Transqueer Representations and How We Educate

Abstract

This article examines the representations of transqueers (specifically female to male transsexuals) in popular media and how these representations shape attitudes of transqueers both with those outside the LBGT community and those within the community. The article discusses how these cultural images of FTM transqueers imply that being accepted often means surgery and hormones in order to "pass" as male, and it challenges educators to work more overtly and diligently to educate toward critical consciousness regarding the sex/gender system and the rigidity of the binary that removes transgendered people as nonentities. The article offers an argument about how to approach these discussions with students and what texts will complicate the sex/gender binary as it is presented to us via the media representations of transqueers.

Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism

“…In reviewing these findings, four clear patterns emerge, each of which contributes to the delegitimization of transgender individuals and issues: (1) misnaming and misgendering, (2) misrepresentations of transgender identity, (3) use of the transgender "trickster" trope, and (4) sexualization of the transgender body. 2 First, past research has documented numerous incidences of misnaming and misgendering of transgender people in news media, which constrains transgender agency and delegitimizes transgender self-identifications (Barker-Plummer, 2013; Capuzza, 2015;Cloud, 2014;Hale, 1998;Schilt & Westbrook, 2009;Siebler, 2010;Sloop, 2000;Squires & Brouwer, 2002;Willox, 2003). Much of this research focused on coverage of the murder of Brandon Teena, and noted how frequently he was called by his birth name and how frequently feminine pronouns were used in news media (Siebler, 2010;Squires & Brouwer, 2002;Willox, 2003).…”

“…2 First, past research has documented numerous incidences of misnaming and misgendering of transgender people in news media, which constrains transgender agency and delegitimizes transgender self-identifications (Barker-Plummer, 2013; Capuzza, 2015;Cloud, 2014;Hale, 1998;Schilt & Westbrook, 2009;Siebler, 2010;Sloop, 2000;Squires & Brouwer, 2002;Willox, 2003). Much of this research focused on coverage of the murder of Brandon Teena, and noted how frequently he was called by his birth name and how frequently feminine pronouns were used in news media (Siebler, 2010;Squires & Brouwer, 2002;Willox, 2003). Beyond this explicit misnaming and misgendering, however, news sources also delegitimized Brandon Teena's transgender identity through language such as "the person often called Brandon Teena" (Hale, 1998), which, while not explicitly misnaming him, suggests that his name is artificial.…”

Transcending the gender binary: Gender non-binary young adults in Amsterdam

“…Other participants also told us they felt some sort of "pressure" or influence from mainstream society in (re)defining the self, which made it more difficult for them to find out who they were. This again shows the impact of the reproduction and internalization of what we earlier referred to as the dominant cultural fiction around gender binaries (Butler, 2006(Butler, , 2011Siebler, 2010). At the same time, however, many participants expressed a kind of playfulness in unsettling gender binaries and took pleasure in embracing "the fluidness" of their body and mind.…”

“…It is the sociocultural framework in which society constructs gender archetypes of either masculinity or femininity, led by two essentialist biological sexes (i.e., male and female). This fiction is sustained and reinforced through discourse and institutional practice, such as stereotypical media representations (Siebler, 2010), which in turn affects society and thus has repercussions for the individual (Butler, 2011). Sex, sexuality and gender are not interchangeable concepts.…”

Still Trapped in the U.S. Media’s Closet: Representations of Gender-Variant, Pre-Adolescent Children

“…Numerous other scholars, viewing the field from a range of theoretical positions (e.g., Collier et al, 2009;Croteau et al, 2012;Gross, 2001;Lind, 2013;Mazur & Emmers-Sommer, 2003;O'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008;Ott & Mack, 2010;Siebler, 2010;Spring, 2003;Streitmatter, 2003;Vera & Gordon, 2003;Wilson et al, 2013), also have contended that, given their pervasive presence, various types of media ineluctably function as instruments of education or socialization. By extension, not only do portrayals of minorities play a role in shaping how such populations are perceived by individuals outside of these groups, but they also affect the ways in which marginalized people think and feel about themselves (Bandura, 1994;Bissell & Zhou, 2004;Collier et al, 2009;Gomillion & Giuliano, 2011;Greenberg, Mastro, & Brand, 2002;Grogan, 2008;Gross, 2001;Hart, 2000;Ochman, 1996;O'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008;Siebler, 2010;Streitmatter, 2009;Vera & Gordon, 2003;Wilson et al, 2013). The media effects researcher Gorham (2013), for instance, submitted evidence that stereotypes of diverse minorities in the media have a bearing on how Downloaded by [Fondren Library, Rice University ] at 00:32 14 April 2015 these groups are regarded-even for people who are resistant to viewing subjects through a narrow lens-because they often operate beyond the realm of consciousness.…”