‘Passing’ The Baton Of Trauma: Queer Failure Of The Women’S Sport Policy Working Group’S Anti-Trans ‘Position’, Meredith M. Bagley, Mary Anne Taylor, Sarah F. Price

Publications and Research

Engaging in critical rhetorical theory and methodology, we interrogate the contemporary landscape of anti-trans backlash in women’s sport. Specifically, we read the ‘TERF wars’ (Pearce et al.) across critiques of biofeminism (Pape) and whiteness (Fischer) while drawing upon critical social science research into trauma-bonding, bullying, and the structural impacts of gender verification policies. Our analysis focuses on the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group (WSPWG), offering a trauma-informed reading of the WSPWG’s ‘Position’ statement to illuminate how lesbian female athletes who were previously slandered for failing to meet femininity norms in sport are unable to overcome that trauma to recognize and …

Nonbinary And Transgender Representation In Media: How Scripted Media Impacts And Shapes The Identities Of Communities Outside The Gender Binary, Makenna Dykstra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The lack of, and otherwise poor, representation of nonbinary and trans communities contributes to the societal othering of these communities. However, nonbinary and trans representation holds importance to these communities. Trans and nonbinary communities, like other communities, use media to help them negotiate their identities (Hall, 2005). However, current representation in scripted television is small and contentious, with the ability to have just as much of a negative impact as a positive one. LGBTQ+ television has a history of favoring moderate depictions of queerness, like that in nonbinary and trans characters, as a means of defining these identities to cisgender …

The Gender Binary And Its Effects On Athletes And Society At Large As Described In Newspaper Accounts Of Competitors In The Summer 2024 Olympics, Neo Zheng

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this paper is to look at the impact of gendered language and gender rhetoric on the continued social maintenance of gender, especially as it relates to athletes. This project focuses on the patterns that arise in language of news articles on two female athletes participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics who are accused of being transgender or male, shedding light on how media outlets talk about the topic of gender in athletes specifically, and society itself more generally.

How To Talk To A Seahorse: Communication In Transmasculine Gestational Experiences As Told Through Narrative, Emerson Armstrong

Communication ETDs

Transmasculine experiences before, during, and after pregnancy were evaluated using focus groups and autoethnographic research. As transgender people are more likely to experience inequality in healthcare encounters, this project aims to shed light on, and counter sensationalized accounts of male pregnancy, as transmasculine gestational individuals sought normalization in their experiences of pregnancy. Seven focus groups consisted of 90 minute sessions, with a total of 15 participants. Transcripts were analyzed using a trans narrative approach to find a greater understanding about identity construction, challenges, and changes around trans pregnancy. Asking about communities and healthcare experiences worked to create a complete picture …

Documenting & Describing Experiences Of Marginalized Gender Identities In Healthcare, Laura Stepnowski

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Despite its importance to quality and length of life, health varies widely among the U.S. population depending on various sociodemographic factors, such as age, race, gender, and income. This research focuses on the perception of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. There is a long history of discrepancies in healthcare, but no time such as the present seems to be filled with such a nuanced perspective of quality of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. This became evident through the focus groups conducted for this study. Findings show that participants used more collaborative language when discussing their positive …

The Lived Experiences Of Transmasculine Speakers: A Phenomenological Investigation Of Vocal Quality And Function In Relation To Gender, Micah Wylie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to learn how transmasculine individuals perceive the quality and function of their voices, and how those perceptions influence how they experience gender identity and communicate with others. This qualitative study adopted a hermeneutical phenomenological approach that involved using content analysis and thematic analysis to describe and interpret phenomena. This approach assumes that the researcher is not biased, but is a part of the world being studied and, therefore, understands the phenomenon by interpretive means. Saturation was achieved when all relevant information was introduced, and patterns of information had been identified. Sixteen interviews were conducted. …

