The Origins of Senegalese Homophobia: Discourses on Homosexuals and Transgender People in Colonial and Postcolonial Senegal

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babacar M’Baye
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
The West ◽  
Civilizing Mission ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender

Abstract:This article traces the history of homosexual and transgender behavior in Senegal from colonial times to the contemporary period in order to demonstrate the flimsiness of the claims, made by many political and religious leaders and scholars, that homosexuality is “un-African.” Such claims, which appear as reactions to neocolonialism and Western intervention in African affairs, usually are homophobic discourses that invoke patriotism, cultural difference, and morality in order to justify the subjugation of homosexual and gender nonconforming individuals (goor-jiggens) living in Senegal. In an attempt to understand the roots of Senegalese homophobia, the article analyzes several depictions of homosexuals and transgender people in contemporary Senegal and traces them to similar representations in European writings of the colonial period. As this approach reveals, homosexuals and transgender people in Senegal, from colonial times to the present, have been constructed as scapegoats, first of the French mission civilisatrice (civilizing mission) and then of Senegalese political and Islamic backlashes. Although they have always cohabited with the rest of the society, homosexuals and transgender people in Senegal have been treated largely as strangers in their own land. By analyzing the discourses of both French colonials and Senegalese, one finds a persistent binary opposing the West and Africa and denigrating sexual and gender variances and subcultures in Senegal as pathological European imports.

Experiencing Misgendered Pronouns: A Classroom Activity to Encourage Empathy

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica MacNamara ◽  
Sarah Glann ◽  
Paul Durlak
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Large Research

How can teachers help students understand the importance of gender pronouns for transgender and gender-nonconforming people? This article presents a gender pronoun reversal activity that simulates the experience of being verbally misgendered. Students followed up on the activity by posting reflections on an online class discussion board. The activity promoted empathy among cisgender students for transgender people and reflexivity regarding the social boundaries of gender identity. Empathy and reflexivity were common responses among students enrolled in Sociology of Diversity and Sociology of Gender at a large research university in the northeast. We present the activity, including preparation and follow-up along with an analysis of student responses.

Disgust and disgust-driven moral concerns predict support for restrictions on transgender bathroom access

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-214
Author(s):  
Matthew E. Vanaman ◽  
Hanah A. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
State Economies ◽  
And Gender

AbstractMany U.S. states have proposed policies that restrict bathroom access to an individual’s birth sex. These policies have had widespread effects on safety for transgender and gender-nonconforming people, as well as on state economies. In this registered report, we assessed the role of disgust in support for policies that restrict transgender bathroom access. We found that sensitivity to pathogen disgust was positively associated with support for bathroom restrictions; sexual and injury disgust were unrelated. We also examined the role of disgust-driven moral concerns, known as purity concerns, as well as harm-related moral concerns in support for bathroom restrictions. While concerns about harm to cisgender and transgender people predicted support for bathroom restrictions, purity was a much stronger predictor. Also, purity partially mediated the link between pathogen disgust and support for bathroom restrictions, even after accounting for harm concerns. Findings and implications are discussed.

Gender-Based Violence Against Transgender People in the United States: A Call for Research and Programming

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Wirtz ◽  
Tonia C. Poteat ◽  
Mannat Malik ◽  
Nancy Glass
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gender Nonconformity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Gender-based violence (GBV) is an umbrella term for any harm that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that results from power inequalities based on gender roles. Most global estimates of GBV implicitly refer only to the experiences of cisgender, heterosexually identified women, which often comes at the exclusion of transgender and gender nonconforming (trans) populations. Those who perpetrate violence against trans populations often target gender nonconformity, gender expression or identity, and perceived sexual orientation and thus these forms of violence should be considered within broader discussions of GBV. Nascent epidemiologic research suggests a high burden of GBV among trans populations, with an estimated prevalence that ranges from 7% to 89% among trans populations and subpopulations. Further, 165 trans persons have been reported murdered in the United States between 2008 and 2016. GBV is associated with multiple poor health outcomes and has been broadly posited as a component of syndemics, a term used to describe an interaction of diseases with underlying social forces, concomitant with limited prevention and response programs. The interaction of social stigma, inadequate laws, and punitive policies as well as a lack of effective GBV programs limits access to and use of GBV prevention and response programs among trans populations. This commentary summarizes the current body of research on GBV among trans populations and highlights areas for future research, intervention, and policy.

