Waste Culture and Isolation: Prisons, Toilets, and Gender Segregation

Hypatia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 668-689
Author(s):  
Perry Zurn
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Explanatory Theory ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

After reviewing the use of isolation in US prisons and public restrooms to confine transgender people in solitary cells and single‐occupancy bathrooms, I propose an explanatory theory of eliminative space. I argue that prisons and toilets are eliminative spaces: that is, spaces of waste management that use layers of isolation to sanctify social or individual waste, at the outer and inner limits of society. As such, they function according to an eliminative logic. Eliminative logic, as I develop it, involves three distinct but interrelated mechanisms: 1) purification of the social center, through 2) iterative segregation, presuming and enforcing 3) the reduced relationality of marginal persons. By evaluating the historical development and contemporary function of prisons and restrooms, I demonstrate that both seek to protect the gender binary through waves of segregation by sex, race, disability, and gender identity. I further argue that both assume the thin relationality of, in this case, transgender people, who are conceived of as impervious to the effects of isolation and thus always already isolable. I conclude that, if we are to counter the violence of these isolation practices, we not only need to think holistically about eliminative spaces and logic, but also to richly reconceptualize relationality.

scholarly journals Current approaches to gender dysforia management: an endocrinologist’s perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-174
Author(s):  
N. I. Volkova ◽  
I. Yu. Davidenko ◽  
Yu. S. Degtyareva
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Hormonal Treatment ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

Understanding of people with impaired gender identity in society, academic and science world is constantly changing due to increased awareness, openness and availability of the information on transgender people and their life. It is known that the social and psychological state of transgenders depends at a  great extent on the quality of their medical care, including hormonal treatment. Unfortunately, until recently the awareness of this problem among many physicians (clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, etc.) in the Russian Federation remained insufficient, and no unified standards of medical and psychological care for transgender people in Russia have been developed. As a  result, when referring to various specialists, people with impaired gender identity commonly do not receive adequate recommendations and proper comprehensive medical follow-up. An endocrinologist, who prescribes hormonal treatment and performs long-term (usually life-long) follow-up and monitoring of adverse events, is one of the key team members to provide medical care to transgender patients. The article presents current views on definitions, diagnostic criteria and principles of endocrine therapy for gender dysphoria and gender incongruence, as well as highlights medical risks, associated with hormonal treatment, and a monitoring plan for patients receiving corrective therapy.

Trans Theory and Gender Identity in Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alden Jones
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
The Social ◽  
Educational Spaces ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Binary Gender

Trans theory is a set of ideas, tools, contestations, divergences, and investments in gender(s) in and beyond the gender binary of male and female as it is understood in Western contexts. Gender identity is, in part, an individual’s gendered sense of self. Both transgender theory and gender identity are implicated by and concerned with education given the relative (in)visibility of transgressive or variant genders. Educational spaces are concerned with gender since they are one of many socializing and normalizing structures that seek to instill binary genders. Trans theory and gender identity are understood in educational spaces as additive to the social norm of binary gender, though both the theory and the concept ultimately elucidate the need for a reexamination of what gender is and what it does, as well as to and for whom.

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.

Undermining Transgender Survivors

2020 ◽  
pp. 62-88
Author(s):  
Amanda Koontz
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Transgender Identity ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
The Social ◽  
Almost All

This chapter examines the theoretical underpinnings as to how transgender people experience intimate partner violence, in a social context dominated by romantic love ideals and the gender binary. It examines how abusers manipulate transgender-specific insecurities and discredit identities through controlling gender transitions and other aspects of transgender identity construction. The processes of identity work—that is, constructing oneself as an image in relation to one's self-concept and perceptions of others’ reactions—influence almost all realms of life. Given the social context and distinct experiences corresponding with transitions, this chapter explores transgender peoples’ identity work as a potential site for identity abuse, identifying two altercasting strategies of retroverting (reinforcing past, undesired identities) and maneuverting (making desired identities unachievable by holding idealized traits and props over victims). In so doing, this chapter also considers ways in which discrediting identity work offers insight into “why victims stay” in abusive relationships within the context of transgender intimate partner violence.

