Inclusion and Trans Literature

Ideal Research, 2024

Literature has consistently served as a lens through which societies view and understand them, and its role in shaping and reflecting transgender identities is no exception. This paper examines the cultural representation of transgender individuals in Indian and U.S. literature, focusing on how these narratives both mirror societal perceptions and actively influences them. In India, transgender literature often emphasizes the community, spirituality, and a traditional role, as seen in works like A. Revathi’s The Truth About Me. These narratives are deeply tied to the hijra community’s historical and religious significance, offering both a critique of marginalization and a celebration of resilience. Conversely, U.S. literature often spotlights individualism, self-liberation, and advocacy for legal and social equality, as demonstrated in Janet Mock's Redefining Realness and Jennifer Boylan's She is not in There. Through a comparative analysis, this paper reveals the contrasting cultural frameworks shaping transgender identities. Indian literature tends to anchor these identities in collective experiences and spiritual traditions, whereas U.S. literature portrays them through the lens of personal journeys and activism. Despite these differences, shared themes of alienation, self-discovery, and resistance emerge, highlighting the universal struggles of transgender individuals. The study underscores the dual role of literature as a mirror of cultural understanding and a tool for advocacy, influencing public perceptions and policy changes. By exploring these narratives, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersection of culture, identity, and storytelling, demonstrating literature’s transformative power in shaping inclusive societies. Keywords: Transgender literature, cultural identity, hijra, individualism, self-liberation, advocacy, India, United States, storytelling, social change.

Hypatia Reviews Online

The academy has not lagged far behind the increasing social visibility of trans people in North America. The two volumes of The Transgender Studies Reader (Stryker and Whittle 2006; Stryker and Aizura 2013), and the launch of Transgender Studies Quarterly have helped establish transgender studies as a serious, academic enterprise, with many other works critically taking up the specific perspectives of trans and gender nonconforming people (some examples are Enke 2012; Hines 2013). Trans studies are undertaken in various forms, within various departments, on campuses all over Canada and the US. The University of Arizona plans to launch a master's program in transgender studies. And the University of Victoria has announced an inaugural Chair in Transgender Studies. Trans Studies: The Challenge to Hetero/Homo Normativities, is a valuable contribution to the field.

2022

A person is identified by gender as male or female in society and correspondingly carries on their social roles and responsibilities. For centuries, society has assigned different roles making the biological distinction of gender. This difference has developed a concept that men and women have separate roles to play and thus refrain from equality. Correspondingly, this categorization is a setback for those between the two male or female gender. Transgender people or hijras or eunuchs, known by many names, have been an intrinsic part of society and have recorded their presence in the world's history. With time, transgender peoples' positions have differed and, eventually, their importance in society. From time to time, authors in literary sphere have unveiled the subaltern status of the transgender community and depicted the pathetic conditions and discrimination they have faced in every sphere of life. In her recent work, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy has portrayed the immense potential of a transgender person. She includes in the second novel, which is an active member of the society and, as a mouthpiece, depicts the lives of the hijra community and their position in the social sphere. For ages, the community has been subjected to mockery and looked down upon for their distinctive identity and presented as 'other'. This paper explores transgender people's prominence in different periods and their inclusion in the literary sphere and society.

2021

Trans is “hot right now” (Winterson 1226). But who gets to write about trans issues? Winterson’s and Fu’s books follow in the upsurge of trans visibility in the mainstream media referred to as the “transgender tipping point” and marked by Laverne Cox’s appearance on the cover of Time Magazine and prominent trans celebrity interviews on the Piers Morgan and Katie Couric shows in 2014. However, visibility can also be a “trap”, as Gossett et al. have argued, in that they “accommodat[e] trans bodies, histories, and culture only insofar as they can be forced to hew to hegemonic modalities” (xxiii). Mia Fischer explains that “the popular assumption that the increased visibility of trans individuals in public discourse automatically translates into improvement in transgender people’s daily lives” needs to be challenged (5). In addition to the disparity between visibility and real-life problems, the question of how trans people are represented is also problematic. As Brynn Tannehill put it,...

In this chapter, I assess the treatment of transgender within the sociology of gender and propose a new standard of transfeminist methodology that would work against transgender marginalization in social scientific research. I assess the treatment of transgender within the sociology of gender by conducting a content analysis of all articles and chapters focusing on transgender people, experiences, bodies, and phenomena published between 1987 and 2014 in the journal Gender & Society (n = 12) and between 1996 and 2014 in the book series Advances in Gender Research (n= 5). I first outline key tenets of feminist methodology and suggest additional transfeminist methodological considerations. I proceed to a content analysis of existing transgender research in two key publications to support my proposal of the development of transfeminist methodology.

South Atlantic Review , 2022

Women’s Studies in Communication 37:1, 2014

2019

This essay compares issues of gender diversity in Geoffrey Chaucer's fourteenth-century Pardoner's Tale and Kai Cheng Thom's recent novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir. This comparison expands on queer readings of The Pardoner's Tale and demonstrates possible links across time between authors dealing with the experiences of gender diverse people. It shows how gender diverse people in different historical contexts can confront hatred and expand limiting frames of cultural expression, by drawing on their own embodied experiences as sources of knowing and converting that knowledge into forms of expressive culture.

Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses , 2019

This article seeks to activate a much-needed discussion about the place of transgender literary production within the field of transCanadian literature, in its multifaceted iterations. The motivation behind it sparks from the imperative to respond, while simultaneously being accountable for the narratives we produce as feminist researchers in a moment of increasing racism, transphobia, and social divisiveness in Canadian literary communities. Departing from this desire, this article turns to Kai Cheng Thom and Vivek Shraya's ethico-poetic storying and worlding through the lens of queer and trans philosophers Donna Haraway, Karen Barad, and Susan Stryker. Thom's Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir (2016) and Shraya's She of the Mountains (2014), I contend, pose a critique of the multiple modes of violence targeting racialized queer and trans communities, while simultaneously situating response-ability as an ethical compass from which to navigate, and not drown, in this global era of indifference.

2012