Transsexuality and Transgender

Beatriz Espejo has worked in Barcelona as a trans-sex-worker since the 1980s, and in 1993 she founded the CTC, one of the leading activist organisations in the Spanish trans movement during the ’00s. The CTC had a direct impact on the definition of the Spanish law on gender identity. Although it may seem like a success story, this activist articulation has been conflicted and complicated: alliances between multiple and divergent political positions have proven difficult. This article explores the interconnections between personal experiences, implications of social policies, academic reflections and historical documents in order to unfold memories about im/possible articulations and dis/tensions between and among asymmetric positions; stories about how the sustainability of collective action may need institutional support and require unclear tactical transformations of political demands.

Au-delà de l’importance de la binarité des genres et de leur séparation spatiale dans les pays musulmans, il existe diverses figures de « troisième genre » variables selon les pays et les époques (khuntha, mukhannath, köcek, khawal, hijra, bacha posh, burrneshë…). Si la figure de « l’efféminé » constitue une constante, la figure opposée d’une femme « masculinisée » demeure beaucoup plus rare.
Récemment, les avancées médicales ont rendu possible la prise d’hormones ou/et la chirurgie de changement de sexe, et les différentes autorités juridiques de ces pays ont émis des avis juridiques distincts sur ces questions selon que les personnes concernées soient reconnues comme trans ou intersexes.
Abstract:
Third Gender and Transsexuality in Islamic Countries
Abstract: In Beyond the importance of gender binary and gender separation in Muslim countries, some muslim societies recognize the existence of a third gender. Many terms exist in the Muslim world for these third gender persons, and they have varied through space and time (khuntha, mukhannath, köcek, khawal, hijra, bacha posh, burrneshë...). Behind these terms, social practice will be compared enriched by literary and cinematographic examples.
Although these cultural realities appear different at first glance, they possess many similarities, especially regarding the figure of the « effeminate man », which is more common than the «masculinized woman». Recently, medical advances make it possible to take hormones and undergo sex change surgery. Differences of opinion between Sunnī and Shīʿī Islam with regard to transsexualism and to intersexuality will be analyzed.

Les seins étant considérés dans nos sociétés comme l'emblème du féminin, leur perte est d'emblée associée à la perte de féminité, et le parcours de masculinisation des hommes trans qui procèdent à une mastectomie atteste d'une telle représentation. Pour les femmes atteintes d'un cancer du sein dont la mastectomie n'est pas choisie mais subie, la « reconstruction » mammaire, présentée avant tout comme une opération de « réparation » d'ordre médical, a également un but sexuel moins avoué, visant à modeler le corps féminin selon des fantasmes masculins, comme le montre le fait qu'une augmentation mammaire accompagne généralement la reconstruction chirurgicale. Si certaines femmes acceptent plus ou moins bien la reconstruction mammaire, d'autres la refusent, témoignant qu'il est possible d'être une femme avec ou sans seins. Ainsi, l'association Les Amazones s'exposent, ou encore l'artiste bulgare Boryana Rossa, affichent leur nouvelle identité d'Amazone, remettant en cause l'idée d'une féminité restreinte aux corps pourvus de seins. Consécutives à la mastectomie, les cicatrices, associées à la virilité, questionnent les codes corporels du genre. Le thème des cicatrices et des mutilations est au coeur du travail artistique de Sophie Ristelhueber, de Kai Widenhöfer, et de Kader Attia, celui-ci rendant compte « en images » de la manière spécifique dont les sociétés occidentales appréhendent la réparation par rapport aux autres sociétés.
Abstract: In our societies, given that breasts are considered an emblem of femininity, losing them is directly associated with losing one's femininity, and the masculinization of trans men who undergo mastectomies attests to this representation. For women with breast cancer and whose mastectomy is imposed rather than elective, breast «reconstruction», primarily presented as medical «repair» surgery, also has a sexual objective that is less often acknowledged, attempting to shape the female body according to male expectations, as seen in the fact that breast enlargement is often included in the surgical reconstruction. Although some women accept breast reconstruction to varying degrees, others reject it, illustrating that it is possible to be a woman with or without breasts. For example, the French association Les Amazones s'exposent (Amazons expose themselves) and Bulgarian artist Boryana Rossa highlight their new identity as Amazons, challenging the idea that femininity is limited to bodies with breasts. Post mastectomy, scars-associated with virility-call into question bodily codes of gender. Scars and mutilation are central to the art of Sophie Ristelhueber, Kai Widenhöfer, and Kader Attia; Attia's work is a pictorial description of the specific way in which repair is understood in western societies compared with other societies.

