Sexual Psychology – Critical Reflection – Due FRI 11/12

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TEA ROOMS

In the late 19th century, a handful of tea rooms and shops emerged as public places of refreshment in the United States, marking the movement of a tradition of the home parlor into the marketplace. Often run by women and patronized largely by women, tea rooms provided employment, helped define the feminine in dining customs, and assisted in integrating women into public life. By 1910, tea rooms could be found clustered in

cities, towns, and resort areas of the Northeast and upper Midwest and also throughout the rest of the United States; for example, Memphis, Louisville, and Reno. By 1935, there were 18,000 tea rooms nation- ally, accounting for 12 percent of all restaurants. The earliest enterprises were the creation of

“gentlewomen in reduced circumstances,” who saw a chance to make a living with their hostess skills and social connections at a time when women of means were beginning to seek leisure outside the home. Even today, an aura of upper-class elitism, often interpreted as British, surrounds the custom of afternoon tea and the tea rooms in which it is consumed. In addition, the tea roomsof todayhave remained resolutely feminine, with owners acting as hostesses who welcome guests as though in their own homes. Women have always made up the primary cus-

tomer base for tea rooms. Except for some hotels, department stores, and candy store chains that oper- ated tea rooms, most have been run by women. Tea rooms have furnished attractive business opportunities for traditional women, whether home based or trained

in home economics. Another sign of their social and economic significance is that in the 1920s, the rapidly expanding restaurant industry paid close attention to tea rooms, by then grown into small restaurants, as a way of learning how to cater to increasing numbers of women patrons. Tea rooms helped establish popular features of restaurants, such as outdoor dining, can- dles, flowers,hostesses, specialtybreads,noveltynames, themes, and costumed servers. Historically, the appeal of tea rooms for women

have paralleled those of taverns or saloons for men: Both offer a “license” for self-indulgence and an escape from the world. The meals and refreshments provided by tea rooms are traditionally out-of-the- ordinary luxuries that are special in their ingredients, preparation, and presentation. As a space, the tea room has been appreciated as a quiet, charmingly dec- orated, and immaculate setting, offering a refuge from the grit, commercialism, and aggressive environment of the city. A singular aspect of the tea room in its early years was that it was alcohol-free. This, along with women managers, servers, and customers, allowed respectability for women unescorted by men at a time when lone women were assumed to be morally suspect or engaged in prostitution. By the 1920s, women could go anywhere, and tea rooms expanded into lunchrooms, with patronage that included working women and some men. Even after the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s, many tea rooms declined to serve alcoholic beverages. Generally, tea rooms were conceived as catering to

“ladies,” or the cult of “ladyhood,” traces of which can still be found in teaculture today.Aladywasknownfor having a delicate appetite and refined tastes. The food

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T C o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 9 . S A G E P u b l i c a t i o n s , I n c .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w .

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that best epitomized this was the thin, crustless lettuce sandwich, sometimes tiedwithpink ribbons.Tea rooms have always served meat dishes, but meat that is large, messy,orbloody isunlikely toappearonamenu.Other common characteristics of food in tea rooms are small portion size, whiteness, creaminess, lightness, and copious garnishing. Fancy salads and desserts, once thought incapable of being made properly by any- one but a lady, have long been tea room staples. In actual practice, tea rooms often departed from

the norms, sometimes challenging them outright. When they became fashionable after 1905 in cities such as New York and Boston, they became crowded and noisy places to parade new gowns and engage in gossip. There, teapots and cups were perfect for dis- creetly serving cocktails. The proprietor of one fash- ionable place in Chicago declared in 1915 that society women would not patronize her because she refused to serve cocktails. Many tea rooms were associated with the arts, and that proved to be a draw for bohemi- ans, especially young women who were eager to throw off the restraints of Victorian ladyhood. In the teens and 1920s, Greenwich Village, New York, in particular became a site for a new kind of tea room, which stayed open all hours, admitted men, and hosted “new women,” who dressed in wild colors, smoked, marched in suffrage parades, and kept their own names after marriage. This style of tea room spread to other cities and inspired a spirit of playful- ness even in more conservative establishments. Yet another departure from the conventional ideal

of ladyhood, which was presumed to be “lily white,” occurred when black women began to open tea rooms. Black women generally were not welcome in white tea rooms, not even in many large department stores. The establishments run by black women were quite similar to those run by white women, although they rejected bohemianism and remained fiercely proper.A “blue book” of African American society in Chicago listed five tea rooms in 1923, one named “The Delmonico.” Since tea rooms promoted women’s culture, there

were undoubtedly tea room proprietors and patrons who were lesbians, but other than a few places in GreenwichVillage, little evidenceof thishas turnedup. As the popularity of tea rooms spread beyond high

society, a degree of diversity crept into menus, styles, and patronage. BeforeWorldWar I, tea rooms still had a fairly elite patronage, particularly the roadside tea rooms outside cities and in resort areas visited by

people wealthy enough to own cars. By 1920, they had spread into shopping districts and become popular with downtown shoppers of all but the neediest ranks of society. Gradually, the customer base widened, and tea rooms were also found in suburban areas catering to families or as snack shops near colleges.

Jan Whitaker

See also Economy: History of Women’s Participation

Further Readings

Brandimarte, C. A. (1995). To make the whole world homelike: Gender, space, and America’s tea room movement. Winterthur Portfolio, 30(1), 1–19.

Chapin, A. A. (1917). Greenwich Village. NewYork: Dodd, Mead.

Elliot, R. N. (1927). Tea room and cafeteria management. Boston: Little, Brown.

Whitaker, J. (2002). Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn: A social history of the tea room craze in America. NewYork: St. Martin’s Press.

TEAROOM TRADE

Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, by Laud Humphreys, was first published in 1970. The text examined the subject of men who had had sex in public restrooms, or “tearooms.” The prize-winning text was immediately controversial and has remained so, becoming essential for students of sociology and readers of sociology and research methods texts. The text’s infamy owes more to the research methods deployed by Humphreys, rather than the results found, with Humphreys’s text cited as an example of covert and deceptive research methods that may have endan- gered subjects. Humphreys described in Tearoom Trade how his

PhD advisor had asked him in 1965, “But where does the average guy go just to get a blow job?” Humphreys’s search for an answer to that question led to his study of impersonal sex, which was conducted over 2 years, commencing in the spring of 1966. Humphreys had previously made informal obser-

vations of tearoom activities in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Des Moines, Tulsa, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, but for Tearoom

826———Tearoom Trade

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Trade, he focused on a series of public park tearooms inSt.Louis,Missouri.For2years, heactedasavoyeur/ lookout or “watch queen.” In this role, Humphreys warned those engaged in tearoom sexual activities of approaching individuals and presented himself as someone deriving pleasure from observing others engaging in sexual acts.Through this role, Humphreys was able to remain within the tearoom as an accepted observer without engaging in sexual acts himself. In turn, this allowed him to observe the encounters and record copious field notes. Inaddition toproducingfieldnotes,Humphreysalso

recorded the details of 134 participants’ automobiles. He then used this information together with public records to find the addresses of the plate owners and visited them in person. He posed as a survey inter- viewer on mental health, having changed his appear- ance fromhisearlier tearoomobservations.Humphreys completed 50 interviews in the year after his initial observations. These controversial interviews and issues of privacy have remained the focus of much criticism. As a result of these observations, Humphreys

identified a series of ritualistic gestures that took place in order for successful sexual activity to occur. These stages began with “approaching,” in which a man circled the outside of the tearoom or observed it from a distance, in order to see other individuals entering the venue. Upon entering the tearoom, an individual undertook the “positioning” stage, choos- ing a urinal or cubicle to occupy. This was then fol- lowed by “signaling,“ in which a man moved a little back from a urinal or through eye contact signaled his interest to another man and the role he was seeking to perform. Then, the stage of “maneuvering” took place, in which a man changed his position in the room, for example, moving closer to another rest- room occupant. “Contracting” was the next stage, in which a form of commitment took place, typically involving touching the other man’s penis or stepping into a lavatory stall. This stage was sometimes fol- lowed by “foreplay,” to maintain arousal. The final stage was the “payoff,” consisting of the final sexual act, which may or may not have involved anal pene- tration. This ritualistic framework was important for establishing that men were not coerced into sexual activity within a restroom. Humphreys also developed a taxonomy for tea-

room participants. These included “trade,” men who were or had been married and typically undertook the “inserter” role (i.e., penetration); “ambisexuals,”

who were typically unmarried and might switch between the role of inserter and receiver; “the gay,” who was unmarried and openly participated in the gay community; and finally the “closet queens,” who were unmarried and did not reveal their homo- sexual identities to the wider community and also tended to play the inserter role. Within the text or his writings, Humphreys developed the concept of the “breastplate of righteousness” as an attempt to explain why, of the 50 tearoom participants he inter- viewed in his home, 54 percent were married at the time and 8 percent were divorced or separated but engaged in seeking sexual encounters in tearooms. The phrase “breastplate of righteousness” is drawn from the Bible and refers to “the armor of God,” or a protective shield that has a particularly shiny qual- ity and tends to blind the audience to certain of its wearer’s practices. In Humphreys view, his intervie- wees were similarly seeking a “defensive shield” to ward off social disapproval. In addition to being a must-read for students of

methodology, Humphreys’s text has remained the main reference for research on “cruising” and public sex, although it has been followed by additional work by a small number of academics. These studies include other types of public spaces, such as commer- cial sex venues and highway rest areas, while others have sought to replicate Humphreys’s study in the examination of communities through the use of law enforcement data. Further studies have examined sim- ilar issues in a historical context, while recent years have seen notable new material produced in North America, Europe, and Australasia that examines such subjects in the context of the information society.

Chris Ashford

See also Bisexuality; Homosexuality; Tea Rooms

Further Readings

Ashford, C. (2006). The only gay in the village: Sexuality and the net. Information & Communications Technology Law, 15(3), 275–289.

Gallier, J. F., Brekhus, W. H., & Keys, D. P. (2004). Laud Humphreys: Prophet of homosexuality and sociology. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Humphreys, L. (2005). Tearoom trade: Impersonal sex in public places. New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine Transaction. (Original work published 1970)

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Nardi, P. M. (1995). “The breastplate of righteousness”: Twenty-five years after Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. Journal of Homosexuality, 30(2), 1–10.

TEENA, BRANDON (1972–1993)

Brandon Teena was born on December 12, 1972, in Lincoln, Nebraska. BornTeena Ranae Brandon, a bio- logical female, Brandon lived his life as a male and was known as such to his friends, intimates, and family. On December 31, 1993, he was murdered by John Lotter and Marvin Thomas Nissen, two men whom he had befriended through his intimate rela- tionship with Lana Tisdel. Upon “discovering” the “real sex category” of Brandon, Lotter and Nissen raped and beat Brandon a few days before they mur- dered him. Brandon Teena and his story have been at the center of academic and public debates concerning gender and sexuality rights both within and outside the United States. While Brandon did not identify as transgender, transgender advocates and scholars have hotly debated the nuances of his story and claimed his embodied experiences as indicative of the continuing struggles of lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities.

Brandon’s Story

Brandon’s story has been told through a number of media, such as documentary and mainstream film- making, biography, music (Pet Shop Boys’ Girls Don’t Cry), academic articles and books, and much more. Brandon was the subject of the Academy- Award–winning film Boys Don’t Cry (1999), directed by Kimberly Pierce and starring Hilary Swank as Brandon and Chloë Sevigny as Lana Tisdel.

Brandon’s Archive

It has been argued that Brandon’s large archive has created a “new Brandon” that often situates queer life in small-town America in a misleading light. Indeed, as one researches Brandon’s life, the images, stories, and documents share a static quality, and without thoughtful reflections on the dynamics of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and nation, they seem to

make up a superficial analysis of the ways Brandon’s ordeal continues to have an impact on current gender/sexuality debates. Brandon’s story highlights a shift in how gen-

dered and sexualized embodiments are being dis- cussed and debated. He was situated as “other,” a nonnormative “fe/male” body, and the violent actions against his body and the continuing dialogue concerning his life and identity represent how gen- der and sexuality are experienced in everyday inter- actions. Institutional gendered and sexualized constraints are inextricably linked to the embodied constraints Brandon dealt with on a daily basis. This ongoing conflict resulted in real and tragic conse- quences: Brandon lost his life, and therefore the right to embody space and express desire in his own way. Because he was marked as “nonnormative,” he lost access to the rights and privileges that “norma- tive” people take for granted.

Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo

See also Gender Outlaw; Institution, Gender as; Rape; Sexual Rights and Citizenship; Transgender; Transsexual

Further Readings

Halberstam, J. (2005). In a queer time and place: Transgender bodies, subcultural lives. NewYork: NewYork University Press.

Jones, A. (1996). All s/he wanted. NewYork: Pocket Books. Muska, S., & Olafsdótter, G. (Directors/Writers). (1998). The

Brandon Teena story [Motion picture]. United States: Pierce, K. (Director). (1999). Boys don’t cry [Motion picture]. United States: Hart-Sharp Entertainment, Independent Film Channel, Killer Films.

TEEN PREGNANCY

Teen pregnancy is commonly defined as a pregnancy by a woman who has not reached the age of majority in her country. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world at 143 per 1,000 women, while South Korea has the lowest at 3 per 1,000 women. The United States has the highest teenage birthrate in the developed world at 53 per 1,000 women and also has a high rate of teenage abortion.

828———Teena, Brandon (1972–1993)

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Teenage pregnancy has always occurred, but in recent years, many in the United States have defined it as a serious problem. Teen pregnancy is associated with negative outcomes for both mother and child. It is also associated with contested political and moral ideologies.Thehistoryof theconceptof teenagepreg- nancy, the outcomes of teen pregnancy, and social policies all inform how U.S. society treats the issue.

Historical Constructions of Teen Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy was, in fact, more common in the United States before 1950 than it is today. Though teen pregnancy in the United States has decreased since1950,witha sharpdecline since the1990s, it has been increasingly defined as a social problem, with lawmakers and citizens convinced that something needs to be done to reduce the number of children born to teenagers and unmarried women. In many societies around theworld,marriage is aprimarymea- sure of whether a woman is “ready” to have a child. In societies in which the average age of marriage is younger, teenage pregnancy is not seen as a social problem, since most pregnant teenagers are married. In the United States, people now delay marriage well beyond the teenage years.Thus, what is considered an acceptable age for pregnancy has continued to rise. Also fueling the concern is the association between teenage pregnancy and poor women of color. African Americans and Latinas have higher rates of teenage pregnancy; they are also more likely than white women to contend with racism, poverty, and the stigma attached to teenage pregnancy. Despite these social inequalities, individual explanations and reme- dies for this problem predominate political discourse. Structural understandings and solutions to these racial and class disparities receive much less attention.