The Experiences Of The Transgender And Gender Diverse Community On Coming Out At The University Of Arkansas, Taylor Hubbard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researching the experiences of the TGD community can help better understand the unique struggles this community may face, specifically regarding the unique experiences southeastern United States TGD individuals have encountered. We draw on previous studies regarding the entire LGBTQ+ community and the minimal research on the TGD community. There is minimal research looking specifically at the experiences college TGD students have when coming out in different aspects and the perceptions TGD individuals have about themselves as a result of their experiences coming out. We conducted a survey with 37 respondents as well as 4 qualitative interviews. We present interviews conducted …

Voice-Related Experiences Of Nonbinary Individuals (Veni) Development And Content Validity, Grace Shefcik, Pei-Tzu Tsai

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Transgender individuals may seek a variety of gender-affirming health and educational services, including voice modification from speech-language pathologists. Measuring the client's self-perception of their communication experiences is crucial for providing client-centered services and measuring outcomes. However, there is currently no validated assessment tool for the nonbinary population, a part of the transgender population. This study explores the voice-related concerns and experiences among the nonbinary population to create a valid measure of their self-perception of voice. Ten nonbinary individuals were surveyed about their voice-related concerns and experiences. A thematic analysis of the responses led to the development of the questionnaire, titled …

The Pink And Blue Problem: Altercasting In Gendered Advertising, Abigail Benn

Capstone Showcase

When you meet a baby for the first time, and you don’t know its sex, if its wearing pink clothes, most people will automatically assume it’s a girl; or if they’re wearing blue clothes, it’s automatically a boy. The pink and blue problem is the enforcing of gender stereotypes through color, associated roles, and imagery. The root of this problem is that many people are unaware of the difference between “sex” and “gender”, and that they can be mutually exclusive. Your sex is the body you’re born with, and all the parts that come with it, while your gender is …

Not Manly Enough: Femmephobia’S Stinging Impact On The Transmasculine Community, Tat Bellamy - Walker

Capstones

My capstone project is about femmephobia in the transmasculine community. In interviews with at least six trans men and non-binary people, they explained the struggles they faced accessing health care and the discrimination they faced within their families for having a femme gender presentation. In the story, I speak to Rhea Hoskin, one of the leading researchers on femmephobia in Canada who details why this issue is harmful to the transmasculine community. Additionally, the director of the National Center for Transgender Equality talks about how femmephobia can rear its head and contribute to suicidality and depression in the transmasculine community. …

Goblin: Microaffirmations, A Theory Of Communication, Haunt Pitcher

Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers

This project is a study of nonbinary identity and the ways in which nonbinary individuals find validation from nonbinary communities, cisgender friends and family members, and themselves. It advances a theory of “microaffirmations,” or small acts that can have a large, positive impact on nonbinary individuals, with a significant focus on humor, language, and other forms of communication. Research for this project was conducted through a series of personal interviews with friends and families, as well as analyzing the author’s own experiences as a nonbinary individual. These interviews and experiences are filtered through lenses of feminist theory, trans theory, and …

Trans-Inclusive Design, Erin White

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

The choices web designers make impact the online and offline experiences of real people who are transgender, non-binary, or gender-variant—choices that can affirm or exclude, uplift or annoy, help or harm. This article shines light on the decisions web professionals make every day and offers specific ideas for how to make content, images, forms, databases, IA, privacy, and algorithms trans-inclusive.

Microaggressions Within The Lgbtq+ Community: An Autoethnography, Erika A. Perez Montes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This autoethnography is about different points in my life where I committed microaggressions towards the LGBTQ+ community specific to different genders, sexual orientations and/or how people in the community present themselves. I use “thick intersectionality” ‒ an embodied exploration of the complex particularities of individuals’ lives and identities associated with their race, class, gender, sexuality, and national locations ‒ as a means of portraying my message, voicing the emotions that I felt, and the identity I occupied at that moment. I show that the intersectionalities of queer folks’ identities create unconscious microaggressions towards other queer folks. The purpose of my …

Two Case Examples Of Reaching The Hard-To-Reach: Low Income Minority And Lgbt Individuals, Tricia K. Gatlin, Michael J. Johnson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

