intersectionality analysis offers a nuanced view of the gender financial literacy gap, recognizing the ways gender norms and rurality cross over to explain differences. And the aforementioned Davis and Paramanathan (2024) article illuminates the cis-hetero-normativity within an Indian diaspora community, depicting how gender/sex/ual diversity is tied closely to ethnic norms and exoticized-racialized bodies. These articles demonstrate the pervasiveness but culturally nuanced enactments and consequences of cis-hetero-patriarchy.…”

“…Additional methodological and theoretical perspectives are also offered in articles that expand ideas on how we might study intersectionality aspects quantitatively (see Preston et al, 2024), and gender/sex/uality dynamics qualitatively. The latter includes poststructuralist feminist queer perspectives (Lopes et al, 2024), a crisscrossing of narrative and ethnography (Davis & Paramanathan, 2024), and trans (digital) geography (Hansman & Drenten, 2024).…”

“…A person that looks like a female due to a lack of facial hair, presence of breast and vagina may be categorized as a lesbian when seen in a relationship with another female even though they may have a gender identity of a man and have decided to not transition (Dozier, 2005). People may describe their gender/sex/uality in ways beyond, across or between the binaries, with fluidity of experiences and differences depending on life moments, time and context (e.g., Cheded & Liu, 2022;Dembroff, 2020;Ekins & King, 1999;Hart et al, 2019;Stryker, 2022;Suen et al, 2020;Visconti, 2008; in this special issue Davis & Paramanathan, 2024;Duncan-Shepherd & Hamilton, 2022). There is a broad diversity in how people define, feel and live gender, sex, and sexuality and what aspects are included in relating these ideas.…”