Outcomes of Teenage Pregnancy

Health

Fewer teenage pregnancies in the United States, 34 percent in 2002, are ending in abortion than in previ- ousdecades.Thus,more teenagepregnanciesnowend in teenage parenthood. There are mixed medical opin- ions as to whether being a teenage mother alone cre- ates health problems for the mother and child. Premature birth, low birth weight, and risk of death

following pregnancy are more common in teenage mothers worldwide. However, many medical experts believe this is attributable to pregnant teenagers being far less likely to receivemedical care and propernutri- tion. While this is a problem in the United States, it is anevengreaterproblemindevelopingcountries.Most health problems that teenage mothers and their children experience worldwide are due to lack of access to high-quality health care and socioeconomic factors.

Social

Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of school. However, recent studies have found that a majority dropped out prior to becoming pregnant, once again raising the question of whether negative outcomes can be directly attributed to teenage preg- nancy and not to social conditions like poverty. After all, teenage mothers are also more likely to be impov- erished, less likely to be employed, and more likely to apply for welfare or other government assistance pro- grams. Children of teenage parents have been shown overall to do more poorly in school than children whose parents are older. They have also been found to have higher rates of behavioral and developmental problems. Some attribute this to a lack of parenting skills and knowledge on behalf of young parents, not solely the age of the mother.

Teenage Pregnancy and Poverty

Some scholars use a culture of poverty theory to explain the disproportionate number of teenage preg- nancies among poor, minority women. This theory posits that people in poor communities, especially people of color, have different (“deviant”) values from those of the middle-class. Some of these supposed dif- ferences are that teenage and unmarried pregnancy is encouraged, or at least not looked down upon; mar- riage is not sought after or valued; promiscuity is accepted; and children are not closely supervised. Academic studies of teenage pregnancy and par-

enthood paint a picture quite different from the one culture-of-poverty theorists offer. Research consis- tently finds that teenage girls want to get married but find it difficult for a number of reasons.They also find that few pregnancies are planned but that teenage mothers are often excited and view their children as a blessing. Motherhood is one of the few ways poor

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women can prove their worth and feel that they are doing something important, since educational and job opportunities are scant in poor communities.

Cause or Consequence?

Teenage pregnancy has been viewed in the United States asamajor causeofpoverty.Teenagemothers are unlikely to finish school or get jobs that will be able to support their families. However, some scholars argue that teenage pregnancy is more a consequence of poverty than a cause. They argue that because of lim- itedopportunities elsewhere,poor teenagersmayaspire to be parents at young ages in order to feel like adults and that theyaredoingsomethingworthwhile.Scholars also point out that poor teenage mothers would likely not be any better off if they delayed parenthood. They claimthat thecorrelationsbetween loweducational lev- els, low job attainment, and teenage parenthood are all a result—not the cause—of poverty. Further, because of their status as impoverished, most of these teenage parents would have low educational attainment and few job opportunities even if they remained childless.

Social Policy and Teenage Pregnancy

Welfare Policy

According to 1996 welfare reform, teenage parents must livewith theirparentsor legalguardian inorder to receive cash welfarepayments. Prior to welfare reform, teenage parents could live independently with their childrenandreceivebenefits.Thispolicy forcesparents of teenagemothers toassumeresponsibility for theper- ceived amorality of their daughters and to establish and maintainclose supervision over them.The reformsalso require the teenager to go to school, attend a training program, or obtain a general educational development credential (GED) to receive benefits. The absences that this participation necessitates further burden members of the teenage mother’s family by pressuring them to care for her child for free. These policies make it diffi- cult for teenage mothers to receive welfare despite being significantly impoverished.

Sex Education

In addition to making the requirements stricter for teenage mothers to receive welfare, politicians attached a provision to the welfare reform bill that

stated that federal money allocated for sex education programs could be used only for abstinence-only- until-marriage programs. These programs must meet strict requirements, which include not teaching about contraception, safer-sex methods, or sexually trans- mitted diseases, and emphasizing that marriage and self-sufficiency are prerequisites to sexual activity. The ideology behind this is that comprehensive sex education, which teaches about contraception and safer-sex practices, encourages teenagers to become sexually active. Thus, teaching abstinence-only will discourage teenage sexual activity. Some criticize this approach and argue that

teenagers will likely still engage in sexual activity and should be equipped with the knowledge to make bet- ter choices. Critics argue that this may increase the teenage pregnancy rate (and sexually transmitted dis- eases, or STD, rates) because teenagers will not know how to prevent pregnancy, protect themselves from disease transmission, or obtain abortions. Studies show that students who receive abstinence-only edu- cation are just as likely to be sexually active as teenagers as those who receive comprehensive sexual education.

Abortion Policies

In some countries, such as Canada and Sweden, people consider abortion a strictly medical procedure and do not treat abortion differently than they do other types of surgeries, regardless of age. Because these countries have universal health care, the government absorbs the costs of abortions. In the United States, however, abortion is a morally contested issue, and special laws have been enacted to regulate this proce- dure and restrict women’s access. Though Roe v. Wade (1973) gave women in the

United States the right to abortion, parental notifica- tion and consent laws restrict teenagers’ access to abortion. All but four states require parental notifica- tion or consent before a minor can receive an abortion. Such policies have the potential to deter many preg- nant teens who want an abortion but are afraid to seek one out. Such deterrence likely leads to an increase in teenage parenthood rates. It also may lead teenagers to try dangerous home abortion techniques that could cause injury, death, or permanent infertility. Finally, the Hyde Amendment bans the use of

public funds to fund abortions, meaning that poor, pregnant teenagers are at a further disadvantage for receiving this service should they be approved for it.

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Though policymakers and politicians state their con- cerns about teenage pregnancy rates, U.S. abortion regulations are seen by some to encourage teenage parenthood once a teen becomes pregnant.

Conclusion

Teenage pregnancy is common worldwide. In coun- tries in which most teenagers are married, teenage pregnancy is not seen as a serious problem. In the United States, teenage pregnancy is associated with poverty, poor health and social outcomes for mother and child, and amorality. Government interventions tend to be punitive and focus on deterrence. However, once a teenager is pregnant, regulations and policies make it difficult for her to terminate the pregnancy. This has led some to believe that new ideologies and policies areneeded toaddress the lower-economicand health status of teenage parents in the United States and around the world.

Megan Reid

See also Abortion; Contraception; Morning-After Pill; Motherhood; Pregnancy; Sex Education; Stratified Reproduction; Welfare Reform

Further Reading

Bell Kaplan, E. (1997). Not our kind of girl: Unraveling the myths of black teenage motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Edin, K., & Kefalas, M. (2005). Promises I can keep: Why poor women put motherhood before marriage. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hays, S. (2003). Flat broke with children: Women in the age of welfare reform. NewYork: Oxford University Press.

Luker, K. (1997). Dubious conceptions: The politics of teenage pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Luker, K. (2007). When sex goes to school: Warring views on sex and sex education since the sixties. NewYork: Norton.

TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a means-tested program that provides families living in poverty with cash assistance and other forms of aid. TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent

Children (AFDC), Emergency Assistance (EA), and Job Opportunity and Basic Skills (JOBS) programs when the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was passed on August 22, 1996. Intended to “end welfare as we know it,” the act transformed the welfare system in the United States from a federally funded and reg- ulated “entitlement” program into a federal block grant that gave much discretion and regulative power to state governments with “no guarantee of benefits” for those eligible. In addition to shifting control of welfare to individual states, the act mandated several changes that significantly affected individuals receiv- ing assistance, including time limits on aid, manda- tory work requirements, and the exclusion of certain persons from receiving aid. With the passage of PRWORA, states were

required to implement a 5-year lifetime limit on wel- fare receipt; as of 2002, 17 states had shorter limits. Families with an adult who reached the limit are banned from federal cash aid for life; states may elect to provide aid beyond this time limit with state funds. TANF recipients were also required by federal law to spend at least 20 hours per week in an approved work activity. The number of hours gradually increased over time. In 2006, the work requirement was 30 hours for single-parent families and 35 to 55 hours for two-parent families. States may exempt only 20 percent of their caseload from these work require- ments in cases of hardship.After that 20 percent limit is reached, persons not enrolled in such activities must be turned away from aid in order for the state to con- tinue to use the federal block grant. Common exemp- tions include the care of a young child, disability, care of a disabled individual, domestic violence victimiza- tion, and lack of available child care. Certain types of persons were banned from receiving assistance alto- gether, including many immigrants and anyone con- victed of a drug felony. Unmarried minor parents who do not reside with an adult or “in an adult-supervised setting and participate in educational and training activities” are not eligible for aid. The impacts of welfare reform are mixed. As

intended, TANF dramatically reduced the welfare caseload and increased rates of employment among low-income families. Between 1996 and 2002, the number of individuals receiving welfare decreased from 4.2 million to 2.1 million, and the proportion of low-income single parents who were employed increased from 56 percent to 61 percent. However, TANF has been criticized because recipients are often

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forced into low-wage jobs with few benefits and little opportunity for advancement. For example, between 1996 and 2002, there was no rise in the proportion of low-income single parents who were employed full time or had health insurance provided by their employers. In addition, while there was a decrease in poverty between 1996 and 2000, since that time, the number of children and families in poverty has increased.

Alesha Durfee

See also Aid to Families with Dependent Children; Poverty, Feminization of; Violence Against Women Act; Welfare Reform; Workfare

Web Sites

Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ofa

House Committee on Ways and Means Green Book (data on state and federal TANF funding by fiscal year): http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wmprints/green

THEOLOGY, FEMINIST

Feminism, much like theology, encompasses a wide range of concepts, theories, and politics. Feminist approaches, or to be more accurate, feminist critiques, of theologies in traditional Abrahamic religions (e.g., Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) are taking center stage in the newly emerging global academy.The pur- pose of this entry is to introduce the reader to the development of what can be generally referred to as feminist theology. The term theology is used by femi- nist theologians to mean a reflection on the divine that is undertaken in feminist terms and/or from a feminist perspective. This essay includes four distinct yet con- nected sections. First, feminist theology is examined by addressing the root sources of any systematic the- ological premise: biblical hermeneutics (interpreta- tions) and subsequent religious authority. Second, the dominance of the academy in the construction of fem- inist discourses is discussed in order to illustrate the liberatory potential that is found in the university/ college setting. Third, future directions for feminist theologies are considered. Fourth, conclusions are drawn within the framework of the changing nature of God/ess and religious truth.

The Bible and Religious Texts

Feminist theologians have long established that the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an were written within systemic patriarchal cultures. Patriarchy cannot be limited to sex-gender systems of inequality (i.e., male domination). Rather, the notion of patriarchy has been expanded to include not only sexism but also racism, colonialism, classism, and homophobia. Such oppressive conditions include the use of grammatical gender in religious texts, sacraliz- ing the experience of Man, and making invisible the struggle of all “Others” without power or privilege (e.g., women, racial/ethnic, sexual, and socioeco- nomic minorities). This andocentric language inher- ently marginalizes women and is designed to protect patriarchal interests in society; namely, property wealth and control over economic conditions. It comes as no surprise, then, that for centuries, the prominent interpretations of religious texts, and the texts themselves, have been male centered. This is partly because these texts are written in a dichoto- mous kyriarchal structure that juxtaposes positions of power and powerlessness (e.g., rich/poor, owner/ laborer). The role of feminist theologians is to subvert patriarchal biblical hermeneutics through method- ological suspicion, historical reinterpretation and reconstruction, and recovering a library of religious works written by women. Abrahamic religions arose within patriarchal social

environments. Thus, the patriarchy often associated with these religions is more a product of the social conditions in which the traditions developed than any particular tendency toward patriarchy within the the- ology expressed in these traditions.A critical feminist approach to a biblical hermeneutics for liberation free from patriarchal tendencies takes its form in decon- structing the ideological inscriptions found in scrip- ture. For example, by placing women and all Others in the center of early Christian struggles and history, a “New Historicism” is created in the spirit of a disci- pleship of equals. Historical positivism is rejected in favor of a “consciously constructed narrative” based on feminist historical reinterpretation and reconstruc- tion. Women are able to act as subjects of interpreta- tion and become resisting readers, choosing not to reinscribe and internalize painful andocentric inter- pretations. Prominent feminist theologians have argued that biblical hermeneutics are best viewed as rhetorical discourses. In other words, interpretation is based in part on the structural location of the reader.

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This challenges the theological assumption that the Bible and the Qur’an speak with divine authority. Such claims to authoritative truths construct norma- tive religious identities without any self-reflection or critical thought required. By problematizing patriar- chal archetypes upheld by the writers of ancient reli- gious texts, truth and authority become relative entities in relation to how, when, and why a person engages each text. Finally, feminist theologies expressed by and

through critical biblical hermeneutics are gaining access to and offering unwavering critiques of main- streamor“malestream”theologies.Tobesure, religious truth has been owned and operated by white, Euro- American (Western), heterosexual, class-privileged men. This is especially true following the Enlight- enment and the push for value-neutral scientific meth- ods, where biblical stories have been recast to act as scientific data and objective facts. By exposing the incomplete, stagnant, and often oppressive andocentric structure of the Bible, feminist systematic theologies are able to discern the wide range of truths to be found in a single biblical narrative.

The Production of Feminist Theologians

Access to “malestream” theology has by and large been accomplished through the establishment of acad- emic feminism and women’s participation in the con- struction of religious and theological discourses. It is important that these discourses be seen as discour- ses of domination, replicating systemic kyriarchal (lord/servant) human relations that are labeled as “scientific.” The presence of Others’voices within dis- courses of domination disrupts the very notion of science, truth, and emotional detachment from social scientificdata.Theprofessionalizationof religiousand theological studies reinforce male-dominated avenues of credential processes and kyriarchal systems of learning. In other words, most universities promote a teacher/student, master/disciple pedagogical approach to knowledge with minimal critical reflexivity, and students are socialized to ignore the marginalization that certain forms of theologies create. Feminist theologians seek to provide a new para-

digm to transform these traditional educational prac- tices. Insteadofbasing theologywithin the framework of a hidden revelatory truth to be discovered within “divine” texts, feminist theology isbasedon thepremise

that discourses about divine revelation are rooted in historical reconstructional analyses that create symbolic universes of meaning. In short, since meaning is constructed according to individual socioreligious location, or religious habitus, there should be multiple competing definitions of social reality, including several authentic truths and divine revelations.Thus, systemsofmeaningabout theworld cannot be reduced to one overarching, or monocul- tural, dominant religious discourse. The search for truth, then, is not an epistemological journey, but a spiritual one. This can have a profound impact on pedagogical and communicative approaches to pro- ducing future theologies and preparing theologians, whether feminist, queer, or some combination of var- ious standpoints. A radical democratic model of theological educa-

tion invites critical self-reflection and active participa- tion with other students and colleagues in order to experience their symbolic universes and how, why, and by what guidelines/systems they construct them. At its heart, this approach raises consciousness and decentralizes hierarchal models of academic teaching. Radical attempts to expose the andocentric nature of religious texts while simultaneously revealing the lib- eratory potential of biblically based theology furthers the goal of displacing malestream theological study, learning, and the production of knowledge. Although change is occurring at a slow pace, contemporary introductory textbooks to theology are beginning to reflect the acceptance of feminist theology into malestream theology, albeit reluctantly so.