‘Hard-to-reach’ is a term primarily used by researchers to describe groups of people who have been historically difficult to find or contact. It is important for the public interest to include hard-to-reach groups in research because excluding certain sub-populations diminishes the ability to identify groups that potentially have the highest burden of illness and to develop an understanding of why group differences exist. Thus, the purposes of this paper are to: 1) describe the challenges in recruiting hard-to-reach population in two separate research studies; 2) discuss the strategies that were used to overcome those challenges; and 3) provide recommendations for …

Productive Paddles And Productive Power: An Exploration Of Transgender Individuals' Negotiation Of Identity Through Bdsm Practices, Riley Zahn

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Productive Paddles and Productive Power: An Exploration of Transgender Individuals' Negotiation of Identity through BDSM Practices is a thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato in April of 2018. It explores the ways in which transgender individuals negotiate their identities through BDSM practices. To collect data, eight semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted revealing four key themes: BDSM as identity negotiation, BDSM as power enactment, embodied confirmation, and BDSM as trauma survivorship. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations and future avenues of …

Thicker Than Blood, Kendall Norwood

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Everyone seeks acceptance in one facet or another throughout his or her life, and for Riley McCracken this desire for acceptance is no different. “Thicker Than Water” is a photojournalistic look at the life of a young person who recently has entered the phase of physically transitioning from female to male. Through documentation of Riley’s journey, this project showcases a humanizing and personal face to the relevant discussion of LGBT rights fought for nationally as well as in Kentucky. Riley’s story is one that echoes the struggle that many trans and gender dysmorphic individuals face, but the struggle is not …

Drag Performance And Femininity: Redefining Drag Culture Through Identity Performance Of Transgender Women Drag Queens, Cristy Dougherty

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Viewing gender as a performance reveals how gender identity is shaped and formed. There is currently tensions associated with drag queen performance as an act of subversion and transgression from the heteronormative definition of gender and drag as a perpetuation of heteronormative definitions of gender. There is also a tension between the affirmation of femininity and transgression from gender binaries of womanhood. In order to address these tensions, this thesis project examined the reasoning behind how transgender women and gay men drag queen performers navigate the world of femininity. Specifically, this study explored the varied reasons behind performing femininity through …

Trans/Formations: A Photovoice Assessment Of Transgender People’S Wellness, E. Ricky Hill

Communication ETDs

The purpose of this study is to identify and understand ways transgender and gender non-conforming people living in Albuquerque, New Mexico are communicating about and understanding their health and wellness needs and the health and wellness needs of their community. Partnering with the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, I used a community-based participatory approach to work on a Photovoice project that identified health and wellness related needs as defined by the community. Emergent themes identified by the participants highlighted various challenges and strengths to health and wellness for transgender and gender non-conforming people. I identify five core cultural premises …

The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique Of Lgbt Characters And Themes In Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies, Robert Dallas Byrd Jr.

Dissertations

This analysis of primetime situational comedies feature LGBTQ characters argues that through heteronormative and homonormative constructions of sexuality, race, gender, and class, many LGBTQ people are rendered invisible in the mainstream. Through discourse analysis, the study describes how these programs work to normalize gay and lesbian identity, which then resembles the dominant heterosexuality, aiding in the advancement of white, middle class gays, who privatize sexuality and mimic dominant conventions of gender, race, sexuality, and class in the public sphere. This research is important in understanding the American public’s most recent shifts in public opinion on issues of marriage equality and …

"I Wasn't Born A Boy – I Was Born A Baby": Best Practices Versus Accepted Practices In News Coverage Of The Transgender Community, Anna Hornell

Journalism

As transgender people and issues have gained prominence in American media over the past few years, more and more journalists find themselves covering a small and marginalized community that they may not have any previous experience with. Using standards set by LGBT media watchdog GLAAD, this study aimed to examine how the prevalence of problematic journalistic practices in covering the transgender community has (or has not) changed in recent years. A content analysis of 1,019 U.S. newspaper articles from 2009 and 2014 revealed some significant changes: almost all GLAAD-identified problematic practices that were studied appeared less commonly in 2014, although …

Narrating Gender: A Feminist Approach To The Narratives Of The Transgender Experience, Jamie K. Lange

