Transgender language reform

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lal Zimman
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Inclusive Language ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Linguistic Challenges ◽  
Contemporary United States ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
Selection Of

Transgender people’s recent increase in visibility in the contemporary United States has presented new linguistic challenges. This article investigates those challenges and presents strategies developed by trans speakers and promoted by trans activists concerned with language reform. The first of these is the selection of gendered lexical items, including both gender identity terms (woman, man, etc.) and more implicitly gendered words (e.g. beautiful, handsome). The second is the assignment of third person pronouns like she/her/hers and he/ him/his as well as non-binary pronouns like singular they/them/theirs or ze/ hir/hirs. Both of these challenges tap into the importance trans people place on individual self-identification, and they come with new interactional practices such as asking people directly what pronouns they would like others to use when referring to them. The third challenge addressed here is avoiding gendering people when the referent’s gender isn’t relevant or known, which can be addressed through the selection of gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language. The final challenge is how to discuss gender when it is relevant – e.g. in discussions of gender identity, socialisation or sexual physiology – without delegitimising trans identities. Several strategies are presented to address this issue, such as hedging all generalisations based on gender, even when doing so seems unnecessary in the normative sex/gender framework or using more precise language regarding what aspect(s) of gender are relevant. Taken as a whole, trans language reform reflects the importance of language, not just as an auxiliary to identity, but as the primary grounds on which identity construction takes place.

scholarly journals Wie 'Haar' zu 'Maus' wird: Geschlechtsbezogene pronominale Referenz im Thailändischen

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Korakoch Attaviriyanupap
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
First Person ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Thai Language ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Pronominal Reference ◽  
Self Reference ◽  
Selection Of

The use of gender-related personal pronouns is mostly found in different forms of third person singular (e. g. he/she/it in English or er/sie/es in German). In Thai, an isolate language without grammatical gender, the gender-specification can be observed in the use of first person singular pronominal reference. The selection of gender-related self-reference depends not only on sex but also on gender identity of the speaker. In this article, the complex system of pronominal reference in Thai language will be briefly introduced. After that, forms of self-reference used in the Thai film Iron Ladies are analyzed to show how the gender identity of speakers can influence their selection of pronominal reference.

Ethnic Identity in English Language Textbooks: Considerations for a Multicultural Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Puspalata C A/P Suppiah ◽  
Ramesh Nair
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Language Textbooks ◽  
Selection Of

There is evidence to suggest that young children more readily absorb the subtle messages that are encoded in any type of text and talk, and what they take away from these texts contributes in helping them develop their own identity in relation to their role in society. In this paper, we examine the construction of ethnic identity in a selection of English language textbooks targeted at young Malaysian children in primary schools. Based on a content analysis of visual and verbal language in two Primary Three English language textbooks, we report on the encoded messages that are transmitted to young Malaysian children about their place in society. The findings reveal significant imbalances in the way characters of different ethnic backgrounds are represented. This imbalance is a cause for concern as the message conveyed to young Malaysian children could be potentially damaging. Keywords: textbook, ethnicity, identity construction

“I Assumed It Was a Much Safer Place Than It Really Is”: Nonbinary Educators’ Strategies for Finding School Jobs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Iskander
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Hiring Process ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
American Schools ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
Transformative Approach

People who are nonbinary—one of many kinds of trans identity that do not fit neatly within a man/woman binary—face particular challenges when seeking employment in P–12 schools, which have historically been places where rigid gender norms are strictly enforced. This paper draws on semistructured interviews conducted in 2018 to explore how 16 nonbinary educators navigated the process of finding, securing, and keeping jobs in Canadian and American schools. I found that most participants were concerned about securing a job or potentially losing their job or their safety at work because others might be inhospitable to their gender identity or expression. At the same time, participants had strategies to ensure that they found and kept jobs they were comfortable with, such as investigating a school’s support for queer and trans people, forging positive relationships with administrators and staff, and presenting their gender in particular ways during the hiring process. This study illustrates the limitations of individualistic, tokenizing forms of trans inclusion and reveals the continued prevalence of gender normativity in schools, despite a rapidly shifting gender landscape. While trans inclusion, at least on the surface, may be a selling point for some schools, trans people continue to face barriers when the underlying structures that privilege White, middle-class, cisgender, and heteronormative gender expression remain intact. I argue that, if trans people are to be fully supported in the education workplace, an intersectional and broadly transformative approach to gender justice is necessary.