The Future of Feminist Theologies

Feminist theologies attempt to articulate the marginal- ization of Others within systemic patriarchal religious cultures. Although often met with discomfort and masculinist resistance, minorities of all colors, nation- alities, and sexualities are gaining ground. Recently, some feminists have posited that in order for theology to truly be a formidable opponent to discourses of domination, a transnational emancipatory discourse must be developed. Nationalism, understood as exces- sive “love of country,” these scholars hold, is the orga- nizing principle of all social discourses. Dedicated to the establishment of a global economic monoculture, nationalists (especially in the West, the United States in particular) seek to (re)naturalize patriarchal domi- nation and mark their identities and boundaries via

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kyriarchal capitalist nation-states. This nationalist tendency can be found within feminist theologies as well. Given that many conceptualizations of feminist theologies are situated in continental terms (i.e., Western, Latin American, Asian, African American, etc.), this critique finds real validity and has great emancipatory potential. If feminist theologies are to persist well into the 21st century, nationalist economic globalization and the corporatization of citizenship must be confronted, deconstructed, and transformed. Discourses of nationalism often carry with them

political interests and cultural biases. If producers of knowledge are cognizant of these territorial bound- aries, then transnational feminist theologies and dis- courses can move beyond political contradictions into a theoretical space completely “free” of discourses of patriarchal domination. Again, critical self-reflection on individual sociopolitical location is the key ingre- dient to avoid reinscribing dominant patterns of human relations. This addresses the name of the proverbial elephant in the room and allows people of all cultures to recognize our commonality rather than dwelling on our discursive distinctions. This is not to say that individual historical, religious, and cultural backgrounds are to be discarded. Rather, transnational feminist theologies identify both the divergent geo- graphic and spiritual sites of struggle for liberation from discourses entrenched in the nationalist ando- centric vernacular.

Conclusion

Feminist critical biblical hermeneutics, democratic models in the disbursement of knowledge, and transnational theological discourses serve to provide an ever-changing kaleidoscope of the nature of God/ess and religious authority. Removing theology from existing patriarchal structures translates into the rejection of God as Father as well as gendered pro- nouns used to identify God and religious truth as mas- culine. In progressive Abrahamic religious traditions, this grammatical transformation is already in progress as lectionaries, ritualistic practices, and traditional confessions of faith are being rewritten to be more inclusive. It is also worth remembering that a critical feminist theological hermeneutics can be applied to any religion borne out of systemic patriarchal condi- tions. Discourses of domination typically dichotomize religious truth and human subjectivity; this is true regardless of the religious tradition in question.

Feminist theologians have been hesitant to employ analytical philosophy in their theology, ambivalent about the idea that truth is something that is discov- ered amidst multiple, contradictory discourses. Yet a critical feminist approach is desperately needed to dismantle the dualistic approach of the philosophy of religion, splitting mind and body, and logic and emotion, which in turn creates masculine models of human agency. Schussler Fiorenza has provided arguably the most comprehensive hermeneutical theo- logical toolkit for such an undertaking. Using the metaphor of hermeneutics as a circle dance, the move- ment of feminist critiques creates an imagined community alive with creative power. Knowledge of God/essbecomescontextualized in radical democratic practices in the hopes of continuous change and theo- logical transformation.

Joshua Grove

See also Christianity, Status of Women in; Divine Feminine Spirituality; Nuns

Further Readings

Pears, A. (2006). The problematization of feminisms and feminist informed theologies in the twenty-first century. Political Theology, 7(2), 221–235.

Ruether, R. R. (1983). Sexism and God-talk: Toward a feminist theology. Boston: Beacon Press.

Schussler Fiorenza, E. (1992). But she said: Feminist practices of biblical interpretation. Boston: Beacon Press.

Schussler Fiorenza, E. (2001). Wisdom ways: Introducing feminist biblical interpretation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Trible, P. (1984). Texts of terror: Literary-feminist readings of biblical narratives. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

TITLE IX

Title IX was signed into law on June 23, 1972, by President Richard M. Nixon.The statute prohibits dis- crimination on the basis of sex for any educational institution receiving federal financial assistance. Although this is part of the EducationAmendments of 1972 and applies to all areas of education, its impact in athletics has been noted as the most influential. Historically speaking, the sport domain has been

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dominated by men. If girls and women did manage to enter this realm, they found great resistance and scrutiny. This law provided significant increases in sport participation opportunities for girls and women. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, 1 in 27 high school girls participated in varsity sports in 1972, and 1 in 2.5 girls in 2006. Although girls and women have gained access to the sporting world, there is still resistance and controversy surrounding Title IX. This entry includes a brief overview of Title IX, the recent developments and overall climate, and the efforts for reformation of this legislature.

Brief Overview

To determine compliance with Title IX, schools are required to fulfill a three-prong test. The first com- ponent is known as the proportionality prong. This assesses whether there is substantiate proportional- ity among the male and female athletes in compari- son to the student body. Currently, schools with a 1 percent or lower deviation from this ratio are assumed to be in compliance. For example, if male students compose 50 percent of the students, they should receive 50 percent of the athletic opportuni- ties and the remaining 50 percent should be allo- cated to female students. The second and third prongs are quite similar and

both deal with fulfilling the interests of girls and women. The second prong challenges institutions to show a history and continuing practice of program expansion for girls and women. Last, the third prong requires that the interests andabilitiesof theunderrep- resented sex are accommodated. These two prongs have been scrutinized by many because it is implied that women are less interested in sport than men. People concerned with the advancement of women’s athletics dismiss this claim and promote the idea that if girls and women are given the opportunities, they will show their interest. Most schools do not comply with Title IX.

However, because this law is not strongly enforced, most institutions are not penalized. One way that schoolshave attempted toachieveproportionality is to eliminate non-revenue-producing men’s sports, such as wrestling, track and field, gymnastics, and tennis. Although this is not required, schools find this avenue more attractive than perhaps taking money away from big-time sports programs, such as men’s basketball and football, to support women’s athletics.

Recent Developments and Overall Climate

There is no dispute that Title IX has created signifi- cant opportunities for girls and women to participate in sports. Since Title IX was passed, millions of sporting females have taken the field, and many have become nationally and internationally recog- nized. Prior to this legislation, excelling in sports was an irrational and unforeseeable goal for most girls and women. The gender climate has signifi- cantly changed over the past 35 years. Although girls and women have previously been discouraged from several sources (e.g., medical professionals, physical educators), they are now often encouraged to participate. Despite these progressions, Title IX has endured some heavy scrutiny, causing heated debates on this topic. In June 2002, the 15-member Commission of

Opportunity inAthleticswasestablishedbyEducation Secretary Roderick Paige to collect information, ana- lyze issues, and improve Title IX in an overall sense. The commission’s report consisted of 23 recommen- dations, and Paige rejected all recommendations and reinstated the current Title IX legislation as it read. In addition, he promised to increase enforcement efforts regarding Title IX compliance. Subsequently, in March 2005, the U.S. Department

of Education declared that institutions would qualify for compliance if they distributed an interest survey via e-mail to females to assess their interests in sport. Women who do not respond to this e-mail are counted as not interested. This overview provides a sense of where Title IX

stands today. Also, it prefaces the final section, about of the controversy surrounding this law and efforts for reformation.

Efforts for Reformation

Several advocacy groups have developed to reform Title IX. Some groups advocate the participation experiences of girls and women and suggest that Title IX needs to be vigilantly enforced to protect and increase sport opportunities. Further, they feel, expen- ditures on big-time sports programs should be cur- tailed, and more money should be allocated to women’s sports. Other groups perceive Title IX to be discriminatory toward male sports, specifically Olympic sports, due to the unfortunate elimination of

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many programs to comply with the proportionality prong. These constituents are focused on protecting male sporting opportunities. Title IX has stirred much controversy over the

course of its 35-year existence. The recent develop- ments have reignited the debate over men’s and women’s sport opportunities. This debate will persist with continual alterations to this law.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, Title IX has created millions of opportunities for girls and women in sport. Nonetheless, resistance and obstacles are faced every day by sporting females and their advocates. Title IX has done wonders to advance the lives of girls and women, but it hasn’t happened without a struggle. With the help of Title IX and changing ideologies, society can offer an equal playing field rich with empowering experiences for women and men.

Melissa J. Hicks

See also Biological Determinism; Gender Stereotypes; Privilege, Male; Women’s Health Movements; Women’s Political Council

Further Readings

Carpenter, L. J., & Acosta, R. V. (2008). Women in intercollegiate sport, a longitudinal, national study: Thirty-one year update, 1977–2008. West Brookfield, MA: L. J. Carpenter & R. V. Acosta. Retrieved from http://webpages.charter.net/womeninsport

Coakley, J. J. (2001). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (7th ed.). NewYork: McGraw-Hill.

Sigelman, L., & Wahlbeck, P. J. (1999). Gender proportionality in intercollegiate athletics: The mathematics of Title IX compliance. Social Science Quarterly, 80, 518–538.

Ware, S. (2007). Title IX: A brief history with documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

TOMBOY/SISSY

The terms tomboy and sissy refer, respectively, to preadolescent girls and boys who adopt behaviors and play patterns culturally associated with the “oppo- site sex.” Stereotypical accounts of tomboys describe

them as eschewing frilly, feminine forms of dress for jeans and sneakers and seeking out adventurous, out- door play in the company of boys. Sissies, in contrast, are described as shy, emotional boys who would rather play with dolls and makeup than take part in sports or masculine roughhousing. Research on child- hood and gender illustrates that these labels for gender-crossing children carry different connotations. Sissy is a derogatory term used to police boys’behav- iors, as it is closely associated with adult male homo- sexuality and the cultural devaluation of the feminine. While tomboy can be a dismissive term, it often car- ries a positive image of spunky, young girls express- ing their independence. However, tomboys who persistently identify as boys can face parental censure, as many autobiographies of female-to-male transsex- uals reveal, as can girls who continue to exhibit female masculinity in adolescence.

Early Origins

The origins of both terms can be traced back to as early as the 17th century. Tomboy originally referred to an aggressive boy, but the term later became applied to “loose” women. In the late 19th century, the current meaning of tomboy emerged. Tomboy had a positive connotation at the turn of the century, as demonstrated by a flood of literature about spunky, preadolescent girls. Outdoor activities sponsored by groups like the newly developed Girl Scouts were even recommended for young girls, as vigorous exer- cise was thought to ward off female hysteria. In adolescence, however, the tomboy was expected to mature into a gender-conforming young woman who willingly took on her womanly duties of marriage and childbirth.

Sissy originally is aderivationof sister, oftenused to refer to young female siblings. In the late 19th century, the term was applied by masculinity social reformers, such as Theodore Roosevelt and G. Stanley Hall, to what was represented as an epidemic of young boys who were sickly, timid, and too tied to their mothers. Advicebooksabounded thatencouragedparents to root out effeminacy in boys. Mothers were especially tar- geted as the cause of “sissification.” Boys were pushed toward hunting and camping to strengthen their mas- culinity. By the turn of the century, sissy was closely tied to sexual inversion, a sexology term for individuals who gender-crossed and had same-sex desires. While cultural beliefs about women’s asexuality delayed the

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pathologizing of tomboys, by the 1920s, girls who had not adopted feminine behaviors in adolescence also ran the risk of being labeled inverts. Countering “gender- inverted” behavior in young children became a major concern of sexologists and later psychologists. Waves of“sissypanic”aimedatyoungboyswouldcontinue to emerge in historical periods when masculinity was deemed to be in crisis.

Therapeutic Interventions

Since the 1970s, the National Institute of Mental Healthhasprovidedover$1millionof funding forpsy- chological research aimed at correcting cross-gender identity problems in children. “Sissies” have made up the bulk of research participants in these studies. The Gender Identity Research Center (GIRC) at the University of California, Los Angeles, spearheaded much of this research. In the 1970s, psychologist Richard Green created the “Feminine Boy Project” at GIRC. Boys who exhibited cross-gender behavior underwent therapy aimed at strengthening their mas- culinity identities. Green and his colleagues used behavior modification therapy, encouraging boys to engage in stereotypically masculine behavior, such as playing with trucks rather than dolls, and to reject atti- tudes and playthings associated with the feminine. The goal of the Feminine Boy Project was to prevent “sissy boys” from becoming adult homosexuals. Green even- tually published The “Sissy-Boy” Syndrome and the Development of Homosexuality (1987) from this work. Green and his associates also did research on

tomboys at GIRC. However, they observed that par- ents did not express as much apprehension about female masculinity unless the behaviors continued in adolescence or were accompanied by expressions of same-sex desire. These findings underscore the cul- tural devaluation of the feminine, as it is not viewed as pathological for girls to want to associate themselves with some elements of masculinity—a gender expres- sion that carries more freedom and power.

Regulating Childhood Gender Identity

The burgeoning gay and lesbian movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s succeeded in having homosex- uality declassified as a psychological disorder and removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in1973. In the1980editionof theDSM,however,

a new disorder was listed: Childhood Gender Identity Disorder (CGID). Often referred to as a “prehomosex- ual” or “pretranssexual” diagnosis, CGID was applied to children who exhibit strong, persistent cross-gender behaviors and identities. Once labeled with CGID, children often were put into therapy that encouraged them to return to their “natural” gender identities. CGID is still currently listed in the DSM-IV and has been used as a clinical justification for institutionaliz- ing gay and lesbian teenagers who do not conform to norms of masculinity and femininity.

Tomboys and Sissies in Adulthood

Childhood gender-crossing behavior is commonly conflated with adult homosexuality and/or transsexu- ality. Longitudinal psychological studies of effemi- nate boys suggest that there is a strong correlation between being a “sissy” and becoming an adult “effeminate” homosexual or, more rarely, a transsex- ual. Being a “tomboy” has a weaker correlation with adult lesbianism in this research. Autobiographical accounts by butch lesbians and female-to-male trans- sexuals often describe childhood behaviors that fit into the category of tomboy, just as some gay men and male-to-female transsexuals recount childhood cross- gender behavior.Yet tomboys and sissies can grow up to be heterosexual, and lesbians and gay men can have gender-conforming childhoods and grow into gender- conforming adults. Sociological research on gender and sexual identity suggests that ultimately the “prob- lem” of tomboys and sissies lies not with a disordered gender identity, but with a society that devalues the feminine, pathologizes homosexuality, and treats gender identity as a “natural” offshoot of biology.

