hannah gws 294

[stuckinreversemode]

Black-ish, S03E01

[hypnotic-flow]

zing !!

[bonnie-gws-294-blog]

Course Reflection

This semester, GWS 294 was a great opportunity to expand my understanding of the study of trans, gender non-conforming, and/or gender variant people, both in the United States and around the world. A lot of what we discussed in class covered topics, authors, and concepts that I had previously learned in prior GWS courses, but we had the opportunity this semester to delve deeper into most of what I had already covered before. The main idea that I am taking away from this course has to do with terminology and the words that we use.  Over the course of this semester in GWS 294, I have a better understanding of the importance of understanding how terminology differs around the world. Before taking this course, I would have seen no problem with including gender variant/gender non-conforming individuals around the world under the transgender umbrella. After discussing the importance of cultural concepts of gender and the fact that the concept/term “transgender” was constructed within American culture and society. I also have gained a broader idea of what “trans” or “transgender” can mean. Generally speaking, my view on gender and gender variance has gotten even more broad through taking this course. 

As this course comes to an end, I am looking forward to applying a lot of what I have learned to my future, following graduation. I am currently applying for jobs at various non-profit organizations that work with reproductive rights and health, LGBT issues, and HIV/AIDS. I am excited to be able to use what I have learned (in this course specifically, but also across all of the GWS courses I have taken at UIC) in my future job(s). I am looking forward to hopefully working at a non-profit that has all different kinds of employees, including gender non-conforming, gender variant, and trans-identified people, and also hope to work at an organization that works with all different kinds of communities, including the trans community.  

[hannahb294-blog]

You always had great things to say when you spoke in class! The definition of an umbrella is always a tough one to figure out. I prefer to use “gender variance” but pretty much everything has its own issue which is why there isn’t a more accepted term.

Good luck in your job hunts and I can definitely see topics from this class helping out during them. Bringing a more decentralized background ensures that you’ll be a much more valuable member of whatever team you join than the average person. 

[hannahb294-blog]

MBLGTACC 2015 was at Illinois State University and was a conference centered around lgbtq students. it consisted of a weekend of panels and queer events. I’m glad I went once but wasn’t up for going again due to how much goes on during it. The keynote speaker for the event was Laverne Cox and she incredible to see in person (again). Her narratives for gender issues at young ages and later on shed light on the various possibilities of life. There was a panel dedicated entirely to the asterisk in trans* and it went off more towards retroactively applying titles and identities to people.

[hedonde-blog]

7th Post: Reflection

What have I learnt this semester? A lot. I’ve learned about theory, community building and organization. The beginning of the semester supplied me with multiple frameworks of understanding gender per se, and applying such a definition to describe what might be transgender. Although I am still on the fence about a consistent, analytical or “logical” definition of transgender, I feel that this is part of the game. Social institutions are generally assumed as natural and biological, and as such resist logocentric underpinning. That being said, such an exploration of Stryker, Wilchinss and Bornstein have giving me excellent vocabulary not only to describe transgender phenomena, but also to apply them to the field of rhetoric.

Besides purely linguistic work, this course has taught me much about the coalition building necessary for activism to help alleviate material circumstances. Particularly striking to me was Spade’s article on the whitewashing of narratives of victimhood. By critically examining the role of sympathy in remembrance ritual, we saw how sympathy disarms rather than calls to arms. It is a good reminder to step away from weepy pathos-centric rhetorical arguments when remembering otherwise is necessary. De-subjugating knowledge and relearning the public history seems to be necessary in moving forward.

[hannahb294-blog]

I’m not sure what the harm is in having a solid definition of Transgender would be. I feel like we have to tip toe around definitions so much that it hurts our credibility.  I do agree with the need for more critical examinations and the requirement for backgrounds and history to be taken into account when doing so.

