Trans* bodies

Abstract

Sexual practices and identities are situated within a context of common assumptions that genders and bodies align in normative ways. Trans* and genderqueer people often alter their gender presentations and their bodies so that they will align more comfortably with their gender identities. When gender identities, presentations, or bodies change, sexual practices and identities most often also change both for the people who change their genders and bodies and for those who are in sexual relationships with them. The sexualities of people whose bodies which do not conform to normative expectations promote increased diversity of gendered sexual practices and identities for everyone.

What does it Mean to be a Man? Trans Masculinities, Bodily Practices, and Reflexive Embodiment

“…Consequently, embodiment has not been central in accounts of masculinities (Whitehead 2002;Stephens and Lorentzen 2007). While trans scholarship has emphasized the role of bodies (e.g., Salamon, 2010;Devor 2015) and demonstrated how agency produces bodily practices, few efforts to overcome the conflation between men and masculinities addressed the role of bodies and their conceptualization. Connell (1995, p. 63) argued that embodiment is the essence of masculinities in the form of "bodily-reflexive practice."…”

“…Situating our analytical efforts within the field of critical masculinity studies, we reinforce that masculinity is an embodied experience. As Devor (2015) highlighted, trans studies were key for theorizing bodies, embodiments, and identities. Therefore, while masculinity can be seen as an effect of practice (e.g., Aboim 2016;Aboim, Vasconcelos, and Merlini 2018), we still need a theory of embodiment that places the body at the center of gendered processes and envisages masculinity as produced through the multiple expressions and practices of the body.…”