Summary Of Second Skins

Spade’s critique of Billings and Urban also exemplifies the study of transgenders—distinct from transgender studies—Stryker introduces of “people who occupied transgender positions [being] compelled to be referents in the language games of other senders and addressees”. In addition, Stryker’s notion of gender as a “mashup” is brought to life in Mutilating Gender as Spade highlights individuals (himself included) who “seek to occupy ambiguous gender positions in resistance to norms of gender rigidity” and exist counter to a mirror representation. By integrating knowledge such as this into public consideration, those without access to SRS or without the means to pursue cosmetic surgery are not left out of what is socially perceived as masculine or feminine, or are even able to expand gender and deconstruct the

This work, Three Points Masculine by An Owomoyela heavily conceptualizes what it means to be trans. It plays upon our preconceived ideologies and materializations of gender, creating an internal, mindful gender fuck-up within the reader. It questions beliefs of what a “good” trans person looks like and allows us to question if transness is defined by perceived gender nonconformity, identity, and/or expression.

In “Intro-How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States,” Joanne Meyerowitz writes about the beginnings of transsexuality. She beings the article by defining cross-gender identification, as “the sense of being the other sex, and the desire to live as the other sex” (Meyerowitz 432), while transsexuality, “being the quest to transform the bodily characteristics of sex via hormones and surgery” (Meyerowitz 432). According to Meyerowitz, transsexuality began in the early 20th century. Experiments on changing sex, began in europe on animals. Then in 1920, on humans. Joanne Meyerowitz writes that “the debate on the visibility and mutability of sex” began after Christine Jorgensen, an american who went to Denmark to get a sex change in 1950, became a media sensation in America. While professionals were figuring this out, people “who identified as transsexuals, transvestites, lesbians, and gay men” (Meyerowitz 433) were having the conversation and creating the language within themselves. This conversation on sex change, occurred alongside the sexual revolution in the 60’s, opening “the movement of the organizing of programs, clinics, conferences, and associations to promote study of and treatment for transsexuals” (Meyerowitz 434).

In her book “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Woman, and the Rest of us,” Kate Bornstein goes over a lot of the major issues regarding gender awareness and identity politics. She talks about the ideas of labeling ones self, understanding gender differences, how people view laws, behaviors, and the medical and scientific privilege that make transitioning challenging for a lot of people. Bornstein touches on many of the issues today that affect trans people. She includes poetry, pictures, quotes, essays, and a play to raise questions and discuss the idea of gender. This is a great book to introduce and discuss the issues that affect the lives of trans people as they navigate and explore the lines that define gender.

All in all, the documentary The Middle Sexes covers many controversial topics. Some of these topics include the biology of middle sexes, the dangers of being a transgender, and societies outlook on transgenders. With much analysis, I’ve realized that this film has too narrow of a perspective on transgenders and middle sexes. The restricted perspective prevents the audience from being

Utilizing transference immediately and preserving the seeming normalization of the traditional dualistic view of gender roles. In turn reinforced by a somewhat insightful but mystical account of the spiritual and power bases of each gender within the society (Gutierrez 28). In a sense it seems he is avoiding the idea of transgender all together, the unwritten implication being that our current notion of transgendered is nothing but that, a notion developed by ours culture in our present.

Profane and shocking word choice helps drive Wittman’s confrontational and liberationist stance on LGBT+ issues. As authors Madeline Davis and Elizabeth Kennedy support in “Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community,” American queer rights movements became more critical and liberationist in the 70s (426). Wittman’s piece provides clear evidence of this tone change. By describing topics such as “exclusive heterosexuality” and interactions between males and females as “fucked up,” Wittman unabashedly confronts heteronormative culture and endorses queer peoples’ liberation from

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

In “Transgender People of Color at the Center: Conceptualizing a New Intersectional Model,” Kylan Mattias de Vries explores the “link (between) multifaceted social positions to institutional and structural inequalities” (21). More specifically, the author hypothesizes that the trans population experiences gender as intersectional, along with “race, class and sexuality” (4).

The most recent and current third wave of feminism began in the mid-90’s and has destabilized many past constructs including “universal womanhood,” gender, body, hetreronormativity, and sexuality. A peculiar and important point of the latest wave that

For queer theorists, identity has been constructed through performativity, which is based on the opinion of Judith Butler. Butler (1990, p.25) believed that “ there is no gender identity behind the expression of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results.” In other words, there is not any factor to produce the identity, but identity creates itself through performativity. One should imitate and repeat the gender expression again and again according to norms, then the identity will be constituted, which also shows that identity is fluid and constructed. Moreover, Jenkins (2000,2004) stated that a dynamic social process generates identity, so identity is not static but fluid and dynamic.

Judith Butler’s essay, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” calls for a new way to view sex and gender. Butler argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo”. In this case, gender is not constituted by what one is, but rather what one does; the performative acts constitute gender. In other words, gender is not the starting place; it is an identity repeatedly constructed throughout time. Butler is trying to show us a feminist perspective of sex and gender. She attempts to follow Beauvoir’s path in a fight against society norms.

In Foucault and Queer Theory Spargo defines queer theory as a nebulous group of cultural criticism and analysis of social power structures relating to sexuality . It is these power structures and aspects of culture that are responsible for the discourse that creates and informs ones understanding of gender, race, and sexuality. However these aspects of identity do not exist separately from one another, but are constructed in tandem throughout history. These layers of identity inform each other in a way that is difficult if not impossible to separate. They do not act independently with an additive effect but intersect constructing their own unique set of experiences and perspectives. In this paper I will be exploring queer theory

Each person in society experiences their gender and sexual orientation differently, as well as experiencing other people’s gender and sexual orientation. Redefining Realness tells the story and journey, of a trans woman, who ventures through life to finding her inner self. This biography not only delves into a personal story, but also bits and pieces of experiences people of the trans community may have in common in their own personal journeys.

This classification is constructed by discourse with the objective of recreating hegemonic paradigms and perpetuating current power relations. Defining Women and Men as universal categories disguises the interests it serves. Therefore, anything that is defined as natural or universal should be studied critically. She writes, “Signification is not a founding act, but rather a regulated process of repetition that both conceals itself and enforces its rules precisely through the production of substantializing effects” (185). The assumption that there is a pre-discursive body with a pre-determined sexuality and gender sustains oppression against subjugated and marginalized subjects. Disconnected from the body, she suggests, gender can include more than two versions. The analysis of these concepts--or deconstruction-- provides tools to the socially oppressed to fight against the existent social