This chapter moves to discuss how creating a trauma informed yoga space requires knowledge and understanding of the “everydayness” of this systemic oppression. I will underscore the ways that somatic therapy can effectively address many trans-specific psychological and physical difficulties—difficulties that are often ignored or left untreated from medical doctors and in mainstream health care. Yoga can only truly be a healing tool for transgender populations if the larger yoga community actively addresses the centering of privileged identities and the covert exclusion of marginalized people. I discuss a new vision for trauma-informed practice, one which offers practical solutions for challenging transphobia in studios and teaching.

Na contemporaneidade, a não conformidade às normas de gênero produz discriminações nos diversos contextos sociais, incluindo o laboral. Compreendendo o trabalho como um elemento central na constituição do ser humano, no presente artigo, organizado como ensaio teórico, abordamos os desafios cotidianos enfrentados pelas pessoas transgêneras e seus impactos na inserção profissional, além de discutir o compromisso ético e político da Psicologia com essa população. Dessa forma, buscamos refletir sobre a importância de se abordar a temática "gênero" e "trabalho", de forma crítica, na formação e atuação profissional. Defendemos que é essencial que a Psicologia, enquanto ciência e profissão, reflita criticamente sobre as possibilidades e situações de trabalho encontradas pelas pessoas trans e atue de forma a contribuir com o rompimento da visão que naturaliza e/ou atribui exclusivamente ao sujeito a responsabilidade pela exclusão social.
Palavras-chave: Psicologia, Transgeneridade, Trabalho, Discriminação.


Transgender people and the world of work: challenges and reflections about the ethical and political commitment of Psychology

In the contemporary world, non-compliance with gender norms produces discrimination in different social contexts, including at work. Understanding labor as a central element in the constitution of human beings, in this theoretical essay, we address the daily challenges faced by transgender people and their impact on professional insertion, in addition to discussing the ethical and political commitment of Psychology towards this population. In this way, we verify the importance of addressing the themes "gender" and "work" in a critical manner, in both professional training and performance. We argue that Psychology, as a science and profession, must reflect critically on the possibilities and work situations encountered by trans people and act so as to contribute to disrupting the view that naturalizes and/or attributes the responsibility for social exclusion exclusively to the subject.
Keywords: Psychology, Transgender, Work, Discrimination.

Es stapeln sich Aktenordner voller Aufsätze, Briefe, Mitschriften von Treffen und Reden, Zeitschriften, private Notizen. Wir recherchieren in verschiedenen Archiven und in Gesprächen mit lesbischen Zeitzeug*innen, weil uns interessiert, wie Lesben in der ehemaligen DDR ihr Lesbisch-Sein damals erlebten; ihre (Über-)Lebensstrategien, politischen und kulturellen Aktivitäten. Wofür haben sie gekämpft?

Racconto di formazione, in uno scenario post apocalittico, pensato per spiegare la condizione ftm gay ai giovanissimi.
Un ftm gay, costretto a trascorrere l'apocalisse zombie con uno sfigato fattorino delle pizze "etero", pieno di domande inopportune sulla condizione T.

I was reminded of the power of the word when I read a post on a philosophy notice board: “I identify as a French philosopher.” The funny thing is that this young thinker actually is French and does teach philosophy at a university. They don’t identify into these categories, nor need they.

But nowadays, to “identify as X” seems to mean “I am X,” rather than “I feel a strong affinity to this group, although I really don’t’ belong.” There are usually strict conditions that have to be met (e.g. having a French passport, a French mother, a PhD or having taught philosophy) if you want to say, “I am X” (e.g. a French philosopher).  [2] If you merely identify as X, in the old sense, a strong affinity with this group is all that is meant and all that is required.