Morehead & Ingram (1973) Revisited

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ingram ◽  
Donald Morehead
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Research Note ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Selection Of

The finding in Morehead and Ingram (1973) that children with a language impairment do better in the use of inflectional morphology than MLU-matched typically developing children has been in marked contrast to several subsequent studies that have found the opposite relationship (cf. review in Leonard, 1998). This research note presents a reanalysis of a subset of the original Morehead and Ingram data in an attempt to reconcile these contradictory findings. The reanalysis revealed that the advantage on inflectional morphology for children with language impairment was only on the progressive suffix, not on plural and possessive or on the verbal morphemes third-person present tense and past tense. The results of the reanalysis are in line with more recent research (e.g., Rice, Wexler, & Cleave, 1995). The resolution of these discrepant results highlights the critical roles that methodological issues play—specifically, how subjects are matched on MLU, how inflectional morphology is measured, and the selection of subjects with regard to age.

scholarly journals Shifting Positionalities: Empirical Reflections on a Queer/Trans of Colour Methodology

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Haritaworn
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
Interracial Families ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Cultural Texts ◽  
Alternative Methodology ◽  
Selection Of

How can we study ‘Queer’, or indeed, should we? Drawing on fieldwork with people raised in interracial families in Britain and Germany, and reflecting on my own coming out as transgendered/genderqueer during the research, I reflect on the role of difference, similarity, and change in the production of queer knowledges. My entry point is a queer diasporic one. Queers of colour, I argue, have a particular stake in queering racialised heterosexualities; yet differences within diasporic spaces clearly matter. While ‘Queer’ can open up an alternative methodology of redefining and reframing social differences, the directionality of our queering - ‘up’ rather than ‘down’ - is clearly relevant. I suggest the anti-racist feminist principle of positionality as fruitful for such a queer methodology of change. This is explored with regard to a selection of empirical and cultural texts, including the debate around Paris is Burning, Jenny Livingston's film about the Harlem house/ball scene; the appeal that a non-white heterosexual artist such as South-Asian pop singer MIA can have for queers of colour; the camp role model which Thai sex work femininity can represent for queer and trans people from the second generation of Thai migration; and the solidarity of a Southeast Asian butch with feminine women in her diasporic collectivity.

scholarly journals MASCULINITY AS AN IDENTITY AND AS A CLUSTER OF TRAITS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-158
Author(s):  
Renata Zieminska
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
The Self ◽  
Simple Idea ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Binary Model ◽  
Third Person ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
Third Person Perspective

The paper presents the concept of masculinity within the non-binary and multilayered model of gender/sex traits. Within that model, masculinity is not a simple idea, but rather is fragmented into many traits in diverse clusters. The experience of transgender men and men with intersex traits suggests that self-determined male gender identity is a mega trait that is sufficient for being a man. However, masculinity is not only psychological, as the content of the psychological feeling of being a man refers to social norms about how men should be and behave. And male coded traits are described as traits that frequently occur within the group of people identifying as men. Therefore, I claim that there are two interdependent ideas in the concept of masculinity: the self-determined male gender identity (first-person perspective) and a cluster of traits coded as male (third-person perspective). Within non-binary model the interplay between the two interdependent ideas allows to include borderline masculinities.

Gender Identity and Systems Development

2011 ◽  
pp. 603-608
Author(s):  
Linda Stepulevage
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Office Work ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Women's Identity ◽  
It Systems ◽  
The Relationship

This article draws on interviews and case study research on gender-IT relations to examine the relationship between gender identity and IT development activities. It explores the intertwining of gender and technological identity for women in office work contexts, a location where a boundary between the design and use of IT systems has long been recognised. It is important to explore identity construction within this framework of design and use as separate activities since women’s identity is constrained on both sides of this perceived boundary. The article first explores issues for women as IT professionals, then as users of IT-based work systems and lastly, it discusses the feasibility of constructing gender identities that encompass and recognise the technical work that both developers and users do.

scholarly journals Gender Identity: The Human Right of Depathologization

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 978
Author(s):  
Maria Elisa Castro-Peraza ◽  
Jesús Manuel García-Acosta ◽  
Naira Delgado ◽  
Ana María Perdomo-Hernández ◽  
Maria Inmaculada Sosa-Alvarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Access To Medical Care ◽  
The One

Background: Transgender people have a gender identity different from the one allocated to them at birth. In many countries, transsexualism and transgenderism are considered mental illnesses under the diagnosis of gender dysphoria. This pathologization impacts on human rights. Main content: The United Nations (UN) has denounced violations against trans-people, including attacks, forced medical treatments, lack of legal gender recognition, and discrimination in the areas of education, employment, access to healthcare, and justice. The UN has linked these violations directly with discriminatory diagnostic classifications that pathologize gender diversity. Trans-people have been pathologized by psycho-medical classification and laws all around the world, with a different impact depending on countries. This paper argues that pathologization infringes infringes upon a wide range of human rights such as; civil, economic, social cultural and also the access to medical care. Conclusions: The current situation for trans-people with respect to legal healthcare matters, depends on the country. Human rights are universal, not a question for cultural interpretation. They are the minimum that every human being must have assured only by the fact of being human. Countries must protect these rights by regulating trans-pathologization with special attention dedicated to intersex people and their specific needs.

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