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Gender and identity are complex and often ubiquitous in nature. This is a study about gender and identity and the ways in which they manifest through the narratives of five transgender individuals, who all transitioned after the age of 45, who now live as women. This study about the transgender experience adds a significant and important perspective on gender, identity, identification, and the relationship between gender and identity. The most important conclusions are the lengths to which these people go to support gender social constructs, reinforcing the immense strength of the social construction of gender. The idea that social constructs …

Original Plumbing: Performing Gender Variance Through Relational Self-Determination, Raechel Tiffe

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

In 2009, Amos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos, two transgender men, created Original Plumbing (OP) magazine, in an effort to “[document] diversity within trans male lifestyles through photographic portraits, essays, personal narratives and interviews.” In this essay, I argue that OP becomes a platform from which to understand the relational performance of transmale life. The magazine provides a foundation for transmen to take ownership of self-determination by constructing identity through a non-heteronormative framework, made possible through the queer worldmaking practices of an exclusively FTM (female- to-male) space. Throughout this essay, I critique what the magazine elects to value as “diversity,” tackling …

She, He And Ze All Have The Right To Make Own Identity Choices, Leandra Preston-Sidler

UCF Forum

As a Women’s Studies instructor, I spend much of my professional life reading about, thinking about and discussing gender issues. As a feminist, I also devote much of my personal life to such endeavors.

Final Report As A Member Of The Lgbtq Center Staff, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

It is with a heavy heart that I write my final report as a member of the LGBTQ Center Staff. I have been part of the Center since 2002 and have seen it grow in many ways over the years. It is my hope that it will continue to improve and establish the programs and services that make it a leader and innovator in LGBTIQQ and cultural studies. The following is a brief breakdown of the spring 2012 semester.

Alone In The Trenches: An Evening With Esera Tuaolo Event Flyer 2011, Joseph A. Santiago, Keith Labelle

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Come hear Esera Tuaolo's searing story of terror and hope on Monday, November 28, 2011 at 7:30 PM in Edwards Hall Auditorium. Tuaolo, a Samoan raised on a Hawaiian banana plantation, had a natural talent, football. He went on to play for five NFL teams: the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Carolina Panthers, and the Atlanta Falcons in the 1999 Super Bowl. But for the nine years he played professional football he lived in terror that when his face flashed upon the TV screen, someone would divulge his darkest secret. Esera Tuaolo is gay. …

Uri Glbt Center Halloween Party Flyer 2011, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This post contains the URI GLBT Center Halloween Party Flyer for 2011.

Uri Lgbtq Community To Screen It Gets Better At Uri: Coming Out For Change Video 2011, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This is the press release for the It Gets Better At URI: Coming Out for Change video screening in 2011.

What Are Microaggressions? 2011, Joseph A. Santiago, Justin Willner

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

What Are Microaggressions? 2011; Joseph A Santiago and URI; Microaggressions are the subtle ways in which body and verbal language convey oppressive ideology about power or privilege against marginalized identities. To put it simply, it is the way that people act differently in subtle ways around people that make them feel uncomfortable.; What are some examples of microaggressions and how do I spot one?; When a racist person walks on the other side of the road when someone of a difference race is coming towards them. – When an LGBT organization has a booth at an event and people keep …

Lgbtq Coming Out Play To The Community As Part Of The Uri Glbtiqq Symposium 2011, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

The Journey Out is a play, taken from the words and stories of older members of the LGBTQ community here in Rhode Island, as captured in a series of oral history interviews this past year. The play – set in a disco, a church and an AIDS support group – is a celebration of love, of faith, of courage – of women and men who fought and struggled for their right to live openly, to live without shame, to live authentically. This post contains the press release and photos as part of the URI GLBTIQQ Symposium.

Education & Awareness For The Uri Community For Lgbtiqq Issues January 2011, Joseph A. Santiago, Riley Davis, Anne Marie Vaccaro, Karen De Bruin, Andrew Winters, Erin West

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This document contains the minutes of Education & Awareness for the URI Community for LGBTIQQ Issues meeting on January 20, 2011.