In most Western cultural contexts, the surgical modification of the female breast is usually pres... more In most Western cultural contexts, the surgical modification of the female breast is usually presumed to take place in the context of cosmetic surgery primarily aimed at breast enhancement for the cisgendered female. The cultural obsession with sexualizing breasts as a signifier of both heterosexuality and femininity has meant gender trouble for breast cancer patients (and BRCA “previvors”) seeking flat mastectomies, as well as transmasculine, genderqueer, and FTM individuals electing top surgeries. Whereas trans studies critiques have traced the emergence of (and subsequent resistance to) a prescriptive medical narrative authorizing gender affirming top surgeries, only recently have some in the breast cancer community begun to form identity groups around non-reconstructive surgical choices and an embrace of “flatness” on social media. This presentation is a comparative study of the reported experiences and rhetorical choices of social networks of two flat mastectomy groups: those p...
Pregnancy is a phenomenon strongly associated with being female; at the same time, it involves dr... more Pregnancy is a phenomenon strongly associated with being female; at the same time, it involves dramatic change to the physical body in ways that challenge conventional cultural associations with femininity. For this reason, there is an enormous amount of effort in shoring up the cultural signification of the pregnant body as female and feminine, from representations of pregnancy in popular media, to maternity wear, to the discourse produced by and about pregnant women. Although necessarily temporary, being pregnant is more than a “condition” – it becomes an identity, and one that is bounded and even policed by gender expectations. This essay considers the ways in which the pregnant transgender body is read as either gender normative (cismale) and fat, or gender transgressive (pregnant butch) and abject, effectively rendering trans pregnancy invisible.
The assumption of heterosexual reproduction and fertility as a ‘natural’ part of what it means to... more The assumption of heterosexual reproduction and fertility as a ‘natural’ part of what it means to come of age as a (feminine) woman has been deeply called into question by an increasing number of non-normatively gendered and/or queer individuals seeking to reproduce. Most famously, female-to-male Thomas Beattie stunned many with his pregnancy announcement in 2008, although he was neither the first transgender man to be pregnant or give birth. The media and public response to Beattie’s pregnancy, however, remains a very good indication of how inseparable reproduction and the very definition of womanhood are, and the challenges facing trans and genderqueer people in troubling gender roles understood to be the foundation of the nuclear family. This paper is an examination of the implications of new reproductive technologies (including IUI, IVF, and cryogenic preservation of ova, sperm, and embryos) on the conceptualization of pregnancy and the traditional family, in both social and legal terms, as medical practitioners and family courts attempt to respond to the challenges these new technologies pose to conventional binary thinking about sex, gender and sexuality in relationship to reproduction.
The “not ready yet” rhetoric has been deployed over and over again in reference to women and tech... more The “not ready yet” rhetoric has been deployed over and over again in reference to women and technology, and in response to women’s demand for equality in general: at various points in history women have been not ready to drive, not ready to vote, not ready to work, not ready to compete in athletics – yet ultimately they have done all of these things, and done them well. What are we waiting for, exactly? It’s time to give women access to testing – and to let people make their own personal choices.
In most Western cultural contexts, the surgical modification of the female breast is usually pres... more In most Western cultural contexts, the surgical modification of the female breast is usually presumed to take place in the context of cosmetic surgery primarily aimed at breast enhancement for the cisgendered female. The cultural obsession with sexualizing breasts as a signifier of both heterosexuality and femininity has meant gender trouble for breast cancer patients (and BRCA “previvors”) seeking flat mastectomies, as well as transmasculine, genderqueer, and FTM individuals electing top surgeries. Whereas trans studies critiques have traced the emergence of (and subsequent resistance to) a prescriptive medical narrative authorizing gender affirming top surgeries, only recently have some in the breast cancer community begun to form identity groups around non-reconstructive surgical choices and an embrace of “flatness” on social media. This presentation is a comparative study of the reported experiences and rhetorical choices of social networks of two flat mastectomy groups: those p...
Pregnancy is a phenomenon strongly associated with being female; at the same time, it involves dr... more Pregnancy is a phenomenon strongly associated with being female; at the same time, it involves dramatic change to the physical body in ways that challenge conventional cultural associations with femininity. For this reason, there is an enormous amount of effort in shoring up the cultural signification of the pregnant body as female and feminine, from representations of pregnancy in popular media, to maternity wear, to the discourse produced by and about pregnant women. Although necessarily temporary, being pregnant is more than a “condition” – it becomes an identity, and one that is bounded and even policed by gender expectations. This essay considers the ways in which the pregnant transgender body is read as either gender normative (cismale) and fat, or gender transgressive (pregnant butch) and abject, effectively rendering trans pregnancy invisible.
The assumption of heterosexual reproduction and fertility as a ‘natural’ part of what it means to... more The assumption of heterosexual reproduction and fertility as a ‘natural’ part of what it means to come of age as a (feminine) woman has been deeply called into question by an increasing number of non-normatively gendered and/or queer individuals seeking to reproduce. Most famously, female-to-male Thomas Beattie stunned many with his pregnancy announcement in 2008, although he was neither the first transgender man to be pregnant or give birth. The media and public response to Beattie’s pregnancy, however, remains a very good indication of how inseparable reproduction and the very definition of womanhood are, and the challenges facing trans and genderqueer people in troubling gender roles understood to be the foundation of the nuclear family. This paper is an examination of the implications of new reproductive technologies (including IUI, IVF, and cryogenic preservation of ova, sperm, and embryos) on the conceptualization of pregnancy and the traditional family, in both social and legal terms, as medical practitioners and family courts attempt to respond to the challenges these new technologies pose to conventional binary thinking about sex, gender and sexuality in relationship to reproduction.
The “not ready yet” rhetoric has been deployed over and over again in reference to women and tech... more The “not ready yet” rhetoric has been deployed over and over again in reference to women and technology, and in response to women’s demand for equality in general: at various points in history women have been not ready to drive, not ready to vote, not ready to work, not ready to compete in athletics – yet ultimately they have done all of these things, and done them well. What are we waiting for, exactly? It’s time to give women access to testing – and to let people make their own personal choices.
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