The Bloomsbury Reader on Islam in the West

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward E. Curtis IV
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
The West ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extensive Introduction ◽  
Public Lives ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

For more than a millennium, Islam has been a vital part of Western civilization. Today, however, it is sometimes assumed that Islam is a foreign element inside the West, and even that Islam and the West are doomed to be in perpetual conflict. The need for accurate, reliable scholarship on this topic has never been more urgent. The Bloomsbury Reader on Islam in the West brings together some of the most important, up-to-date scholarly writings published on this subject. The Reader explores not only the presence of Muslim religious practitioners in Europe and the Americas but also the impact of Islamic ideas and Muslims on Western politics, societies, and cultures. It is ideal for use in the university classroom, with an extensive introduction by Edward E. Curtis IV and a timeline of key events in the history of Islam in the West. A brief introduction to the author and the topic is provided at the start of each excerpt. Part 1, on the history of Islam in the West, probes the role of Muslims and the significance of Islam in medieval, early modern, and modern settings such as Islamic Spain, colonial-era Latin America, sixteenth-century France, nineteenth-century Crimea, interwar Albania, the post-World War II United States, and late twentieth-century Germany. Part 2 focuses on the contemporary West, examining debates over Muslim citizenship, the war on terrorism, anti-Muslim prejudice, and Islam and gender, while also providing readers with a concrete sense of how Muslims practise and live out Islamic ideals in their private and public lives.

scholarly journals ISLAM HUMANIS, HAM, DAN HUMANISASI PENDIDIKAN: Eksposisi Integratif Prinsip Dasar Islam, Kebebasan Beragama, Kesetaraan Gender, dan Pendidikan Humanis

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Mahmud Arif
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The West ◽  
National Education ◽  
Long Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Right

The issue of human rights has prevailed globally although it is can’t denied that historically that issue comes from tradition of the West Liberalism based on individualism standpoint. In fact, freedom and equality as essential part of human rights have not been appreciated yet suitably in the realm of long history of humankind so it was still found the slavery system. Even in the modern time, at several regions, the right of vote consisting of human right has not possessed by the women. There was a accusation from some scholars in the West that Islam is a religion opposing to human rights and gender equality. They argue that Islam has justified any religious violence, has cut religious freedom down, and has tolerated gender unequality. If it is viewed from the basic principle of takhfif wa rahmah (giving easiness and love), such accusation looks obviously problematic, because Islamic tenets normatively appreciate to establish human rights and gender equality. But empirically, religious interpretation often contributes in mainstreaming culture that castrates any religious freedom and gender equality. As one of religious interpretation product, fiqih (Islamic jurisprudence) for instance is claimed to contain many problems relating to religious freedom and gender equality. Such is the case, the reality of our national education. For a long time, in the Indonesian school system there are many factors causing failure of every endeavor for achieving the aim of human right education. This means that such basic priciple must be reactualized in the education system through hard efforts in humanizing education processes and pupil’s potencies.[Isu hak asasi manusia (HAM) telah mencuat sedemikian universal meski tidak bisa dinafikan bahwa dalam sejarahnya isu ini bermula dari tradisi liberalisme Barat yang titik pijaknya individual. Kebebasan dan kesetaraan sebagai elemen penting HAM ternyata belum diapresiasi secara semestinya dalam sejarah panjang pelbagai peradaban sehingga masih ditemukan adanya sistem perbudakan. Bahkan dalam kurun modern ini pun di sebagian wilayah, hak untuk memilih yang menjadi bagian dari hak asasi belum juga dinikmati oleh kaum perempuan. Muncul tuduhan dari sebagian kalangan di Barat bahwa Islam adalah agama anti HAM dan bias gender. Argumen yang dikemukakan, Islam membenarkan tindak kekerasan atasnama agama, memasung kekebasan beragama, dan mentolerir ketidakadilan terhadap perempuan. Diletakkan dalam konteks prinsip dasar takhfif wa raḥmah, tuduhan tersebut nampak problematik, mengingat secara normatif ajaran Islam sangatlah menjunjung tinggi penegakan HAM dan kesetaraan gender. Hanya saja, dalam realitas empirisnya tafsir keagamaan tidak jarang justru ikut andil dalam pembentukan arus besar budaya yang memberangus kebebasan beragama dan ketidakadilan terhadap kaum perempuan. Sebagai salah satu produk tafsir keagamaan, fikih misalnya diakui masih menyimpan banyak persoalan menyangkut kekebasan beragama dan kesetaraan gender. Demikian halnya dengan dunia pendidikan nasional. Selama ini, dalam sistem persekolahan di Indonesia masih banyak ditemukan faktor penyebab kegagalan bagi setiap upaya mencapai tujuan pendidikan HAM. Ini berarti prinsip dasar tersebut perlu diejawantahkan dalam sistem pendidikan melalui upaya memaksimalkan peran humanisasi dan hominisasi pendidikan.]