Kristen Schilt

Further Readings

American Psychiatric Association. (2001). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Devor, H. (1997). FTM: Female-to-male transsexuals in society. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Green, R. (1987). The “sissy boy” syndrome and the development of homosexuality. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.

Halberstam, J. (1995). Female masculinity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

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Kimmel, M. (2006). Manhood in America: A cultural history (2nd ed.). NewYork: Oxford Press.

Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Williams, K., Green, R., & Goodman, M. (1979). Patterns of sexual identity development: A preliminary report on the “tomboy.” Research in Community and Mental Health, 1, 103–123.

TORTURE

Many debate the exact definition of torture. Most legaldefinitionsof torturearecomposedof termssuch as cruel, intentional, or severe, which are in need of further definition. Advocates for human rights often argue that torture tends to be defined in an overly narrow way. More specifically, they argue that the distinctions often made between torture and euphemistically named practices such as coercion or psychological pressure serve only to provide unde- served legal protection to the violator. Some believe that the distinction between torture and sexual abuse is also arbitrary and ultimately of benefit not to the victim, but to the criminal. The many recent incidents of state-sponsored sexual abuse on a massive scale and the subsequent legal proceedings have given new impetus to thisdebate. Inaddition, thewell-publicized incidents of sexual abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, in Iraq, byAmerican soldiers have brought into the pub- lic consciousness the fact that practitioners of torture use gender-based humiliation as a staple technique.

Sexual Abuse and the Definition of Torture

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) condemns torture but makes no specific mention of rape. The Geneva Conventions (1949, 1977) prohibit both rape and torture but treat each separately.Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration against Torture (1975) defines torture in more open terms:

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a per- son for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or

coercing him or other persons. It does not include pain or suffering arising from, inherent in or inciden- tal to, lawful sanctions to the extent consistent with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

This definition was nonetheless much criticized. The United Nations Convention against Torture (1987) modified the definition slightly. One improve- ment is particularly relevant: The newer definition no longer references the “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners” (with its suggestion that torture victims are always male prisoners of war). International bodies of law consistently reference these three documents (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and the United Nations Declaration against Torture) in the prosecution of war crimes. In 1998, in a landmark decision, the International Criminal Tribunals for the FormerYugoslavia (ICTY) recognized rape as a form of torture condemned by international law.

Forms of Gender-Based Torture

Sexual torture of males includes such acts as rape, genital mutilation, forced masturbation, forcing the victim toperformhomosexual sexacts, and forcing the victim to wear women’s clothing. The theme of femi- nization underlies all these acts. In addition to such direct sexual violations of men, the systematic rape of women from a particular group may have as secondary purpose the humiliation of their male relatives. Female victims of torture are far more likely to be

subjected to sexual torture, especially rape, than are their male counterparts. While women are subjected to the same abuses as their male counterparts (electrocu- tion, beatings, near drowning), the sexuality and repro- ductive capacity of women is also often targeted in state-sponsored torture of women. Sometimes sexual assault is aggravated by forced impregnation or contin- uesover the long termas forcedprostitution.The lasting effectsof such torturearedevastating for thevictim,and the social consequences often amount to a second vic- timization. Victims of rape are very frequently stigma- tized and in some cultures considered unmarriageable. Some violence directed against women is system-

atic, widespread, and part of state or group policy but is nonetheless not universally acknowledged to be torture in the strict sense of the word, even in light of the 1998 ICTY decision. The widespread practice of

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female genital mutilation (circumcision) is one such practice. Arguably, rape and domestic violence qual- ify as torture but are nonetheless treated as distinct offenses. Forced sterilization, forced maternity, and even arranged marriages may be considered forms of torture. Some object, however, that an overly broad use of the term torture will blur the distinction between state-sponsored terrorization of a group and offenses committed by individuals.

Purposes of Torture

The purposes of torture are various. In the West, tor- ture has a long history as a legal practice. In Ancient Rome, most of the MiddleAges, and Europe up to the 18th century in some countries, the threat and (some- times public) implementation of torture was used to obtain evidence or to deter potential perpetrators of treasonous crime. Perhaps reflecting this history, perpetrators of torture often rationalize their actions as a sort of retributive justice, exacting vengeance for some perceived inequality (as in Rwanda) or histori- cal wrong (as in Bosnia). Other recent apologists of torture have insisted on its potential for eliciting the truth quickly from an unwilling captive. This is the most popular argument still advanced consistently and openly by supporters of the practice of torture; that is, timely information could conceivably save lives. License to rape and access to prostitutes (often

forced) has been used for the purposes of combat motivation. Rape carried out on such a massive scale can destroy the fabric of a community. Sexual torture almost always marginalizes the female victim within her own community. Males who are responsible for her protection may feel forever humiliated and “femi- nized.” If widespread enough, these effects may act as an obstacle to women who wish to bear and raise children. The population of the oppressed group might decline as a result. Forced impregnation by the attacking group may complicate the problem.

Daniel Burland

See also ComfortWomen; Military,Women in Relation to; Rape

Further Readings

Dombrowski, N. A. (Ed.). (1999). Women and war in the twentieth century: Enlisted with or without consent. New York: Garland.

May, L. (2005). Crimes against humanity: A normative account. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Peters, E. (1996). Torture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

TOYS

Many have argued that children’s toys are more than what they seem: They have symbolic meaning and value and tell us a great deal about the larger society of which they are a part.While it is true that toys teach children cognitive and motor skills, they are also cul- tural products that aid children in the construction of their identities. They are an integral part of children’s culture, contribute to the social and cultural landscape of childhood, and are one of the ways that children enter into a shared culture with their peers. Moreover, children come to understand their place in the world through the messages about gender, race, social class, and sexuality that are embedded in toys, which often reproduce unhealthy stereotypes. Toys that parents select for children are significant

sources of gender socialization. Research has found that adults gender stereotype toys for boys and girls of all ages but that toys geared toward infants and tod- dlers are stereotyped to a lesser extent. Despite this finding, childrenasyoungas3or4yearsoldaregiven messages fromtheir parents about appropriate toys for their gender. Several studies have shown that toys for girls often focus on being a mother and taking care of the house, and therefore they are given more dolls, children’s furniture, and other household items to play with. Conversely, toys for boys revolve around action and adventure themes, and therefore more sporting equipment, tools, and vehicles are made available to them. This is illustrated in one particular study where a preschool boy chose to play with a tool set rather than a dish set, stating that his father would think it was “bad” to play with the dish set. Researchers argue that adults often rate “girls’

toys” as more gender stereotyped than “boys’ toys,“ which helps to explain why boys are discouraged from, and consequently avoid, playing with “femi- nine” toys. These findings can also be understood in the context of the larger definition of masculinity in society, where boys and men are held to a fairly nar- row setof standardsof acceptablemasculinebehavior. Conversely, girls are less frequently discouraged from

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playing with “masculine” toys, which can be under- stood as a reflection of a more flexible definition of femininity that allows for some cross-gender play. It is clear that parents’ values influence the children’s choices of toys and their gender play. Despite these findings, parents often argue that

their children prefer gender-typed toys, which is why they purchase them. While research shows that children as young as 1 year old express gender-typed toy preferences, some argue that this may be due to parental encouragement, rather than sheer desire, toward so-called gender-appropriate toys. Parents are influenced not only by their own perceptions of what are gender-appropriate toys for boys and girls but also by the pictures on the toy packaging, the gender of the model posing with the toy in toy catalogs, and the gender-specific department where the toy is shelved (i.e., major toy chains continue to segregate their toy stores by gender, shelving toys in either the boys’ section or the girls’ section). It is interesting to note that scholars consistently

find that women are more likely than men to buy toys for children. Mothers state that they choose toys for their children for a variety of reasons. One reason is that the toys they buy impart values and aspirations they have for their children; they use toys as a means of communicating specific goals about education, social class, and status attainment. In addition, parents also tend to buy toys that represent the race and gen- der of the child. Parents select toys for their children that reflect their children’s racial and gender identi- ties. Adults often want and expect their children to conform to gender norms and to express conventional gender behaviors and attributes. In this way, gendered toys do the work of socializing children into idealized masculine and idealized feminine roles. Researchers have concluded that toys geared

toward boys and toys geared toward girls foster dif- ferent qualities and skills in children. Toys that are gender-typed for boys encourage discovery, mani- pulation, creation, construction, competition, and aggression. While gender-typed toys for girls also encourage manipulation, unlike boy toys, they foster creativity, nurturance, and attractiveness. Researchers have concluded that different cognitive and/or social skills are being cultivated in boys and girls because of the different traits and abilities fostered through these gender-typed toys. In addition, violent masculinity and sexualized

femininity dominate notions of “cool” in children’s culture today, which is reflected in toys for both boys

and girls. These toys reinforce the gender dichotomy, as well as gender stereotypes, into which boys and girls are socialized. There have been several studies on the effects of war toys on aggressive behavior. Studies show that violent masculinity is commonly expressed in boy-oriented toys, especially action fig- ures, which are now targeted to children as young as 3 or 4 years old. Perhaps the most famous and popu- lar action figure is “GI Joe.” Launched in 1964, GI Joe was the first action figure for boys. As toys have a great deal of symbolic power, it has been argued that GI Joe is symbolic of the U.S. military and the scar on his face represents U.S. corporate expansion in East Asia. GI Joe fell out of popularity after the Vietnam War but was reintroduced in the 1980s with the tagline, “A Real American Hero.” GI Joe again became very popular but was, and continues to be, highly criticized for promoting aggressive and violent behavior. Sexualized femininity is perhaps best expressed in

another cultural icon, “Barbie.” When Barbie debuted in 1959, she was the first doll in an adult form designed for children in the United States. Emphasis was placed on Barbie’s appearance from the begin- ning, and many argue thatBarbie is an iconic imageof idealized femininity in the United States. The ideal image of femininity as embodied in Barbie includes an ultra-thin physique, sexualized style of dress, and fair complexion. Barbie and her counterpart “Ken” communicate strong messages about appearance and body size, race, and heterosexual relationships. Barbie quickly became, and continues to be, the

model against which many young girls and women compare themselves. However, scholars have argued that Barbie has a variety of meanings. For instance, postmodern readings of Barbie argue that the cultural meaning of Barbie is complicated by her ambiguous sexual orientation and social class. Barbie provokes a variety of meanings, each of which are fluid and exist in a specific context. However, it is important to note that children’s toys also reproduce relations of domi- nation through the use of racial/ethnic stereotypes. One example of this is Mattel’s ever-changing line of black Barbie dolls, which does not accurately repre- sentAfricanAmerican women’s phenotypical charac- teristics and physical features. In addition, while Barbie’s popularly has remained steadily high, a recent line of dolls for preteens, “Bratz,” preserve the sexuality of Barbie but add the element of street-smart toughness that has become defined as “cool” in children’s culture today.

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Toys overwhelmingly reinforce gender stereotypes about acceptable behavior and teach children about their place in the world. Toys communicate gender- normative behavior, which scholars argue may limit children from exploring and expressing a range of interests, attitudes, and behaviors. Toys are a reflec- tion of adult culture and, as such, provide insights into the values, controversies, and social concerns about gender in a particular historical moment.

Carolyn Corrado

See also Barbie; Gender Identities and Socialization; GI Joe

Further Readings

Campenni, C. E. (1999). Gender stereotyping of children’s toys: A Comparison of parents and nonparents. Sex Roles, 40, 121–138.

Cross, G. (1997). Kids’ stuff: Toys and the changing world of American childhood. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Jackson, K. M. (2001). From control to adaptation: America’s toy story. Journal of American and Comparative Cultures, 24(1/2), 139–145.

Williams, C. L. (2006). Inside toyland: Working, shopping, and social inequality. Berkeley: University of California Press.

TRADITIONAL HEALING

Traditional healing is defined as the cultural practices that address human suffering in order to reduce dis- tress and create harmony within an individual or community. Traditional healing has been a subject of considerable interest among cultural anthropologists. From the perspective of conventional cultural anthro- pology, healing is largely symbolic, and the anthro- pologist’s goal is to comprehend the system of symbols related to health and healing. Cultures use symbols as the building blocks for assigning meaning to an experience of misfortune, such as illness, mis- carriage, and death. Providing meaning, as well as ordering, explaining, and treating illness, is a major function of culture. Illness and suffering and the body of knowledge used to treat them vary greatly across cultures. A great deal can be learned about a culture by analyzing its healing system, since a culture’s wider social structures (e.g., economic, political, and gender) are mapped onto it.

The relationship between traditional healers and their patients has been fertile ground for anthropolo- gists, who have researched its connection to diverse issues, such as shared meaning, belief systems, sym- bolic healing, secrecy, the placebo effect, and altered states of consciousness. Anthropologists have also investigated the role of traditional healers in cultures and how they become healers. This entry presents some of the feminist critiques of conventional anthro- pological research regarding health and healing and describes examples of traditional healing that illus- trate the relationship between gender, healing, and other significant cultural practices and beliefs.

Feminist Anthropology and Traditional Healing

Feminist anthropologists have critiqued the way in which cultural anthropology has investigated women’s experiences in the context of traditional healing. One example of this is how conventional anthropolo- gists have asked women about their experiences with traditional healing as it relates solely to issues like pregnancy, birth, and miscarriage. Feminist anthro- pologists assert that this inquiry reinforces women’s linkage to the constellation of sexuality, pregnancy, mothering, and child rearing, associated with low status. Characterizing women as involved only in these low-status roles perpetuates a false duality of nature/culture in which women represent only nature. Feminist anthropologists suggest looking critically at the way in which assigning women to the category of nature denies them mobility in the social world and does not afford them agency to penetrate the cultural or public sphere. They are interested in investigating the micropolitics involved with female traditional healers, their situated knowledge, and how it bears on their role in culture. They ask questions such as the following: How do women healers reinforce or chal- lenge patriarchy?What does women’s power look like in a traditional healing system?