This essay is about the different membership conditions for different classes: the disabled, BAME people, women, men, transwomen and transmen.

Read the full essay here:
https://theelectricagora.com/2021/02/06/the-power-of-words/

Following the controversial life of Ali (Malik Benchita) and his “sister-in-law” Habiba (Bouchta Saidoun), Hassene Belaïd, a Franco-Algerian author and director, depicts the struggles of transsexuals in modern Algeria in his short film The Brother-in-law (N’sibi), which is released in 2014.  The story is set in the suburbs of Setif, in Algeria, and it portrays the life of Ali, a young working-class man who is trapped in a siloed and mundane life, and his “sister-in-law” Habiba that challenges the Algerian social constructs by being a symbol of a rejected lifestyle. Ali finds himself forced to give a ride to Habiba one evening, where he gets to enter her world and discover the atrocities that she has to endure as a result of being a transwoman. Transsexuality in Algeria is tolerated as an anomaly supposed to entertain people, something that only exists in the realm of humour, but not as a reality.  Thus, this article reviews Belaïd’s short film and provides a close analysis to the representation of queerness in Algerian cinema. Drawing upon Kaya Davies Hayon’s study (2017), which investigates the question of the body in Maghrebi films, this article particularly addresses the complexity of corporeal depiction in Algerian cinema, the perception of sexual and gender identities in Algerian society, and the complex understanding of transgender identity in a masculine environment.

Translocas focuses on drag and transgender performance and activism in Puerto Rico and its diaspora. Arguing for its political potential, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes explores the social and cultural disruptions caused by Latin American and Latinx “locas” (effeminate men, drag queens, transgender performers, and unruly women) and the various forms of violence that queer individuals in Puerto Rico and the U.S. are subjected to. This interdisciplinary, auto-ethnographic, queer-of-color performance studies book explores the lives and work of contemporary performers and activists including Sylvia Rivera, Nina Flowers, Freddie Mercado, Javier Cardona, Jorge Merced, Erika López, Holly Woodlawn, Monica Beverly Hillz, Lady Catiria, and Barbra Herr; television programs such as RuPaul’s Drag Race; films such as Paris Is Burning, The Salt Mines, and Mala Mala; and literary works by authors such as Mayra Santos- Febres and Manuel Ramos Otero. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, a drag performer himself, demonstrates how each destabilizes (and sometimes reifies) dominant notions of gender and sexuality through drag and their embodied transgender expression. These performances provide a means to explore and critique issues of race, class, poverty, national identity, and migratory displacement; and at times posit a relationship between audiences and performers that has a ritual-like, communal dimension. La Fountain-Stokes also analyzes the murders of Jorge Steven López Mercado and Kevin Fret in Puerto Rico, and invites readers to challenge, question, and expand their knowledge about queer life, drag, trans performance, and Puerto Rican identity in the Caribbean and the diaspora. He also pays careful attention to transgender experience, highlighting how trans activists and performers mold their bodies, promote social change, and create community in a context that oscillates between glamour and abjection.

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is Professor of American Culture, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Michigan.

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Este  artigo  tem  por  objetivo  discutir  como  treinadores  de  voleibol,  das  categorias  profissional e amadora do estado do Rio de Janeiro, performatizam enunciações sobre a presença de mulheres transexuais atletas em equipes do naipe feminino. Buscamos diálogo com os estudos pós-estruturalistas, sobretudo nas teorizações de Jacques Derrida e Judith Butler, pelas noções de performatividade da linguagem e performatividade de gênero. Além disso, realizamos a produção de narrativas com os treinadores pelos princípios de Leonor Arfuch e Jorge Larrosa, na operacionalização de entrevistas dialógicas por meio de conversas. Os treinadores enunciaram sentidos diversos, que remetiam ao preconceito e não aceitação das jogadoras nas equipes de voleibol, em particular os que atuavam na categoria profissional, como da inclusão das mesmas, ainda que dentro de determinados parâmetros. Acreditamos que novas pesquisas sobre a participação de atletas transexuais no esporte podem tensionar e constituir novas performatizações discursivas sobre o tema.