scholarly journals Mainstream Psychology And The Gender Binary: Toward An Account Of Becoming "Non-Binary"

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander T. Vasilovsky
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Gender Identities ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Binary Logic ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
Genealogical Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender

The gender binary haunts mainstream psychology’s history of medicalizing trans and gender nonconforming people, particularly its construction of their gender identities as psychopathological and in need of treatment for violating the binary logic of normative (cis) development. Drawing on interviews with 24 participants who identified as “non-binary,” this dissertation advances: 1) a genealogical analysis of the construction, interpretation, and administration of “transgenderism” (psychology’s parlance) which elucidates the discipline’s maintenance of the gender binary through said construction, interpretation, and administration; and (2) an account of “becoming” gendered (non-binary, in this case) as an alternative to the mainstream models of gender identity development. Becoming (a) shifts from the etiological “why” to the psychosocial “how” (as in, how to go about assembling oneself as non-binary; labels and pronouns are key); (b) eschews teleology (there is no end goal with regard to embodiment); (c) privileges gender self-determination; (d) attends to intersectionality; and (e) foregrounds intersubjectivity. The participants were largely concerned with asserting the validity of their gender identities as non-binary, which are routinely dismissed and invalidated, and this dissertation works toward undoing psychology’s own invalidating practices.

scholarly journals Production of the Self during the Age of Confessionalism

1996 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Warren Sabean
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Multiple Selves ◽  
The West ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
History Of ◽  
Identity Privacy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual

During the last several decades, the history of the self, its nature, essential shifts, and trajectory have undergone considerable re-examination. The Western Civilization textbook premise that the history of the West and the rise of individualism correlate closely with each other is being critically examined. There are a number of different historical, anthropological, literary, and sociological discourses about bodies, memory, conscience, subjectivity, identity, privacy, sexuality, and gender, which have developed separate narratives about the self, frequently (mostly) in isolation from one another. Some recent feminist theory finds the thesis of individualism irrelevant for women and suggests that the self as a continuing story (autobiography) is gendered. Some theorists counter the creative possibilities of forgetting to a self constructed around a memory core. Multiple selves, schizoid selves, and decentered selves challenge older ideas of identity. The dialectic between public and private produces new problems about who “owns” the self, its image, and its location. Bodies, sexualities, and desire turn out to be shaped and disciplined within hidden forms of power. Old ideas about the rise of the individual and new ones about the pathologies of the self make the self and its history a central issue for contemporary debate.

scholarly journals Writing Women's Agency into the History of the Federal Republic: “1968,” Historians, and Gender