Critical Medical Anthropology and Traditional Healing

Historically, in cultural anthropology, there has not been an emphasis on researching the issues around ill- ness, suffering, andhealing inwomen’s lives.Toa large extent, women were written out of the history of heal- ing traditions. However, critical medical anthropology

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(CMA), an offshoot of cultural anthropology, seeks to remedy this oversight. CMA draws heavily from femi- nist anthropology and the critical theories of Michel Foucault and Karl Marx. The CMA approach to illness and traditional healing builds on the interests of the interpretative approach but diverges in that it poses questions about issues of power: How does an unequal distribution of resources impact women’s access to healers? How do social relationships such as racial inequality influence the arena of health and illness? The approach looks at how systemic problems, which directly affect oppressed groups, are depicted in sys- temsof illnessandhealing.Oneareaofparticular inter- est in CMA is inquiry around the role traditional healers play in cultures where women are strictly oppressed. For example, do healers in these contexts advocate for women, or do they maintain the status quo and even penalize women who are of lower status? Does it differ if healers are men or women? The CMA perspective incorporates the critiques of

feminist anthropologyandseeks tounderstandhowthe arena of illness and healing can conceal social prob- lemswomenfaceorbea siteof resistanceor a location for the assertion of power. CMA looks closely at heal- ingsystems inaneffort to findhowandwhere sickness and healing are potentially performing a role of resis- tance. Of major interest is studying how illness and healing reflect whose interests are served and whose interests are silenced. CMA suggests that an analysis of traditional healing in any culture should explore the multiple layers of suffering that women experience in tandem with an analysis of power. It asserts the need to concentrate on both women’s symptoms and the social structures in which they are embedded. Additionally, CMA calls for a move toward the local and away from large generalizations about cultures. This is particu- larly relevant to the study of traditional medicine, where a specific culture’s history with regard to sub- jects such as genocide, colonialism, and missionaries have a direct impact on illness and health.

Curanderismo

Curanderismo is an example of a traditional healing system in which women play a central role as practi- tioners. It is a traditional native healing practice found in the southwestern United States and is practiced mainly by Mexican Americans and Mexican immi- grants to the United States. This system blends several cultural influences together, includingNativeAmerican

and Mexican pharmacology, Catholicism and the importance of saints (as it was brought to Mexico via missionaries), and the biblical conception that certain individuals are born or called to heal. Numerology (the number 9 is quite significant) is frequently incorpo- rated into healing.Also important is a system of corre- spondences: the need to balance external and internal forces in order to create a balance of wet/dry and hot/cold in the body. If an imbalance is diagnosed as the cause of an illness, restoring balance heals it. A curandera/o (there are both female and male practi- tioners) heals by being a medium through which the divine is accessed. Healing takes place via rituals, which can involve incantations and spiritual cleans- ings, which eliminate bad energy. Soul loss, or susto, is a widespread illness treated by rituals in which the lost part of the patient is discovered and then reunited. Susto can be caused by trauma, grief, or loss and treated by herbal remedies. Curanderismo healing ceremonies can involve chanting, drumming, prayer, and trance states in which the healer travels to obtain whatever is necessary for healing the patient. Women are a vital part of this healing tradition and

play diverse roles in it. Curanderas, or female healers, are either born into a family of healers or become able to heal by receiving a gift. They have high status in the community as a result of their healing abilities. Women are also found in the highly specialized role of yerberas, or herbal specialists or pharmacist. Parteras are midwives who care for women during their prena- tal, birthing, and postpartum phases. Sobadoras per- form a type of bodywork or massage that alleviates stomach pain, digestive tract problems, and emotional concerns and provides relaxation.A senora que cura is awisewomanwho iscloselyconnected in thecommu- nity, familiar with how it functions, and hence able to diagnose patients’ problems. Curanderas totales are skilled at using massage, midwifery, and herbs, and therefore they are the highest-status healers.

Santeria

Another example of a traditional healing system in which women have a major position is Santeria. When slaves were brought to Cuba in the 18th century, many came fromYoruba, Nigeria, in West Africa. In Cuba’s cane fields, severalAfrican religious and healing prac- tices fused with Catholicism and Cuban traditions, which became Santeria. It was a religion that revolved around attempting to disguise the practice of African

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traditions. Its drumming, dance, and trance possession, essential to the healing practices of the African Diaspora, made slave owners quite nervous. From Cuba, Santeria spread to the United States via immi- grants and then eventually all over the world. To understand Santeria and its power, it is neces-

sary to recall the dynamics of fear among slave own- ers in Cuba. Two major things frightened them: the potential for any kind of empowerment of slaves and the radically different practices of traditional African religion and healing. Slave owners marginalized Santeria in order to maintain power and Catholic dominance. However, the hexing and emphasis on defense and attack in Santeria served to make them more tense,which in turngave slaves a sliverofpower to manipulate.Although it has always been thought of as a religion of the poor, influential leaders (such as Fidel Castro) and the privileged have been practicing Santeria secretly for quite some time. InSanteria,womenareseenashavingavast, intense

power, often expressed in the idiom of heat. Elderly women are seen as having extraordinary power. Women’s power is never openly discussed. Perhaps most significantly, priestesses employ their power in divination and trance rituals. Possession trance rituals are conducted to communicate with ancestors and divine beings. Divination rituals are used to look into the future and see what a person’s destination looks like.Women can wield their power in clandestine ways and direct it toward constructive or destructive pur- poses, according to their decisions around diagnosis and treatment. This makes affords women a good deal of authority, which some find disconcerting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, systems of healing reveal other signifi- cant aspects of cultures. Various healing systems may or may not privilege women’s health considerations and women’s roles as healers. The cultures that do emphasize the traditional healing powers of women also tend to emphasize the relationship between women and the sacred. Historically, this relationship has also been a source of fear among colonizers, slave owners, and others seeking to remove traditional power from women. The subjugation of traditional women-centered healing systems is a consequence of these historical forces.

Elizabeth Strober

See also Divine Feminine Spirituality; Feminist Ethnography; Religion, Gender Roles in; Voodoo; Women’s Health Movements

Further Readings

Gielen, U. P., Fish, J. M., & Draguns, J. G. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of culture, therapy, and healing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Glass-Coffin, B. (1998). The gift of life: Female spirituality and healing in Northern Peru. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

McClain, C. S. (1989). Women as healers: Cross-cultural perspectives. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Perrone, B., Stockel, H. H., & Krueger, V. (1989). Medicine women, curanderas, and women doctors. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Rasmussen, S. J. (2006). Those who touch: Tuareg medicine women in anthropological perspective. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.

TRANSGENDER

The term transgender refers to a diverse group of indi- viduals whose gender does not match their biological sex at birth. It is an umbrella term that describes a wide range of gender-variant groups and individuals, from those who engage in transgender behavior on occasion, such as cross-dressers, to those who do so at all times.

Transgender is a word whose meaning has shifted over time.A version of the term was first used in 1969 by Virginia Prince in Transvestia, a magazine for cross-dressers. At that time, Prince used the term transgenderal to refer to a person who lived full time in the gender opposite their sex but had no desire to undergo sex reassignment surgery. With the print- ing of Leslie Fienberg’s pamphlet “Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come,” in 1992, the term took on a broader scope, as Feinberg used transgender to refer to all people who were gen- der variant. This is the meaning of the word as it is currently used. It refers to not just those who identify themselves as transgendered, but to many different groups, including cross-dressers, transsexuals, andro- gynes, and genderqueers. As the definition of transgendered has changed and

many different groups have claimed some kind of transender identity, it can be confusing to determine

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who is being referenced by the term. The definition used here is very broad and inclusive, but some esti- mates use narrower definitions. Therefore, it can be difficult to determine the number of transgendered individuals. In the United States, the estimates vary from 1 percent of the population to as high as 2 per- cent to 3 percent. The remainder of this entry examines transgender-

ing in various ways. First, the differences between sex, gender, and sexual orientation are examined in order to provide a better understanding of transgen- dering. The second part of the entry describes three theories of gender that have been used to explain transgendering.The final section defines and describes several different groups that fall into the category of transgender: transsexuals, including male-to-female and female-to-male, transgenderists, genderqueers, androgynes, cross-dressers, and drag performers, including drag kings and drag queens.

Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

It is important to examine the concepts of sex, gender, and sexual orientation, as these ideas form the basis of transgendering. Sex is the biological reproductive cat- egory in which a person is placed when born, while gender refers to the social behaviors and traits that are considered normal for a particular sex. A person who is transgendered experiences and expresses a disjunc- ture between sex and gender. Sexual orientation is usually defined in terms of the gender that one is typically attracted to. Sex, whether one is born male or female, is a bio-

logical determination made at birth. There are multi- ple ways to determine sex, including examining the genitals at birth for a penis or a vagina; measuring hormone levels of estrogen and testosterone; examin- ing chromosomes for XX or XY patterns; and later in life using secondary sex characteristics, such as facial hair. Sex is thought to be a mutually exclusive and exhaustive binary in that there are two and only two sexes: male and female. Though the male-female binary of sex is consid-

ered a biological fact, this is not necessarily the case. A child can be born with any number of characteris- tics that make it difficult to determine its sex, such as ambiguous genitals or chromosomes that vary from XX and XY, such as XXY. In these cases, sex deter- mination cannot easily be made as male or female,

and so the child is considered intersexed. An inter- sexed infant is typically surgically altered to fit into either the male or female sex category. In most cases, intersexed infants are turned into females.Because the definition of intersexed varies depending on the way in which sex is determined, estimates of intersexed births vary widely, though it is generally thought that in at least 1 in 2,000 births, a child is born intersexed. In addition to intersexed infants, transsexuals go through medical procedures in order to change the sex they were born with. Transsexuals are usually individ- uals born in one sex category who wish to change their sex through sex reassignment surgery. The exis- tence of both transsexuals and intersexed individuals challenges the notion that sex is entirely biological. Gender is a social construction based on sex, which

defines the normal behaviors and traits for each sex, such as the way people are expected to walk, talk, and dress. Just as there are generally thought to be two sexes, there are generally only two genders that are considered socially acceptable: masculine and femi- nine. A person who is male is expected to be mascu- line, while a person who is female is expected to be feminine. For example, a male is expected to have shorter hair, as that is considered to be masculine, and a female is expected to have longer hair, as that is con- sidered to be feminine. These are categories that are thought to be mutually exclusive: A person can be masculine or feminine, but not both masculine and feminine at the same time. Since gender is a social construction, what is considered appropriate mascu- line or feminine behavior can change over time and can differ across cultures. For example, while at one point in the United States, it was considered inappro- priate for women to work outside the home, now it is more acceptable. Transgender individuals disrupt the sex/gender

binary in multiple ways. As gender is based on behavior and traits, a person who is one sex, for example, male, could learn how to be feminine and adopt the gender of the female sex. In addition, a per- son could combine both masculine and feminine traits and/or behaviors at the same time. Finally, a person might learn both masculinity and femininity and be able to switch back and forth between the two genders with ease. Sexual orientation refers to the sex of the person an

individual is attracted to. A person who is homosexual is attracted to those of the same sex as her or his own, while a person who is heterosexual is attracted to those

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of the opposite sex. Heterosexuality and homosexuality arealso thought tobeabinary;however, apersonmight bebisexual andbeattracted toboth sexesormighthave a sexual orientation outside of these categories. Though gender variance is frequently associated

with sexual orientation, where it is thought that a per- son who is homosexual will identify with and express the gender opposite her or his sex, this is not always the case. Not all people who are homosexual will be transgendered, and not all transgendered people are homosexual. Transgendered individuals may be gay, straight, bisexual, or might not identify with a partic- ular sexual orientation. Further, a person with a homo- sexual orientation might be gender variant, or they might engage in normative gender behavior

Types of Transgendering

There are many different narrower categories of trans- gendering. Gender variance is a very broad category that includes a variety of people, some of whom display cross-gender behavior occasionally and others who do so full-time. Several different types of trans- gender behavior are discussed in this section.

Transsexuals

Transsexuals are individuals who decide to undergo either partial or complete sex reassignment surgery. The process of changing from one sex to another is called transitioning. It is possible for a male to transition into a female (MTF) and for a female to transition into a male (FTM). To transition, transsexu- als need to undergo a “real-life test” administered by medical professionals, in which they show that they are able to live full time in the opposite gender. This process takes years, and throughout, transsexuals undergopsychiatric andmedical evaluation.For trans- sexuals, there are different medical procedures that can be done in the process of transitioning. These procedures differ for MTFs and for FTMs. MTF transsexuals undergo hormone therapy,

which can include multiple hormones, such as estro- gen and anti-androgens. Estrogen is a hormone that helps MTFs to develop breasts. In addition, MTFs may have their facial and body hair removed through processes such as electrolysis. Finally, multiple geni- tal surgeries are done to construct a vagina. FTM transsexuals also use hormone therapy, in this

case, testosterone. They may undergo “top surgery,”

which involves the removal of breast tissue and recon- struction of the chest.They may also undergo “bottom surgery,” in which a penis is constructed. Both MTF transitioning and FTM transitioning

may be done in whole or in part. For example, a per- son can undergo hormone therapy and not have any type of surgery done. There is a debate as to whether transsexuals are actually part of the transgender com- munity or whether different needs exist in the trans- sexual community that do not need to be addressed in the transgender community at large. Because trans- sexuals change their sex to fit their gender identities, they are sometimes viewed as conforming to the sex/gender binary.

Transgenderists

Transgenderists are individuals who live full time as the gender opposite their biological sex but have no desire to change their bodies through sex reassign- ment surgery.A person is considered to be a transgen- derist if he or she has been living full time as the opposite gender for over 2 years.

Genderqueers

Genderqueer is a more recent term that is used by people who engage in a variety of gender-variant behaviors but do not agree with the term transgender. Genderqueer individuals argue that because it has the root trans, transgender implies that a person is moving from one gender to another. Some do view themselves as part of a transgender community, while others do not. Genderqueers usually combine elements of both masculinity and femininity. In addition, genderqueer individuals might have either male or female bodies.

Androgynes

Androgynes are individuals who combine elements of masculinity and femininity. An androgyne can be either a male- or female-bodied individual who incor- porates aspects of femininity and masculinity in her or his gender identity and presentation.

Cross-Dressers

Cross-dressers are those who occasionally dress as the opposite sex, though they show no desire to change their sex or to adopt cross-gendered behavior

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for extended periods of time. A person may cross- dress from either sex into the opposite gender, though generally cross-dressers are thought to be men who dress as women. This is because female-to-male cross-dressing is thought to be more common and socially acceptable.

Drag Performers

Drag performers can be either female- or male- bodied individuals or those in transition; they perform onstage the gender opposite the sex they were born, in anexaggeratedor campyfashion.A drag king is aper- son who was born with a female body and performs onstage in a hypermasculine style, while a drag queen is a person born with a male body and performs onstage as a hyperfeminine woman.