[hannahb294-blog]

Course Reflection I wish I remembered more from this course than I can think of. It’s been a wild semester but I enjoyed the class discussions that came a few times a week. Hearing all the new views and past experiences of classmates ensured every class I learned something new. The necessity for participation definitely wasn’t the most beneficial aspect for me with everything that had happened. I’m definitely aware of how much more I need to be reading new works and participating in more discussions that aren’t just with friends who only say the same things I do.

[hannahb294-blog]

Short short paper

           Gender Variance is a term that refers to an assortment of genders that is not bounded by standard medical terms yet still confines itself to identities of gender. The term also doesn’t imply a standard for gender or a scale of normativity. It is very flexible in terms of including differing or new genders too.

           As shown in class, the potential terms used to describe the set of gender identities are numerous and for good reason: Each has its own limitations. In our early classes we quickly discovered that in the vast amount of terms are a parable number of problems and issues, for example “genderfag” is more of an identity, and a somewhat controversial one at that. With more discussion, any overall term can posit its own dilemma “trans vs trans*” being a noted and continuously ongoing point of conflict.

           The flexibility of the term relies on its adaptability for existing and new gender identities. With Gender Variance, the variance isn’t stated to be from any base point nor is there a scale so the scope it encompasses is as large as anyone desires. Introduction of new terms fit as a variance of gender, as opposed to saying spectrum where they would have to find a place to fall in.

[hannahb294-blog]

Kate Bornstein’s article is short but does well to illustrate the “fool” aspect of one’s life, where criticism is countered with humor, although the humor is not unrelated. often the jokes are deconstructing criticism instead of just using it to deflect the subject.  By taking on this role support for opposition becomes more easily ridiculed, similar to “political comedians” like John Oliver.

This really spoke to me since I frequently use humor as a tool in my life. I understand the importance of tone and while I don’t always take a humorous approach I always try to make my point heard. On top of that, having more people in a community create content and contribute to a narrative rather than be pulled into it for their actions help the community be able to branch out more without being ostracized.

[hedonde-blog]

Trans Health Panel, Feb 25

Despite keeping regular company of queer and transgender friends, this was my first academic, medical experience with transgender health. I was excited to see such a diverse panel. There were activists, medical professionals - both administrative and clinical - and researchers. The tone was mostly conversational, and one panelist in particular, Caprice Carthans, was able to keep information both exciting and accessible.

A topic addressed very early during the panel is that the medical needs of the transgender community is holistic: not only is surgical intervention but one need of a transgender person, it is rarely the most pressing and is never their only need. The panel continued to expound on further needs of a transgender person while navigating the medical community. Certain panelist noted discrete, material needs: Margo Bell listed referrals to other doctors, voice coaches and lessons and the possible desire for permanent hair removal options. Other panelists spoke on the more nebulous needs: community, cultural competency and institutional reform.

One topic in particular that stood out to me was the need for institutional policy reform in order to address the needs of trans patients. I have recently become interested in transformative justice: although it is easy to direct our anger, for example, at Margo Bell when she accidentally misgendered another panelist, it should be much more offensive to us when the panel elucidated that at no point in medical school do professionals receive trans-specific training. Without making demands of institutional support from what is formally the gate-keeper of the medical community, it seems furtive to direct ourselves to individuals therein. Besides training, there is a need to recode health needs and conditions. In order for insurance to properly support medical procedures (which, in itself is a problem) doctors need to code them in order to bill. When the medical industry is using a decades-old version of the ICD, it is almost impossible to properly code the needs of trans patients.

Besides policy reform, there is a need for an institutional reform in order to provide access to extant resources and services. Two such examples are the use of language, and the provision of trans health by the UIC Campus Care. Carthans talked about how the overly clinical language used by doctors can turn off trans patients of color who are not previously exposed to such language. Such an experience can leave a patients confused and no better off than when the made the decision to come in for care. Making language more accessible to patients and “speaking their language” helps to make the patient more comfortable and identify with a medical space. With Campus Care, although it was provisioned that the campus health insurance would cover certain needs of trans students, there were no policies put in place to help students navigate that world, or to inform patients of their needs and rights within the system.