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina von Hodenberg
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Women Activists ◽  
German History ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of Success ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractTo a large extent, master surveys of the Federal Republic's history have failed to weave into their narratives the rise of female emancipation or challenges to male domination. This article addresses the reasons for this failure, as well as the implications of its reversal. It analyzes the role of women activists during West Germany's “1968,” underlining the gender bias of common narratives of the West German Sixties. The addition of feminist agency to West German history necessarily changes the definition of “success” in the Westernization narrative of the Federal Republic, and also the way in which we define generations and engage in public forms of commemoration.Die Emanzipation der Frauen und die Infragestellung männlicher Dominanz spielen in den Überblickswerken zur Geschichte der Bundesrepublik nur eine untergeordnete Rolle. Warum dies so ist, und welche Folgen eine Umkehr dieser Tendenz hätte, ist Thema dieses Aufsatzes. Am Beispiel feministischer Aktivistinnen des westdeutschen “1968” wird aufgezeigt, wie geschlechtsspezifisch verzerrt die gängigen Narrative der Protestbewegung und des Wertewandels in den 1960er Jahren sind. Sobald wir die Narrative der westdeutschen Geschichte mit feministischer “agency” zusammendenken, verändert sich notwendigerweise die Definition von “Erfolg” in der “Erfolgsgeschichte” der Bundesrepublik. Zudem werden die Kategorien des “Westens” und der “Verwestlichung”, der “politischen Generation” und des “Generationskonflikts” als geschlechtsspezifische Konstrukte erkennbar, die bislang eine männliche Perspektive in der Geschichtsschreibung wie in der öffentlichen Erinnerungskultur privilegiert haben.

Christian Worship and Gender Practices

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Berger
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Liturgical Movement ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Liturgical Language ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Embodied Practice

The foundational materiality in Christian worship is the bodily presence of worshippers. Gender differences—and the manifold ways in which they are embodied and performed in different cultural contexts—are therefore inscribed into the very fabric of liturgical practices, past and present. In Christian worship today, the workings of gender are evident across a broad spectrum of ecclesial traditions. Some churches have authorized rituals for the blessing of same-sex unions; some are ordaining openly transgender priests. Other churches continue to struggle with the ordination of women, while a few aim for explicitly “masculine” worship experiences. Feminist concerns over liturgical language mark some communities, while churches rooted in more traditional contexts maintain seating arrangements that separate women and men. Clearly, the workings of gender in Christian worship today span a broad spectrum of quite dissimilar concerns. At the root of all these concerns, however, lies the same vital reality, namely that worship is an embodied practice and therefore never gender-free. What often goes unnoticed in contemporary discussions is the fact that gender differences have marked liturgical practices in Christian communities since earliest times. The workings of gender, in other words, have a genealogy in Christian worship. Scholars have only recently begun to map this terrain, by bringing the interpretive tools of gender theory to bear on liturgical historiography. Paramount among these interpretive tools is an understanding of gender as attending to all gendered particularities and sexualities (e.g., eunuchs in Byzantium, ascetic virgins in Merovingian Gaul, transgender people in contemporary North America, etc.). Gender, in other words, is understood to encompass much more than the traditional binary of “women” and “men.” The emerging gender-attentive insights into liturgical history have been intriguing and at times quite surprising. These insights span the whole of liturgy’s past, from ways in which gender shaped early baptismal practices (e.g., in the choreography of the rite, in questions surrounding the minister of baptism, in the bodily proprieties considered appropriate at the font) to the workings of gender in the 20th-century Liturgical Movement (e.g., its first important text, Tra le Sollecitudine (1903)—usually hailed for its evocation of an “active participation” of the faithful in worship—also sought to discontinue the presence of castrati singers in the Sistine Chapel choir while ensuring that women would not take their place). In between earliest glimpses of the workings of gender in Christian worship and our own times lie approximately a thousand years of a complex history. Tracing this history of the interplay between gender differences and Christian worship not only constitutes an important task for historians of liturgy, but also provides rich resources for addressing contemporary issues.

scholarly journals Educator Advocacy for Queer Students in Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Quantz
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Community Members ◽  
School Environments ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Face Threats ◽  
Lgbtq Students ◽  
And Gender ◽  
K 12

In this Dialogues we are highlighting educators, community members, and researchers whose work focuses on advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) students in educational institutions. Despite greater visibility, more legal protections, and seemingly greater support for LGBTQ+ individuals, LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools still face hostile school environments with little to no representation in school curricula. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s most recent school climate report found that over half the LGBTQ+, or queer, students surveyed reported facing regular bullying and harassment. Additionally, trans and gender nonconforming students, and transgender people in the United States at large, face threats to their rights under the Trump presidency.

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