Presentation 2012 Compiled by Dave ChristieSwan Conference: Presented by Imogen

• And Just chaos theory in the nineteenth century disrupted reductionalistic and mechanistic views of the universe, transgender theory as we near the twenty-first is shaking up reductionalisic and mechanistic ideas of the ‘known’ body we live in.

• Fixed ideas on gender bipolarism are wavering, foregoing a revolution on bodies and consciousness that embrace their complexity. From this new vantage the emergence of at least 50 billion galaxies of gender becomes a distinct possibility.

Mackenzie (1999)

Trans identity

• The term transgender can be accurately applied to self-identified bi-genders, gender radicals, butch lesbians, cross-dressing married men, transvestites, intersex individuals, transsexuals, drag kings and queens, gender-blenders, queers, genderqueers, two spirits, or he-shes (Burgess, 1999; Hunter & Hickerson, 2003; Mallon, 1999b)

Identity continued Social Network Site (SNS)

• H.P.W.• Cross dresser• Transvestite• Transvestite (pre-op)• Transsexual(gender) (pre-op)• Transsexual(gender) (post op)

Modern and Post-modern

the modernist approach to identity as an expression of order, paranoia and conformity which led to his opinion that the modernist view on identity led to a repressed or ‘caged’ identity (Hollinger 1994)

A post-modern, sociological view of identity is to see the self as a dynamic characterisation of the individual which is prone to constant change – it is culturally and historically specific and formed at the intersections of age, gender and race (Baker, 2008, p.261).

Role Specificity In Projection of Self

• …transition is visible within the social performances of the individual… the shift of one form to another is based entirely on the situation and context (Goffman, 1959).  

Fluidity in Construction

• Identity can be viewed as relational rather than autonomous and constructed rather than innate and it is formed from the concepts that circulate in the culture the individual is born into (Hall, 1992).  

Social Networking (SNS)

• Due to the nature of SNSs, if these facets are to be viewed solely and unparalleled they could easily be taken out of context and reflect a distorted view which does not represent a true reflection of the individual (Donath, 1999, p.29). 

Social Networking & Trans Identity

• For others, it may strictly be intimacy and sex where roles can be reversed and taboo fantasies lived out (Turkle, 1997b, p.76).

Research Findings

• Between September 2011 to February 2012:

• Over 9,000 hits on profile

• Nearly 2,000 hits a month

What does this mean for Practitioners

• The complex nature of oppression is witnessed in the lives of people who are marginalised in this society. As social work practitioners, we have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to challenge inequality and disadvantage.

Burke and Harrison (2002)

Summary

• Transgenderism is not new• What is new is the ways in which it informs the fluid

characteristics of gender construction(s)

• From personal experience and recent research what identity does the ‘trans’ community project form itself, to itself and to others.

• One that is overtly over conforming to specific ideas of gender specific ideas and media representations.

Final Question

•What would an assessment of need process look like?•How would our personal biographies impact upon this process?