Theoretical Background

There are three main theories of gender that can be used to explain transgendering: essentialism, social constructionism, and performativity. All three view sex and gender as having differing degrees of impor- tance in the social world. In addition to sex and gender, the concepts of gender identity and gender expression are particularly important for these theories. Gender identity refers to a person’s self- identification as a man, a woman, or someone in between or outside of that binary. Gender expression refers to how a person expresses gender behavior, for example, through clothing or hairstyle. Gender iden- tity is not something that others can view, while gen- der expression is visible to other people.

Essentialist theory places emphasis on biological processes and argues that gender is a fixed trait, as opposed to a social construction.This means gender is something that will not vary much over time and space, either on an individual basis or in society in general. In essentialism, transgendered individuals might view themselves as always having felt that they were actually members of the sex category opposite their biological sex at birth. Some argue that they were born transgender; for example, they state that they were born male but have felt for as long as they can remember that they were supposed to be female. In this case, they view their sex as male, but their gen- der identity is actually female. This is an essentialist notion of transgendering, as it relies on the idea that a person has a gender identity that he or she is born

with, as opposed to one that is constructed or devel- oped throughout that person’s life. An example of the essentialist theory is seen in the narrative given by some transsexuals. Transsexuals feel the need to change their sex to match their gender identities, seen as an inborn trait. Their narratives often involve the feeling that they were born into the wrong sex and therefore need to change their physiology to more closely approximate the sex that corresponds with their sense of gender identity.

Social constructionism refers to the notion that sex and gender are separate concepts and that both are socially constructed. Sex is thought to be socially con- structed by the medical community, as doctors define who is male and who is female. Gender is also socially constructed, as gender changes over time and across cultures. Further, while gender is thought to be based on sex, there is always the possibility that individ- uals may break the social norms that are dictated. Transgender individuals in this case may view sex and gender as completely distinct and believe that there is no reason for their gender to be based on their sex.This leads some to break conventional gender norms and develop a gender distinct from their sex. Gender iden- tity is still a key concept here, as it is used to describe whyapersonmightchange fromonegender toanother, though it is not necessarily seen as something one is born with. Rather, gender identity is viewed as some- thing the individual develops over time and that has the potential to change in the future. A person who is a transgenderist—that is, someone who lives full time as the opposite sex but feels no need for sex reassignment surgery—falls into the category of social construction- ism. Their sex and their gender do not match, but they do not see this as a biological issue as they have no desire to change their biological sex through surgery. Performance is a third way to view transgendering.

Performance theory is very different from essentialist notions, which rely on a gender identity, and social constructionist notions, which rely on a distinction between sex and gender. Attributed to theorists Candace West and Don Zimmerman, as well as Judith Butler, this outlook sees gender as a performance that must be done on a daily basis. This performance does not have to be based on sex or on gender identity. Frequently, it is so routine that one might not pay attention to it or think of it as a performance—rather, it is just seen as something “normal” that one does in daily life.A person’s gender performance may change depending on who that person is interacting with. In

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this case, transgender people might view their gender as more of an expression or performance rather than as an aspect of identity or an expression of their sex. The example of a drag queen is a good way to think about genderasaperformance.Dragqueensaremale-bodied individuals who perform onstage as females. Though this is a very literal example, if one considers everyday life and interactions to be a broader stage on which to perform, it is easier topicturegenderasaperformance.

Conclusion

Transgender is a complicated term that incorporates many different types of people.A transgender individ- ual is someone whose sex assignment at birth does not match the gender they consider themselves to be. There are many different groups that fall into the transgender category, including those who cross-dress in their private lives, or onstage, such as drag kings, and those whose cross-gender identification is so strong that they undergo medical procedures to change their sex. A person may simply identify as transgendered without changing sex and choose to live somewhere in between the masculine/feminine binary of gender constructed by society. As sex is often used as an organizing feature in

society and gender is thought to follow from sex, transgender individuals frequently face sanctions for their behavior. Individuals may face problems related to official identification, such as a passport with a sex category indicated that does not match a person’s sex; issues in employment, such as being fired after having made the decision to transition to the opposite sex; and violence at the hands of those who wish to main- tain a strict gender binary. Nonetheless, the trans- gender social movement continues to fight for the freedom of gender identity and expression for all.

Kimberly Tauches

See also Androgyny; Cross-Dressing; Gender Dysphoria; Gender Identity Disorder; Transsexuals; Transvestite

Further Readings

Bornstein, K. (1994). Gender outlaw: Men, women, and the rest of us. NewYork: Routledge.

Namaste, V. (2000). Invisible lives: The erasure of transsexual and transgendered people. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

TRANSGENDER POLITICAL ORGANIZING Transgender people, individuals whose self-identifica- tion and/or expression challenges traditional notions of “male” and “female,” have been formally organizing since the early 1950s, following the international news coverage accorded to Christine Jorgensen for being the first person from the United States publicly known to have had a “sex change.” With transgender people as a whole becoming increasingly visible during the past 50 years, particularly since the early 1990s, political organizing in transgender communities has greatly expanded and diversified. The proliferation of local groups throughout the United States has led to the development of several national organizations and the growth of movements for transgender rights and for an end to violence against transgender people. Many of the early organizations represented particu-

lar segments of the transgender community. In 1952, a small group of male-to-female (MTF) cross-dressers in SouthernCaliforniapublishedanewsletter, Transvestia. The newsletter lasted only two issues but was revived in 1960 by Virginia Prince and became a catalyst for MTF cross-dressers to acknowledge themselves and find each other. The following year, Prince formed the “Hose and Heels Club” in LosAngeles, the first known U.S. support group for MTF cross-dressers. It gave rise to several chapters and in 1976 combined with another cross-dressingorganization to formTri-Ess, theSociety for the Second Self.As of 2007, Tri-Ess had more than 30 chapters in the United States. The first formal organizations for transsexuals

were also established in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A riot against the police by MTF patrons of Compton’s, a 24-hour cafeteria in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district in 1966, demonstrated the need for sustained community action, and a local group of MTFs founded COG (Conversion Our Goal, or Change: Our Goal) the following year. Although short-lived, the group laid the groundwork for other California-based organizations, including the National Transsexual Counseling Unit and the TranssexualAction Organization. Similarly, the resis- tance of transgender “street queens” at the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969 contributed to the formation of STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries), by Sylvia Rivera, and the Queens Liberation Front, by Lee Brewster.

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Mirroring larger societal changes, the transsexual organizations founded in the late 1970s and 1980s were more focused on support and socializing than on protest and militant activism. This more inward turn was influenced by the rise of a transphobic feminist politic that sought to exclude MTF transsexuals from the women’s movement, based on the belief that they were not “real” women. The development of transsex- ual groups in cities beyond the more progressive U.S. coasts also reflected and contributed to a greater emphasis on personal support. With the exception of the Labyrinth Foundation

Counseling Service, founded by Mario Martino in the late 1960s in New York City, the early transsexual organizations had few female-to-male (FTM) mem- bers and rarely addressed their needs. This situation began to change in 1986 when Lou Sullivan founded an FTM support group in San Francisco that grew into FTM International, the leading advocacy organization for FTMs.Twenty years later, the group had thousands of members and affiliated chapters in 20 countries. The renewed militancy of what increasingly became

known as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in part a response to societal inattention to the AIDS crisis, inspired a younger generation of transgender activists.TransgenderNation, agroup that formedfrom San Francisco’s Queer Nation chapter in 1992, was the first of the new wave of direct-action organization that challenged transphobia within the LGBT movement and the larger society. More far-reaching organizations were Transsexual Menace and It’s TimeAmerica! both of which developed chapters across the country. The Menace formed in1994, in thewakeof theexclusionof transsexualwomenfromtheMichiganWomyn’sMusic Festival and the brutal murder of transman Brandon Teena. Members of the group participated in Camp Trans, anannualprotestoutsideof the festival, andheld vigils to remember transgender individuals murdered because of their gender identity/expression. The rampant and often socially unacknowledged

killing of transgender people—about one individual a month is known to have been murdered since at least 1990—led to the creation of the Remembering Our Dead Web site and the Transgender Day of Remembrance in1999.BegunbyGwenSmith, theDay of Remembrance was observed in at least 13 countries, including more than 260 events in U.S. cities in 2005. Another sign of the growth of the transgender

movement has been the creation of an increasing number of national organizations. In 1987, Merissa

Sherrill Lynn founded the International Foundation for Gender Education, which publishes Transgender Tapestry magazine. In 1995, Riki Wilchins estab- lished GenderPAC (Gender Public Advocacy Coalition) and held the group’s first National Gender Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. In the early 2000s, GenderPAC’s focus on gender-based discrimination and not only antitransgender discrimination angered some transgender activists, who felt that the organiza- tion had betrayed the community. The desire for an explicitly transgender advocacy organization con- tributed to the formation of the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2003, led by Mara Keisling. Other leading transgendergroups founded in the2000s include the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the Trans- gender Law and Policy Institute, and the Transgender Law Center. Less visible but no less important are the many

local, campus, and corporate transgender and LGBT organizations thathave succeeded ingaining rights for transgender people in their communities. As of 2007, “gender identity/expression” has been added to the laws or policies of more than 80 U.S. cities and coun- ties, more than 70 colleges and universities, and more than 110 Fortune 500 companies.

Brett Genny Beemyn

See also Gender Outlaw; Gender Public Advocacy Coalition; Genderqueer; Gender Transgression; Teena, Brandon; Transgender; Transsexual; Transvestite

Further Readings

Califia, P. (1997). Sex changes: The politics of transgenderism. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Meyerowitz, J. (2002). How sex changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Stryker, S., & Whittle, S. (Eds.). (2006). The transgender studies reader. NewYork: Routledge.

TRANSGENDER STUDIES

Transgenderstudies isanemerginginterdisciplinaryaca- demic field that takes gender nonnormativity, broadly construed, as its object of study. Research and theory within transgenderstudiesfocusonthecultural represen- tations, political movements, social organization, and

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lived experience of various forms of gender nonconfor- mity. Identitiesof interest to transgender studies scholars include transsexuals, cross-dressers, transvestites, andro- gynes,dragkings,dragqueens, sissyboys, tomboygirls, butch lesbians,nellygaymen,andsoon.Works in trans- gender studies include theorizations of transgender sub- jectivity, ethnographic explorations of transgender lived realities, close readings and critiques of existing knowl- edgeabout transgenderedpeople,and theexcavationand reconstruction of transgender histories.As an interdisci- plinary field, transgender studies spans many discipli- nary locations: history, anthropology, literature, policy studies, sociology, legal studies, cultural studies, and media studies, to name a few. While there has long been academic research

studying gender-variant people and related social institutions and cultural forms, transgender studies differs from the bulk of previous work. Many would argue that the difference lies in the specific politics that transgender studies embraces as an academic field. It has shared epistemological stakes and a moral and political vision that value transgender bodies, identities, behaviors, social collectivities, and cultural representations. Therefore, transgender studies pro- duces knowledge with the goal of benefiting transgen- der people and communities. However, many would also point out that transgender studies is a contested field. People who work in the field often disagree about what should count as transgender studies.

History

Transgender studies began to coalesce as an academic field in the early 1990s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. During that time, a set of diverse conditions came together that were collectively conducive to theemergenceof transgender studies.Like other socially engaged academic fields, such as women’s studies, ethnic studies, and queer studies, transgender studies was fueled by sociopolitical activism, primarily taking place outside of the academy. During the early 1990s, transgender and transsexual social movements were growing rapidly and becoming increasingly visible. Groups inspired by ACT UP, such as Transgender Nation in the United States, were formed and staged direct-action politics. More tradi- tional social movement organizations, such as Press for Change in the United Kingdom, increased in number as well. Although movements and organizations such as these predated the rise of transgender studies, their scopeandvisibility increasedconsiderably in the1990s.

In addition to overt political activity, representa- tions of transgender people were more visible in popular culture, including movies and television. Drag performances that had been part of sexual minority subcultures for many years suddenly became mainstream. TV talk shows provided a window into a sensationalized version of the lives of gender benders. In the 1990s, ways of being gender-variant seemed

to proliferate. People identified with an increasing range of gender-nonconforming identities, including many that had been around for a long time (drag queens, transsexuals, cross-dressers) and others that were new or newly visible (drag kings, boidykes, trannyfags, genderqueers). In addition, the dominant meaning associated with the term transgender changed. Originally coined in the 1970s by full-time heterosexual cross-dresser Virginia Prince, transgen- derist had originally meant someone who took on the social role of the “opposite” gender without any surgical or other bodily intervention to “change sex.” However, in the 1990s transgender became an umbrella term that was meant to include all of the manifold ways in which people step outside of norma- tive gender.The popularization of this new meaning is generally attributed to transgender activist Leslie Feinberg’s 1992 pamphlet, “Transgender Liberation: A MovementWhose Time Has Come.” It is this broad meaning of transgender that is most associated with the academic project of transgender studies. In addition to responding to broad social changes,

political movements, and cultural shifts concerning gender nonnormativity, conditions within the acad- emy also helped foster the emergence of transgender studies. Work in feminist and queer studies provided important foundations for what would become trans- gender studies; they each also showed evidence of limitations to which transgender studies would respond. In addition, there was a longer history of research and theory on gender variance in a number of fields, including anthropology, sociology, and litera- ture. It was especially the pathologizing work of med- icine, psychology, and some strands of feminist studies that spurred criticism, which in turn shaped what would become transgender studies.

Challenging Existing Knowledge

Although transgender studies began to emerge in the 1990s, academics had studied transgender, transsexual, and other gender-variant people and associated phe- nomena for much longer. Much of this prior research

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portrayed gender-nonconforming people and phenom- ena negatively. An important strand of contemporary transgender studies scholarship has responded to and critiqued these kinds of existing knowledge about gender-variant people. Transgender studies has responded to many negative portrayals of gender- variant people, among them three key discourses: (1) narrow, inaccurate, and pathologizing renderings of transsexual/ transgender phenomena found in psychol- ogy and medicine; (2) “false consciousness” models of transsexual/transgender subjectivity, especially (although not exclusively) found in some strands of feminist thought; and (3) gay, lesbian, queer, feminist, and gender studies’ erasures and appropriations of transsexual/transgender subjectivity and history. Prior to the 1990s, gender-variant people were

most often understood through the lenses of psychol- ogy and medicine. Gender-variant people were por- trayed as abnormal, deviant, sick, and perverse. Such pathologizing discourses eventually took the form of several psychiatric diagnoses, including the “gender identity disorders” of transsexuality and transvestism. According to the official knowledge produced by powerful medical and mental health authorities, such forms of gender variance were mental disorders. Transgender studies scholars have criticized medico-

psychological models for their general pathologization of gender nonconformity. These scholars have shown that medical models rely on and perpetuate overly narrow patient profiles, including a demand that trans- sexuals “change sex” completely, thus delegitimizing other forms of identity and embodiment. In addition, theyhave critiquedmedical doctors’andespeciallypsy- chiatrists’ roles as “gatekeepers” who have too much power in deciding who should receive medical support and treatments and what those medical treatments and interventions will consist of. Transgender studies schol- ars also question the heteronormative assumptions that run throughout most medical models of gender noncon- formity, including the demand that post–sex reassign- ment surgery (SRS) transsexuals will be heterosexual. They further scrutinize medical demands that transsex- uals “disappear” post-SRS via “passing.” Finally, they have noted the ways that medicine and psychiatry overfocus on an MTF model as the universal model of transsexualism, thus ignoring the specificities and dif- ferences of FTM transsexuals. Two common ways of responding to these medical models have been via auto- biographical and ethnographic evidence that counter medical models and descriptions.

