Browsing by Subject "Transgender studies"
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Item Queer ideology, political practice, and the Indian queer movement : a discourse on the inclusion and exclusion of gender variant identities within contemporary Indian queer politics(2011-12) Althen, Kaitlin; Hansen, Kathryn; Merabet, SofianThis thesis discusses the ideological and political composition of the contemporary queer community in India. It is specifically concerned with the ways in which transgender/gender variant identities are represented within Indian queer scholarship and queer organizations in the subcontinent. At present, transgender/gender variant studies of South Asia are primarily confined to research on hijra and other trans feminine gender communities. While this research is important, this thesis seeks to expand the understanding of transgenderism/gender variance in South Asia by examining other transgender identities, including trans masculine identities, as well as analyzing Indian discourses on gender and sexuality more broadly. By examining Indian queer scholarship and the politics of contemporary queer organizations, I find that transgender/gender variant individuals face greater forms of marginalization within the contemporary queer movement in India because of the silence surrounding their gender identities.Item The spectacle of transformation : (re)presenting transgender experience through performance(2016-05) O'Rear, Jess; Gutierrez, Laura G., 1968-; Rossen, RebeccaIn December 2015, when The Public Theater cast two cisgender actors in the leading roles of a musical based on the true story of two transgender individuals and their fight against transphobia in the United States, performance makers from across the country spoke out against the casting decision. This outrage joins a chorus of transgender people and allies speaking out against a continuously growing film, television, and theatrical archive of performance which focuses on transgender characters without centering actual transgender people. While media attention on transgender individuals in the United States might be at an all time high, when it comes to representing transgender experiences in performance, transgender-identified characters are repeatedly performed by cisgender actors whose gender identities do not match that of their character. This thesis argues that these casting choices and the critical praise that these performances (termed “cross-gender performances” by the author) garner reinforce cissexist and heteronormative ideology wherein biological sex and gender identity are inextricably linked. Therefore, self-determined gender identity is invalidated and the lives of transgender individuals are devalued in favor of valorizing the “spectacle of transformation” that the cisgender actor undergoes in preparation for the role. This thesis tracks the legacy of these “cross-gender performances” across U.S. film and stage history in order to demonstrate how critical responses to these performances shift attention away from the transgender character and onto the body of the cisgender actor. After tracing this legacy from the late 19th century theatrical stage and late 20th century Hollywood to early 21st-century Broadway, this thesis arrives at the work two contemporary transgender performance artists, Sean Dorsey and Annie Danger, in order to demonstrate how transgender stories told by transgender performers refutes, reclaims, and repurposes the harmful tropes and stereotypes perpetuated by performances helmed by cisgender directors and producers with cisgender actors for mostly cisgender audiences. Finally, this thesis imagines the revolutionary and liberatory possibilities of finding joy through queer and transgender bodies and experiences, ultimately asserting the value of these lives through their celebratory presence in performance.Item Transitioning bodies, transformative stories : live performance of transgender autobiographical narratives in the United States(2020-08-17) O'Rear, Jesse Daniel; Gutierrez, Laura G., 1968-; Alrutz, Megan; Rossen, Rebecca; Hunt, Grayson; Chavez, Karma RThe relationship between transgender communities and the autobiographical is historically and contemporarily contentious and complicated. Our autobiographies are demanded of us by the medical industry in order to gain access to healthcare; by the justice system in order to determine whether or not we are honest and worthy of safety and freedom; and by the media who perpetuate this system of what scholar Viviane Namaste calls the “autobiographical imperative,” the expectation that trans people will offer the intimate details of our personal lives at any time to a curious cisgender audience. However, many trans people have also relied on each other’s autobiographical narratives to learn how to navigate these same harmful systems, as well as find camaraderie, solidarity, and solace among one another. To this end, I execute performance analyses of three works by transgender-identified artists to examine the ways in which each production engages with the complexities of the autobiographical for trans subjects: Shakina Nayfack’s One Woman Show (2013), D’Lo’s To T or Not to T (2019), and Sean Dorsey Dance’s Uncovered: The Diary Project (2009). I argue that each work in its respective form, narrative structure, and execution either circumvents, directly challenges, or illuminates the oppressive parameters imposed by the autobiographical imperative. Additionally, I analyze on my own participation in a fictional piece of devised drama, TRANSom (2020), which I argue was subjected to what I have termed the “autobiographical assumption,” a consequence of the autobiographical imperative where imaginative work by trans people is perceived to be autobiographical. Finally, I reflect on the existence of and possibilities for sharing trans narratives in the realm of social media where interaction and affirmation can be immediate quantified. While this project recognizes that visibility and representation are not answers to discrimination, violence, and poverty (and, in fact, as Black trans women scholars and activists like Tourmaline remind us, often open doors to increased harassment), I hope to encourage space for present and future works of performance which allow for trans artists to bring their stories to the stage in ways that are beneficial to the artists and their communities.