Transgender 101: The Basics & Media Representations

1. Transgender 101
The Basics & Media
Representations
Lisa Hager
UW-Waukesha
http://bit.ly/21gsw101
lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager
she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

2. LGBTQIA?
• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bisexual
• Transgender
• Queer & Questioning
• Intersex
• Asexual & Ally
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs
* these terms are all adjectives*

3. Key Transgender Terms
Transgender:
Describes a person whose gender differs
from that which they were assigned at birth
Cisgender:
Describes a person whose gender does not
differ from that which they were assigned
at birth
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

4. Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

5. Terms & Examples
• Sex: female, male, intersex
• Gender: transwoman, transman, woman,
agender, genderqueer, man, butch woman,
two-spirit, bigender
• Sexuality: homosexual, pansexual, asexual,
heterosexual, bisexual
•Attraction: aesthetic, romantic, sensual,
sexual
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

6. Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

7. Current Climate in WI
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers or they, them, theirs

8. Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers or they, them, theirs

9. Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers or they, them, theirs
2015 GLSEN National School Climate Survey

10. General Ally Tips
1. Don’t assume you know
someone’s sexual orientation or
gender identity (or any part of
that person’s identity) just by
looking at that person.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

11. General Ally Tips
2. Keep all personal information that
a person may communicate in a
conversation or meeting
confidential. Avoid outing anyone.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

12. General Ally Tips
3. If a person comes out to you,
listen and be supportive. Be
careful about giving advice. Freely
admit if you don’t know
something, and point the person
in the direction of appropriate
resources.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

13. General Ally Tips
4. Listen to LGBTQ+ people. They
are the experts on their own
experiences and identity. Resist
the tendency to fit individual
LGBTQ+ people into popular
narratives. There is no singular
way to transition or identify.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

14. General Ally Tips
5. Speak up if you hear anyone use
homophobic, transphobic, or
gender-policing language in your
class or anywhere on campus. Ask
the person to explain what they
mean by that language and offer
alternatives.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

15. Trans Ally Tips
1. Do not ask about anyone’s genitals
or sex practices unless you are
that person’s doctor or sex
partner.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

16. Trans Ally Tips
2. In one-on-one situations, ask
people what pronouns they use.
In group settings, create
opportunities for transgender
people to disclose this
information privately and
voluntarily.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

17. Pronouns
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

18. Trans Ally Tips
4. When gathering demographic
data, offer multiple options for
gender and use two-step
questions if legal gender marker
information must be collected.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

19. Trans Ally Tips
3. Shift your language to avoid
phrases like “the opposite sex”
and those that assume that all
people of particular gender have
the same anatomy. Use phrases
like “people of all genders” and
“people with X physical part.”
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

20. Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

21. Julia Serano’s Whipping Girl
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

22. Whipping Girl pg 12
Transphobia/Trans Panic: irrational fear of, aversion to, or
discrimination against people whose gendered identities,
appearances, or behaviors deviate from societal norms
Cissexism: which is the belief that transsexuals' identified
genders are inferior to, or less authentic than, those of
cissexuals (i.e., people who are not transsexual and who have
only ever experienced their subconscious and physical sexes as
being aligned).
Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley: Seal Press, 2007. Print.
Terms
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

23. Whipping Girl pg 40-1
And while the “deceiver” is initially perceived to be a
“real” female, she is eventually revealed as a wolf in
sheep's clothing-an illusion that is the product of lies and
modern medical technology-and she is usually punished
accordingly.
• Depicted as tricking straight cisgender men into being
attracted to her
• Found out in an embarrassing or violent manner
• Reveal of genitals causes revulsion
Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley: Seal Press, 2007. Print.
The “Deceptive Transsexual”
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs

24. Whipping Girl pg 40
"Pathetic" transsexuals may want to be female, but their
masculine appearances and mannerisms always give
them away.
• Positioned as artificial, funny, harmless
• Intense contradiction between gender identity and
physical appearance
Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley: Seal Press, 2007. Print.
Lisa Hager || lisa.hager@uwc.edu || @lmhager || she, her, hers & they, them, theirs
The “Pathetic Transsexual”

25. Cisgender Actors Playing Trans Roles

26. • Takes agency away from transgender people to tell their
own stories
• Based on the logic that a cisgender person of the
incorrect gender can better capture a transgender
person’s experiences
• Further prevents transgender actors from having
opportunities for playing important, high-profile roles
• Positions transgender actor as being incapable of
playing pre- and/or post-transition parts
Cisgender Actors Playing Trans Roles

27. Final Thoughts
Questions? Feedback?
lisa.hager@uwc.edu
@lmhager
http://bit.ly/21gsw101
she, her, hers & they, them, theirs