In addition to the pathologizing medical discourses of gender variance, some highly visible second-wave feminist scholarship also portrayed gender variance, and especially transsexuality, in negative terms. During the 1970s and 1980s, forms of cultural femi- nism dominated feminist theorizing about gender non- conformity. These strands of feminist thought posited that there are essential differences between men and women. One of these theories defined woman through the exclusion of “male-identified” women, including butch lesbians, MTF transsexuals, and a whole host of other gender outsiders. Janice Raymond’s 1979 book, The Transsexual Empire, was and remains the best knownof theseaccounts. It becamean important flash- point for budding transgender studies. Raymond argues that MTF transsexuals are the product of a patriarchal medical regime that creates “faux women,” what she calls “male-to-constructed-female” trans- sexuals, in order to invade women’s spaces and render biological women obsolete. Raymond’s is the best known within a body of

work, feminist and otherwise, that implies or states outright that transsexuals are inherently conservative. In essence, these models contend that transgender people, and especially transsexuals, suffer from a form of “false consciousness.” They argue that trans- sexuals buy into existing gender hierarchies. Instead of challenging those hierarchies, transsexuals repro- duce them. In “false consciousness” models, trans- sexuals are construed as “dupes” of any of a variety of powerful ideologies or institutions. These ideolo- gies and institutions—patriarchy, capitalism, and especially medicine—thus become the primary causes of transgender/transsexual phenomena. As a result, transgender and transsexual people become dupes of the ideologies and institutions that bring them into existence.The ultimate outcome, according to such models, is that transgender and especially transsexual people reinforce traditional notions of masculinity and femininity. Transgender studies has responded to these kinds

of analyses by arguing that transgender subjectivity is notmerelyorprimarily theconsequenceof the ideolo- gies and institutions associated with “sex change” technologies. For example, scholars have argued that transgender/transsexual subjectivity predates the advent of transsexual medical technologies and must be understood in a larger context than simply the realm of medicine. In addition, transgender theorists have argued that transgender identities are not by their

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nature conservative. Whereas “false consciousness” models posit that transsexual/transgender subjects are by definition reactionary, transgender theorists have argued that real-life gender-variant people do not or need not necessarily follow suit. Transgender studies has also responded to gay,

lesbian, queer, and feminist gender studies’ erasures and appropriations of transsexual/transgender phe- nomena. First, it has challenged the tendency— especially expressed in queer theory—to interpret gender variance as a means of unmasking and chal- lenging heteronormativity; queer theory scholarship has tended to celebrate gender “transgressors” as potentially liberatory agents, poised to challenge het- eronormative sexual systems. Another stream of existing scholarship, primarily feminist, interprets gender variance as a means of unmasking the work- ings of normative gender. And finally, a third stream of scholarship, primarily gay and lesbian studies, interprets contemporary and historical gender-variant figures in ways that deny or erase the possibility of transgender subjectivity, instead seeing them as either gay and lesbian subjects or in the case of “passing women” as responding to the narrow set of opportu- nities available for women, instead of expressing an authentic cross-gender identity. Transgender studies scholars have responded by

insisting that transgender phenomena and subjectivi- ties cannot simply be subsumed within discussions of sexual desire, nor should they be understood primar- ily as outlier cases that illustrate the normative. Instead, transgender studies insist that gender noncon- formity should be understood in its multiple forms as they are lived. Instead of using transgender people and phenomena as a way of understanding other structures and ideologies, transgender studies scholars insist that knowledge be produced from the perspective of trans- gender people themselves.

Developing New Paradigms

The critiques of existing portrayals have implicitly or explicitly called for the development of new forms of knowledge about transgender people. Foundational texts in transgender studies were some of the first to make such a call. In a 1991 essay that many cite as the founding text of transgender studies, Sandy Stone called on transsexuals to become “posttranssexual”; that is, to develop self- narratives that go beyond narrow and pathologizing

medical profiles of transsexuality. In the process, transgender people would begin to more fully and authentically express their heterogeneity. In another important early essay, transgender theorist Susan Stryker likened transsexuals to Frankenstein’s speak- ing monster in order to show how transsexuals might both talk back to and exceed the visions of their “creators” (that is, medical doctors and psychiatrists). These early calls for the development of new

knowledge resulted in several streams of theory and scholarship. While gender nonconformity had previ- ously been understood in terms of a few narrow cat- egories, especially MTF transsexuality, transgender studies scholarship has theorized gender nonconfor- mity far beyond those categories. One important strand within transgender studies has therefore been to retheorize transgender subjectivity from a trans- positive point of view. For example, scholars have explored the possibilities for living outside of clear gender categories and identities at all, of “explod- ing” gender, and tell the stories of people who occupy post- or nonidentitarian positions. Others have analyzed the proliferation of nonconforming gender identifications, including gendered identities that remain outside of existing dichotomous gender configurations or identities that locate themselves at the point of transition between male/masculinity and female/femininity. Both of these approaches— theorizing transgender as a form of post- or non- identity and theorizing transgender as a broad range of identities—have valorized myriad forms of gen- der expressed through a broad range of possible embodiments (instead of focusing only on the fully transitioning transsexual model). An important subsection of the new theories of

transgender subjectivity focuses on female-bodied gender nonconformists as well as FTM transsexuals and transgender people. Most previous psychological and medical knowledge had focused on male-bodied gender nonconformists and on MTF transsexuals. This new body of work redresses that erasure. This work has included studies of butch lesbians, FTMs, transgender butches, and transmen, among others. It has been especially important for theorizing the rela- tionship between forms of embodiment and identity, for rethinking the ways that masculine female-bodied historical figures have been interpreted, and for inves- tigating the borderlands where various and sometimes competing forms of gender nonconformity meet (this has especially been the case for what have been called

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the “butch/FTM border wars,” a set of intra- and inter- group tensionsalongacontinuumof femalemasculin- ities and FTM transgender phenomena). In addition to developing new transpositive theories

of subjectivity, another important strand of transgender studies scholarship has moved from examining and explaining transgender people per se to examining and explaining the oppression of transgender people. Scholars have examined a wide range of institutions, policies, andculturalbeliefs that are the sitesofdiscrim- ination in medicine, law, housing, education and employment, among others. Transgender studies schol- ars have shed light on the inadequacy of HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and education vis-à-vis transgen- der populations; the many instances of anti-trans vio- lence, especially murders of transgender street sex workers and transgender youth of color; discrimination against transgenderpeopleencoded in formal legal insti- tutions and policies, including family, employment, and marriage laws; and the inability orunwillingness of sex- segregated institutions—especially penal institutions— to adequately accommodate transgender people. This bodyof research isgenerallypraxisoriented,withagoal of directly improving social, political, cultural, and eco- nomic conditions for transgender people.

Tensions and Future Directions

As a contested field, with disagreements about what exactly constitutes transgender studies, it is not sur- prising that there are many tensions apparent within it. One such tension is between a postidentitarian politics and those with strong investments in existing forms of identity. A subset of this tension is a discussion over what forms of identity, if any, are fully valued within transgender studies. Some argue that a focus on posti- dentitarian subjectivities undermines and in fact deni- grates traditional identities, especially transsexuality. Some transsexuals and others question the utility and effects of the new emphasis on “transgender.” Some argue that it has become the dominant form of gender variance and that it implicitly devalues other, espe- cially older, more established, forms. Another set of tensions exists between a commit-

ment to social constructionist understandings of sex and gender and those who adhere to biological essen- tialist explanations for transgender phenomena.While the bulk of transgender studies scholarship empha- sizes the social construction of gender normativity and nonnormativity—that is, the ways that a given

culture’s definitions and social arrangements instanti- ate, or “create,” gender—a smaller number focus their efforts on the argument that there is a biological basis for gender variation. The tension here is not only a theoretical difference concerning the “causes” of gen- der variance but also a political difference concerning the most efficacious strategies for achieving social benefits for transgender people. Finally, there are also discussions about what con-

stitutes the boundary of transgender studies, including whom and what to include within it. Questions here concern especially the degree to which intersex people and movements are the proper object of trans- gender studies and also whether or not people who primarily organize their identities under the rubric of sexual orientation (gays, lesbians, and possibly bisex- uals) fit within the purview of transgender studies. As a new and contested field, transgender studies

continues to change, with new directions in scholar- ship constantly emerging. It will certainly continue to track new forms of gender-nonconforming identi- ties along with the institutions and cultural forms that attend them. One area of likely future research will include more nuanced thinking about the rela- tionship between the term transgender, itself a Western construct, and gender nonconformity in non-Western cultures. There already exists a long history of studying gender variance among “non- Western” and indigenous peoples, especially within anthropology. Transgender studies has primarily focused on so-called Western populations, social institutions, and cultural forms, partly as a conse- quence of having developed primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, future studies will likely focus increasingly on the trans- national linkages between “Western” and “non- Western” forms of gender variance.

Karl Bryant

See also Butch/Femme; Drag King; Drag Queen; Gender Outlaw; Gender Performance; Genderqueer; Intersexual, Intersexuality; Queer Studies; Transgender; Transgender Political Organizing

Further Readings

Bornstein, K. (1994). Gender outlaw: On men, women, and the rest of us. NewYork: Vintage.

Currah, P., Juang, R. M., & Minter, S. (Eds.). (2006). Trans- gender rights. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

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Halberstam, J. (1998). Female masculinity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Meyerowitz, J. (2002). How sex changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Namaste, V. (2000). Invisible lives: The erasure of transsexual and transgendered people. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Prosser, J. (1998). Second skins: Body narratives of transsexuality. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Ramet, S. (Ed.). (1996). Gender reversals and gender cultures. NewYork: Routledge.

Stryker, S. (1994). My words toVictor Frankenstein above the village of Chamounix: Performing transgender rage. GLQ: A Journal of Gay & Lesbian Studies, 1(3), 237–254.

Stryker, S. (Ed.). (1996). The transgender issue [Special issue] GLQ: A Journal of Gay & Lesbian Studies, 4(2).

Stryker, S., & Whittle, S. (Eds.). (2006). The transgender studies reader. NewYork: Routledge.

TRANSNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WOMEN AND

Although gender is usually considered to be an aspect of individual behavior and attributes, scholars of soci- ety note that all social processes are gendered.All the major social institutions of society manifest gender divisions and their attendant norms and expectations of behavior. This is especially the case with respect to the development underdevelopment continuum around the world. The “development regime” is an amalgam of political-economic institutions. Studying women and transnational development helps explain how access to material and political resources within this regime ultimately affects the gendered division of labor and thus cultural norms with respect to behavior deemed appropriate by virtue of one’s sex. This entryprovidesahistorical, conceptual, and the-

oretical context from which to understand gender and transnational development. It begins with a discussion of the different ways scholars define Third World and development. Then, it discusses how development and thus underdevelopment are gendered, looking specifi- cally at the economy, politics, and the body. Next, it explains themain theoreticalparadigmsforunderstand- ing development, starting with modernization, depen- dency, and world system theory, and then moves to the gendered theories; women in development (WID);

women and development (WAD); gender and develop- ment (GAD); and women, culture, and development (WCD). This entry concludes with a note on women’s transnational mobilization.

What Is the Third World?

Third World is a highly contentious term. Feminist academics such as Chandra Mohanty, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres are some of the pioneering scholars in criticalanalysisof theThird-Worlddiscourse.TheThird World refers to Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia (excluding Japan.) The term emerged after World War II, when a large number of countries gained their independence from colonial powers. By the 1960s and 1970s, it described countries that shared a series of characteristics, namely, poor, nonindustrial, peripheral to the global system, and ex-colonial. However, since then, the Third World has grown increasingly diverse and thus the concept significantly less useful. Other termshave thusemerged.Forexample, economists tend to use “less-developed countries” (LDCs) in contrast to the developed countries of the “First World.” For many, LDC is inadequate as it furthers the paternalistic First World/Third World relationship based on, among other things, the notion that theThirdWorld is poor due to its own incompetence. International relations experts often use the term South or Global South, which stems from the geopolitical split that puts the more industrialized countries in the Northern Hemisphere, and vice versa. Often, South and North are preferred, since they are based on shared geography rather than oversimplified assumptions about common political and cultural char- acteristics. Yet these terms are also inadequate, since not all Third-World countries are in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. Cultural critics often use the term postcolonial, in

part because it captures a shared history of colonial- ism. Like the others, this term has also been criticized for oversimplifying and homogenizing the diverse experiences of colonialism. For example, much of Latin America achieved independence significantly earlier than mostAfrican nations, thus minimizing the similarities in national experience implied by the blanket term.Additionally, the use of postcolonial has been criticized for downplaying the perseverance of a colonial presence in so-called independent nations. Ultimately, many scholars return to the term

Third World. Two strategies to simultaneously use and problematize the term are quotation marks and

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capitalization. Quotation marks alert the reader that the author is not entirely satisfied with the word in question. Additionally, in much of the literature, academic and otherwise, Third World is typically lowercase, but many scholars have taken to capital- izing the term to imply that the commonality lies in a geographic one and were the individual nations of the Third World listed, they of course would be cap- italized. However, some critical of the term prefer to stay consistent with the lowercase format because they argue that capitalization further entrenches the problematic assumptions about the Third World and its so-called homogeneous nature. Like develop- ment, despite these problems, scholars, practition- ers, and activists continue to use Third World to refer to the colonized, neocolonized, or decolonized countries (of Asia, Africa, and Latin America), whose economic and political structures have been deformed within the colonial process.

What Is Development?