Finally, improving institutional processes that increase access to transgender patients and their trust of the medical community is orders of magnitude more important when considering the higher risks of health complications of trans persons in general. Higher rates of HIV among trans persons necessitates a higher than average access to care and education. Not only physical, but mental health is disproportionately at risk for trans persons: rates of suicide as at least four times higher among trans persons and youth. The injustice of institutional barriers to entry is only magnified when the community barred from access is in higher need than the general population.

[jmorin3-blog]

Your breakdown of the discussion regarding the issue of healthcare professionals not receiving the proper (if any) training regarding trans and gender nonconforming folks was so vital to understanding this portion of the panel because it is something that is wrong within the system that is constantly churning out more and more medical professionals. It is not as simple as training new doctors. This won’t fix the issues trans and gender variant folks face considering the new doctors are being trained by the older medical professionals who perpetuate this ongoing problem. I agree that it can all start with language meaning one reducing the use of tough medical language with patients and two using language that the patients are comfortable with. This could produce healthier relationships with the medical field as well as patient first care.

[hannahb294-blog]

I'm also in agreement on that. There wont' really be good change until more doctors are trained in how to talk to trans people in general and protections are made for trans people seeking medical care

[hannahb294-blog]

Health Panel

For the Health panel on trans health healthpanel (link there) most of the people were very well informed and great at discussing important issues. One of the panelists was well versed in dealing with at risk youth. I heard a wide variety of individual issues, some I was glad to have known about beforehand and expected like general practice discrimination.

Things I learned from the panel: There is such a long way to go before we get to make serious progress on trans healthcare. With ingrained bias in the system and state restrictions access is varying in difficulty. Finding out what doctors are actually educated, nontransphobic, and know what they’re doing is difficult.

It was helpful hearing previous experiences in dealing with low-income medical situations. I also needed to hear how difficult insurance was and there is no one way through any company right now because of the inconsistencies. I had enough trouble just going through mine for different doctors.

[lethbian]

hi folks I’m scarfbeard manbun and this is my girlfriend septumpierce undercut and we’re queering heterosexuality by making a joint tinder account for threeways

[ef-gws294-blog]

Caitlyn Jenner was 2015s face of the transgender movement. She participated in multiple interviews, was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, reached a record number of twitter followers when she created an account with her new (official) name, and launched her show “I am Cait”, all of which were widely accepted by the media and the general public.

I am very pleased with the general acceptance the public has shown towards Caitlyn’s transition. However, what I do take issue with is how the tv show “I am Cait” handles the privileges Jenner possesses. Her wealth, built from both a career as an athlete and the marketing of the Kardashian family, Jenner faced no medial or financial barriers to making her physical transition. That wealth also allowed her to present her transition through the media in a very controlled way, which shaped the public’s reception of her transition. What was most shocking about the show was that Jenner’s lack of understanding towards those in the transgender community who faced obstacles of discrimination (both in their personal and in the workplace), unable to attain medical care (both general and transition specific), as well as the level of target violence. The fact that the show is through the lens of Jenner means that her glossing over these facts are glossed over by the viewer.

Understanding that this is a E channel production and the purpose is to follow one individuals life, does not negate the fact that Jenner is uniquely placed in the public’s eye. And with that visibility, there comes a certain level of responsibility.

[hannahb294-blog]

Jenner has been incredibly harmful to the community and most acceptance I see is usually cis people telling trans people to be proud of represenation. Caitlyn is the smallest minority of trans women, who can transition w/o medical or financial barriers or building connections in the community. This has caused her to spread more harmful ideologies (No one should transition unless they look cis after), done nothing to learn truly from the community. Her abundant presence is a side effect of the "sensation" of trans people that are really just gawked at. Did everyone pick the TWOC who has been in multiple series, a political activist, the director who transitioned midway into her career and has continued doing what she loves and voicing out for the community, any of the trans people on the forbes 500. No, we get the classist, republican retired athlete who was only popular because of her relation with kim kardashian. And mainstream media eats that shit up