Sexuality and Gender Identity: From a Discursive to a Relational Analysis

1998 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Burkitt
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Judith Butler ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Relational Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Discursive Constructions

This paper concentrates on the recent controversy over the division between sex and gender and the troubling of the binary distinctions between gender identities and sexualities, such as man and woman, heterosexual and homosexual. While supporting the troubling of such categories, I argue against the approach of Judith Butler which claims that these dualities are primarily discursive constructions that can be regarded as fictions. Instead, I trace the emergence of such categories to changing forms of power relations in a more sociological reading of Foucault's conceptualization of power, and argue that the social formation of identity has to be understood as emergent within socio-historical relations. I then consider what implications this has for a politics based in notions of identity centred on questions of sexuality and gender.

scholarly journals Queering Asylum in Europe: A Survey Report

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vítor Lopes Andrade ◽  
Carmelo Danisi ◽  
Moira Dustin ◽  
Nuno Ferreira ◽  
Nina Held
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Research Council ◽  
European Research ◽  
International Protection ◽  
European Research Council ◽  
Survey Report ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

This report discusses the data gathered through two surveys carried out in the context of the SOGICA project. SOGICA – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European human rights challenge – is a four-year (2016-2020) research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) that explores the social and legal experiences of people across Europe claiming international protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI).

scholarly journals Institutional Change and Transgender Employment

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-531
Author(s):  
Alex Redcay ◽  
Wade Luquet
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Workplace Discrimination ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Identity Recognition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Locker Room ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Policies And Practices

The purpose of this paper is to recommend non-discriminatory policies and practices regarding transgender individuals in the workplace. This paper will summarize workplace discrimination legal cases involving transgender individuals. Specifically, employers can be held financially responsible if they fire or discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of gender identity and gender expression and can be required to use affirmed pronouns, revise policies, and provide training to employees regarding non-discrimination. Employers cannot discriminate against transgender individuals for transitioning, cannot prevent transgender individuals from using a particular bathroom or locker room, and cannot require employees to medically transition prior to gender identity recognition. Employers can be required to allow medical services related to transgender care. Finally, transgender individuals are a protected class under Title VII. This paper discusses the historical and current legal cases that prevent employment discrimination and proposes policies and practices. Recommendations for social workers include creating a sufficient non-discrimination policy, consulting with experts, becoming recognized on an equality index, educating others by not shaming them, and following the social work code of ethics.

The Limits of Homonormativity: Constructions of Bisexual and Transgender People in the Post-gay Era

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 934-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lain A. B. Mathers ◽  
J. E. Sumerau ◽  
Ryan T. Cragun
Keyword(s):  
Christian Women ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bisexual And Transgender ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bisexual People ◽  
Reproduction Of Inequality ◽  
Insight Into

This article addresses limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and gender equality. Based on 20 interviews with cisgender, heterosexual Christian women, we demonstrate how even people who support same-sex marriage and some recognition of cisgender lesbian and gay people as potentially moral individuals may continue marginalization of transgender and bisexual people in their interpretations of gender, sexualities, and religion. We outline two generic processes in the reproduction of inequality which we name (1) deleting and (2) denigrating whereby people may socially construct transgender and bisexual existence as unnatural and unwelcome despite gains for cisgender lesbian and gay people. We argue that examining the social construction of bisexual and transgender people may provide insight into (1) limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and/or gender liberation, (2) transgender and bisexual experience, and (3) the relative absence of bisexual and transgender focused analyses in sociology to date.

scholarly journals Resisting Body Oppression: An Aesthetic Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherri Irvin
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Significant Source ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Resisting Oppression ◽  
Aesthetic Judgments

This article argues for an aesthetic approach to resisting oppression based on judgments of bodily unattractiveness. Philosophical theories have often suggested that appropriate aesthetic judgments should converge on sets of objects consensually found to be beautiful or ugly. The convergence of judgments about human bodies, however, is a significant source of injustice, because people judged to be unattractive pay substantial social and economic penalties in domains such as education, employment and criminal justice. The injustice is compounded by the interaction between standards of attractiveness and gender, race, disability, and gender identity. I argue that we should actively work to reduce our participation in standard aesthetic practices that involve attractiveness judgments. This does not mean refusing engagement with the embodiment of others; ignoring someone’s embodiment is often a way of dehumanizing them. Instead, I advocate a form of practice, aesthetic exploration, that involves seeking out positive experiences of the unique aesthetic affordances of all bodies, regardless of whether they are attractive in the standard sense. I argue that there are good ethical reasons to cultivate aesthetic exploration, and that it is psychologically plausible that doing so would help to alleviate the social injustice attending judgments of attractiveness.

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