1. “Understanding Our Students” Transgender Students Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education Julie Beaulieu Lecturer Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies Program w/Pitt alumni Alexander McCarthy & BD Wahlberg Julie Beaulieu Lecturer Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies Program w/Pitt alumni Alexander McCarthy & BD Wahlberg

2. Introduction to Terms & Theory “Because ‘transgender’ is a word that has come into widespread use only in the past couple of decades, its meanings are still under construction.” “I use it to refer to people who move away from the gender they were assigned at birth, people who cross over (trans-) the boundaries constructed by their culture to define and contain that gender.” Susan Stryker, Transgender History (2008)

3. Introduction to Terms & Theory “Some people move away from their birth-assigned gender because they feel strongly that they properly belong to another gender in which it would be better for them to live; others want to strike out toward some new location, some space not yet clearly defined or concretely occupied; still others simply feel the need to get away from the conventional expectations bound up with the gender that was initially put upon them.” Susan Stryker, Transgender History (2008)

4. Introduction to Terms & Theory “It is the movement across a socially imposed boundary away from an unchosen starting place— rather than any particular destination or mode of transition—that best characterizes the concept of transgender.” “There is also an extensive medical and psychological literature that treats transgender phenomena as a personal (and pathological) deviation from social norms of healthy gender expression.” Susan Stryker, Transgender History (2008)

5. Trans in Theory “Transgender feminism, though it has its roots in the feminist radicalism of the late 1960s, is part of what is sometimes now known as the third wave of feminism.” “The first wave of feminism focused on dress reform, access to education, political equality, and, above all, suffrage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” “The second wave, also known as the women’s movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, addressed a wide range of issues, including equal pay, sexual and reproductive freedom, recognition of women’s unpaid work in the household, better media representations of women, and rape and domestic violence.” “Third wave feminism has been, in part, a generational response to some of the percevied shortcomings of the second wave, particularly the tendency of second wave feminists to overlook differences among women in their eagerness to see ‘woman’ as a unifying political category.” “Third wave feminism has been more attuned to the intersections of race, class, and sexuality within gender and more receptive to critical and theoretical work in gender studies that calls into question the usefulness of ‘women’ as the foundation of all feminist politics.” Susan Stryker, Transgender History (2008)

6. What’s Key “Transgender” refers to a wide range of gender experiences and identities People who identify as transgender do not necessarily desire gender-affirming surgery or medical/therapeutic interventions Historically, “transsexual” refers to people who have legally or medically changed their sex (or people who desire to) “Transgender” or simply “trans” is commonly understood as an umbrella term that refers to all people who challenge or transgress dominant logics of gender

7. What are Dominant Logics of Gender? In most of the Western world, we fail to differentiate between assigned sex category and gender identification Because of this, we limit “gender” to the categories “man” and “woman” Masculinity and femininity are deeply linked with assigned sex category (even decades after social theories of gender) New understandings of gender resist these dominant logics by introducing new possibilities, most key, the possibility that gender identity is not always fixed, innate, or biologically defined

8. Who Defines the “Truth” of Gender? Trans theories of gender challenge dominant logics by highlighting the difference between gender identity and assigned sex category Much like feminist theory (which challenged previous assumptions about what kinds of bodies can vote, do math, nurture, be domestic, etc.), trans theory explores the relationship between power and knowledge and challenges the so-called truths that define and regulate bodies We have organized our public spaces to support one truth of gender—a truth that sees masculinity as the rightful property of those assigned male at birth and femininity as the rightful property of those assigned female at birth—and this has increased the significance of bodily difference

9. Trans Truths Gender Identity is not defined by the body (your genitals do not define your gender identity and assumptions/questions about other people’s genitals are invasive) Gender is not a binary (people present as masculine, feminine, both, neither). Some examples of non-binary gender include gender queer, gender fluid, and two-spirit Transgender/gender non-conforming people do not have a “disorder”

10. Statistics There is no national data on the trans population in the U.S. (some have tracked legal name changes in U.S. history and/or legal “sex” change, but this only records a fraction of the population) Any number is a rough estimate 700,000 is a frequently cited number (or.3%) (from the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA School of Law in 2011) “Definitions of who may be considered part of the transgender community include aspects of both gender identities and varying forms of gender expression or non-conformity” (Williams Institute, 2011) “Similar to using sexual behaviors and attractions to capture elements of sexual orientation, questions may also be devised that consider gender expression and non-conformity regardless of the terms individuals may use to describe themselves” (Williams Institute)

11. Ian Harvie, “Everyone is Trans” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YeVt2kp _So https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YeVt2kp _So Video followed by group discussion Questions developed by alumni panelists (handout)

12. Healthy Minds Study (2013) (a national survey of over 14,000 students on campuses across the U.S.) “I am optimistic about my future” – 65.5% of non-transgender respondents agreed or strongly agreed – 30.5 % of transgender respondents agreed or strongly agreed “People respect me” – 66.3% of non-transgender respondents agreed or strongly agreed – 35.3% of transgender respondents agreed or strongly agreed

13. Healthy Minds Study (2013) (a national survey of over 14,000 students on campuses across the U.S.) ANXIETY – Transgender: 31.0% – Non-transgender: 19.7% DEPRESSION – Transgender: 42.8% – Non-transgender: 19.4%