[bonnie-gws-294-blog]

For those of you who may be too young to know who this is, this is Max from the Showtime series The L Word. Max came to identify as FTM trans over the course of the series. There was a lot of issue with the way Max was portrayed in The L Word, and the viewing community voiced their opinions pretty loudly concerning this character. Max came into the series using his birth name, Moira, and was the love interest of one of the main characters, Jenny. Although Max’s journey to happiness taught me a lot of stuff that I didn’t previously know about “transitioning” (I watched this show in high school), The L Word portayed the experience of transpeople as an experience that is full of rage (from too much T), changes in sexuality (Max starts of identifying as a female-bodied lesbian and ends up identifying as a gay man post-T), and all-around unhappiness. Although testosterone has different affects on everyone’s body, Max’s experience was very binary and gender conforming (when he was female-identified, he was happier and attracted to women, and as soon as he started using male pronouns and taking T, he became angry and sexually attracted to men). Max was the only FTM-identified transperson in the entire series, so the way he was portrayed became the one and only portrayal of a FTM transperson in the entire series. I am hopeful that if The L Word was re-made today (as compared to when it came out, in 2004), there would be a broader spectrum of gender-variant individuals as well as more “butch” lesbian characters (although this is a whole different issue I take with the show), and hopefully they would give the roles of transpeople to trans actors. 

[hannahb294-blog]

I was so frustrated with all around trans stuff on the L word (We had the 'lesbian in a man's body' on season 1 who vanished and then we had Max).

I agree for the most part that Max was a poor representation in the series and the pregnancy bit near the end was most certainly pushed from a weird direction (yes there are trans men who have kids but Max was prevented from doing anything about it. even the gyno appointment was troubling).

The parts that were gotten right with Max: The added stress at work (They had the head of HR sitting in so the boss would know how much he could torture Max), trouble with doctors (appointments, pronouns).

L word remake definitely would need a rewrite for Max. 100% agree

[hannahb294-blog]

adding an old photo

[innerstrawberryruins-blog]

Hi Hannah! I swear I’ve had another class with you before (psychology of women&gender maybe?)

[hannahb294-blog]

Ah yeah that's totally possible. That class was huge though

[hannahb294-blog]

This here is Carla from the webcomic @dumbingofage and she’s probably one of my favorite trans characters in a comic, or really media in general, that I’ve encountered. The most important reason is that being trans isn’t the definition of her character, simply an aspect that plays a role in her story telling. She isn’t quick to hold a grudge or contempt for a misunderstanding (being furious about the ‘ding dong bandit’ drawing dicks on her whiteboard until she sees them on all the boards and basically goes ‘oh wow that’s hillarious). Most recently she gets thrown until the bus by Ruth who backs down from her side against an incredibly transphobic neighbor.

Carla has always been one of my favorite characters and continues to be such an amazing character throughout the series. Additionally she does roller derby and loves it. 

[wholeuyu]

HEY GWS! I go by either Ponta or Jackie; the former is actually my online handle but either is fine. Call me any pronouns but if it makes you uncomfortable to choose, my close friends call me they/them so go by that.

✧✧✧Sophomore, Pre-nursing✧✧✧

I currently tutor for English+US History+Chem but in my free time, I draw a lot! The 2nd pic is something I drew as a simple coverpage to a small art collab w/ a friend.

Other things I like

lifting

sleeping (I sleep 24+ hours straight when I get the chance to)

chicken

shibes..

money

comics/cartoons/anime

making sock puppets..

I hope learn a lot and gain current-day-transgender-news resources in this GWS class! I want to stay up-to-date with what’s goin on, yanno. Don’t we all?

[hannahb294-blog]

That's right. Ponta does indeed lift and they learned not to skip leg day!!!

[gamechangershow]

Relatable. 

Office Job vs Retail Job by @noobtheloser

Check out Confessions of a Retail Worker

[hannahb294-blog]

so friggin tru

[hannahb294-blog]

“Are you a boy or a girl” “Are you trans”