There is near consensus among development schol- ars that the term development is as problematic as Third World. This is in part due to the fact that there are a variety of interpretations of what is meant by development. For example, economists may equate development with industrialization or a rise in gross national product (GNP). Political scientists might see development in terms of more participation in society, or a stronger central government. To a socialist, development may mean reducing income inequality and improving the standard of living for everyone, while an environmentalist sees develop- ment as the guaranteed protection of the earth’s nat- ural and human resources. A feminist, however, might see development as a flattening of political, economic, and social inequities that perpetuate the relative disenfranchisement of women. Another rea- son some find the term development problematic is what they see as the implied perpetuation of neo- colonialism. That is, development is typically per- ceived as something the West has mastered while the Third World still struggles to achieve. As such, Western norms of development, namely, hypercon- sumption of material goods at the expense of natural and nonrenewable resources, are presumed to be the goal. Another problematic assumption of the First World/developed, Third World/undeveloped polemic is the implication that the West is the expert

while the Third World remains ignorant to effective strategies of development, as evidenced by the per- vasive poverty and semifunctional infrastructures; in other words, it is a blame-the-victim interpreta- tion. This equation, some argue, is replete with a sociopolitical paternalism that fosters First-World hegemony over the Third World and the subsequent dependency of the Third World upon the First. Others, however see development as an entirely egalitarian goal, since a “developed” society, regardless of who the development architects are, implies one that meets the needs of all of its people. Despite these serious differences in interpretation, the term development remains standard political, academic, and economic discourse. As of late, the term transnational has become

a prefix of sorts to development. In this context, transnational typically implies the interlinking of development across the world; that is, the idea that in contemporary global times, most regions/coun- tries are networked into a larger global unit, either unwittingly or wittingly. In the 1950s, when devel- opment discourse began to proliferate through acad- emic, economic, and political spheres, the world was less interconnected. The end of the cold war was nowhere in sight, and thus the geopolitical world divided into two disconnected and highly antagonistic camps; namely, Communists and Capitalists. As a result, for the most part, nation- states did not fiscally or politically cooperate with countries operating outside their own political-eco- nomic spheres. The end of the cold war solidified an irrevocably integrated world trade regime in which nations have no choice but to participate in transna- tional political economics.

How Is Under/Development Gendered?

Women experience poverty and underdevelopment in the Third World in ways entirely different from men. In short, poverty (not only in the Third World, but everywhere) is a major catalyst to the entrench- ment of the patriarchal division of labor and the continued social devaluation of women’s paid and unpaid work. The gendered ramifications of poverty, however, extend beyond the economic sphere into formal and body politics as well. This section uses these three sectors to illustrate the gendered nature of under/development.

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Economics

The post–cold war global political economy contin- ues to grow increasingly more interconnected, free- market driven, and neoliberal focused. That is, state- regulated economies and social services are virtually a relic of the past. This economic development has had a measurable impact on women. One of the most signifi- cant results is the “feminization of poverty,” or the increasing percentage of women living below the poverty line.Perhaps themostconcretemanifestationof the contemporary neoliberal economy is the prevalence of structural adjustment programs (SAPs). SAPs were designedby the InternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)and World Bank to permanently usher in privation with the supposed goal of reducing Third-World nations’ debts. However, SAPs have largely failed in accomplishing any sort of debt reduction, rather quite the opposite, while exacerbating the already severe living conditions ofmanyThird-Worldwomen.TheIMFandWorldBank refuse further loans toThird-Worldnations, loanswhere thecash is typicallyused to serviceexistingdebt, unless Third-World governments guarantee they will imple- ment SAPs. SAPs require (a) cutbacks in public spend- ing to balance budgets, (b) monetary policies like restricting the supply of money, (c) privatization of pre- viously owned government industries like water, and (d) a shift from sustainable agricultural production to single-commodity export economies. SAPs have had a grave impact on Third-World

women. First, there has been a notable increase in the feminization of the paid labor force, with women pre- dominating in the lowest-paid, unregulated, and unpro- tected sectors, like domestic work, sex work, and employment in export-processing zone factories. Additionally,women’sunpaid labor in thehomehasalso increased, asgovernment funding for social services like health care and education has all but disappeared in many Third-World nations. Furthermore, the expropria- tion of farmland for factories not subject to environmen- tal regulation has led to extensive environmental degradation and thus the reduction in resources women depend upon for survival. In short, economic hard times increase the paid (productive) and unpaid (reproductive) labor of women with no attendant increase in social or cultural value to their political-economic contributions.

Politics

Underdevelopment negatively impacts women politically as well as economically, in large part due

to women’s increased labor. The more time women work at both paid and unpaid jobs, the less time they have for anything else, including their own educa- tion. Education in general, and higher education in particular, is far less common for Third-World women than men. This cycle begins at an early age, when girls are required to help with domestic tasks at the expense of their own primary and secondary education, which of course closes the door to all higher education. Education is an absolute necessity for women attempting to penetrate the universally androcentric political realm. Women need not only so-called book-smart and factual knowledge obtained through study but also access to networks that uni- versities offer. Furthermore, given the formidable obstacles to women in politics, the cultural capital gained through university access is also fundamental to gaining political legitimacy. However, poverty and underdevelopment combined with uncompromising gender norms demand that women and girls put the well-being of their families ahead of their personal aspirations, education and politics included. Further- more, the underrepresentation of women in politics decreases the likelihood that laws that protect women’s rights will be passed.

The Body

Women’s bodies are also compromised as a result of poverty and underdevelopment. One of the most illustrativeexamples is the pressure to produce babies. “Overpopulation” is a highly debated concept, one that feminist development scholars tend to reject. Popular knowledge suggests that the Third World’s “exploding” population is the primary catalyst for environmental destruction. However, the First World, specifically the United States, despite its relatively low percentage of the world population, is by far the major producer of so-called greenhouse gasses, the primary cause of environmental destruction. In other words, the correlation between higher populations and more environmental degradation is a spurious one. Another issue that is typically left out of mainstream

discussions of “overpopulation” is the question of why Third-World women have so many babies. Certainly, limitedaccess tobirthcontroland/or safeabortion ispart of the answer. However, another reason Third-World families tend to have many more children than in the First World is again due to poverty. First, limited finan- cial resources mean minimal, if any, pre- and postnatal

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healthcare, somanybabiesdiebefore theageof5, ifnot earlier. Thus, Third-World mothers often have “extra” babies, knowing they will not all survive. Furthermore, another economic reason women are pressured to have manybabies isdue to theextra laborchildren (especially girls) provide a family. Children are especially helpful with taking care of siblings and other domestic tasks, farmwork, and supporting their mothers in the informal economy (i.e., market vendors and the like.) Finally, the absence of financial resources also means that poor Third-World families have only themselves for social security, particularly in the wake of slashed government social spending.As a result, the more children a woman has, themore likely therewillbesomeone to takecareof her in her old age, especially if she has boys. In short, poverty and underdevelopment pressure women to reproduce regardless of their own personal wishes. In sum, under/development and poverty produce a

series of circumstances unique to women. As a result, feminist scholars and practitioners have created theo- retical paradigms to think through the causes, effects, and potential remedies to underdevelopment. The next section of this essay looks at those theories. For histor- ical context, this section begins with the original, non- gendered theories of development before moving on to those concerned specifically with women and gender.

Overview of Conceptual Frameworks

In the middle of the 20th century, scholars began to address the issue of development. Like most academic disciplines, the initial explanatory theories were entirely inattentive togender.This sectionaddresses the main theories of development. First, it discusses the masculinist theories, modernization, dependency, and world system theories. It then discusses the gendered theories: women in development; women and develop- ment; gender and development; and women, culture, and development, which collectively confront the theo- retical holes in the canonical development theories.

Ungendered Theories of Development

Modernization Theory

Modernization theory is the product of three post–WorldWar II events, the rise of the United States as a superpower, the spread of the world Communist

movement, and the disintegration of Europe’s colonial empires, resulting in the emergence of new Third- World nation-states. Modernization studies were con- sidered an academic growth area and favored and funded by the U.S. government. Modernization theo- rists adopted evolutionary and functionalist assump- tions. The economic and perhaps most well-known approach to modernization theory comes from W. W. Rostow. Rostow studied the Industrial Revolution in Britain and came up with what he concluded was a generalizable model for the entire Third World. Rostow argued that there are five stages to develop- ment, invoking the unilinear and evolutionary frame- work.The first stage is the “traditional society,” which witnesses little social change. Second is the precondi- tion for “takeoff’ into modernization. This phase is marked by the rise of new entrepreneurs, an expansion of markets, and a simultaneous decrease in death rate and population size. Third is the actual “takeoff,” in which a stimulus is needed to push the Third World beyond precondition; that is, something akin to a rev- olution. Fourth is the drive to maturity, in which there is a distinct need for capital and resources. The fifth and final state is the age of high mass consumption.

Dependency Theory

Latin American theorists, specifically Fernando Cardoso and Enzo Faletto, articulated critiques of modernization theory starting in the 1960s. Dependency theory is rooted in Marxist theories of imperialism. Dependency theorists coined the terms core and periphery to characterize the dominant economies of the industrialized world and the depen- dent economies of theThirdWorld, respectively.They argue that Latin America developed the most when trade relations with the First World had been inter- rupted through either world wars or depression. Thus, proponents advocate independent industrialization for Latin America in order to eliminate its import depen- dence on the core countries, or what they call import substitution industrialization (ISI). Dependency theo- rists argue that foreign multinationals hurt long-term prospects for development in LatinAmerica by invest- ing less than they withdraw. Yet their proposed solu- tion of industrialization based on import substitution has, even in the most economically advanced Latin American countries, also created new forms of depen- dence and thus new sociopolitical imbalances. Additionally, at the time dependency theorists started

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to articulate their theories, an independent national or regional economywasamoreviableoption.However, in the current era of neoliberal globalization, economies are irrevocably linked to such a degree that economic independence is largely an ideological aspi- ration from the past.

World System Theory

World system theory is the NorthAmerican adapta- tion of dependency theory. Like dependency theory, world system theory evolved as a direct attack against modernization theory. Immanuel Wallerstein intro- duced the theory and term into sociology. It analyzes historical stagesofdevelopment andargues that at one time, all societies were “mini-systems.” World system theorists argue that the reasons for capitalism’s suc- cess are complex, although two stand out: First, a new transportation technology allowed long-distance mar- kets to be maintained, and second, Western military technology ensured the power to enforce favorable terms of trade. Initially, differences between core and peripheral nations were small, but due to exploitation, northwestern Europe expanded the gap. Thus, Wallerstein introduced the concept of semiperipheral nations to more accurately capture the nature of the global political economy. These categories have the same meaning as in dependency theory, with the addi- tion of the semiperiphery, which refers to middle- income countries with some level of industrialization. ForWallerstein, without the semiperiphery, capitalism could not exist.

Gendered Theories of Development

The aforementioned theories do virtually nothing to explain the gendered implications of development and underdevelopment. Feminist scholars and practi- tioners have attempted to address this theoretical hole. According to Naila Kabeer, each development decade had its own way of addressing women. The first decade, between 1961 and 1970, was completely devoid of attention to women. The second encouraged the full integration of women in the development effort, hinting at a new consciousness (women in development). In the 1980s, women were declared agents and beneficiaries in all sectors and levels of the development process (women and development). By the 1990s, the task became to translate this greater understanding of women into different priorities and,

in turn, the empowerment of women (gender and development). The 21st century has brought with it the task of theorizing the place of culture and agency within development discourse and practice (women, culture, and development).

Women in Development (WID)

The women in development (WID) school of thought emerged in the early 1970s as a liberal femi- nist analysis closely linked with modernization the- ory. Esther Boserup’s groundbreaking book Women’s Role in Economic Development (1970) is typically seen as the pioneering study about women in the development process. Through the endorsement by WID of modernization theory, there is an implicit acceptance of existing political-economic institutions. Liberal feminists, and thus WID proponents, argue that women deserve equality within the existing sociopolitical system. WID practitioners assume that equality in access to economic resources is all that is necessary forwomen to“emerge” fromunderdevelop- ment. That is, as in modernization theory, the sug- gested approach is to incorporate women into existing structures.That said, advocatesofWIDargue for legal and administrative changes to ensure that women would be better integrated into the economic system. WID theorists and practitioners do not agitate for a change in social structure, but rather focus on better integrating women into existing development strate- gies. WID proponents try to demonstrate that women are as competent as men in the marketplace. Thus, WID advocates emphasize similarities between women and men, and thus women and women. Critics have pointed out that these assumptions are riddled with essentialism and thus obfuscate the power imbal- ances between First- and Third-World women.

Women and Development (WAD)

Women and development (WAD) is a neo-Marxist feminist approach that emerged in the second half of the 1970s.WAD, like many other critical development theories, grew out of a concern with the explanatory limitations of modernization theory. Proponents of WAD also rejected the position ofWID that the exclu- sion of women from earlier development strategies was merely an oversight. The WAD school of thought argues that women have always been part of the devel- opment process and that scholars of the 1970s did not

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“discover” them; rather, they finally began to theorize women’s political-economic position. In other words, simply because academics and practitioners over- looked the presence of women does not mean that they were not part of and indeed affected by underde- velopment. WAD focuses on the relationship between women and development, rather than simply the “inte- gration” of women into development schemes. WAD proponents, like dependency theorists, argue that local economic justice can only improve through the equal- izing of international structures. However, some fem- inists criticize WAD (and dependency theorists) for overlooking the so-called microinstitutions like the family and other private sites of oppression.

Gender and Development (GAD)

The gender and development (GAD) theory emerged in the 1980s as an alternative to both WID and WAD. Its roots are in socialist feminism, and thus it attempts to link the relations of production and reproduction in order to account for all aspects of women’s lives. “GADvocates” (as they are some- times called) are more concerned with gender rela- tions and the roles of both women and men in an attempt to address social organization, politics, and economics simultaneously. GAD analyzes the nature of women’s labor both inside and outside the household, including noncommodity produc- tion, and rejects the public/private dichotomy that GADvocates (and others) argue undervalues family and household maintenance work performed by women. Additionally, GAD proponents argue that the state should provide social services for needs like child care and other tasks that have become women’s responsibility due to the gendered division of labor. GADvocates see women as agents of change, rather than receptacles for charity. Their policies tend to prioritize legal rights, including land reform and other related issues. GAD is also atten- tive to the interlocking systems of oppression and thus attempts to explore the contradictions of gen- der, class, race, and development. Thus, GAD is not an “add-women-and stir” approach. One of the main criticisms of the GAD approach is its overly ideo- logical framework, which makes it exceptionally difficult for development practitioners to actually design policies that reflect GAD’s concerns. Thus, GAD has proved more effective in the academic and research realm rather than in the venues of practice.

Women, Culture, and Development (WCD)

The women, culture, and development (WCD) par- adigm emerged in the early 21st century with the pub- lication of Feminist Futures: Re-Imagining Women, Culture, and Development (2003). WCD scholars see their work as an amalgam of feminist studies, cultural studies, andThird-World/development studies. One of the basic and initial premises ofWCD is that women’s lives are an inseparable combination of reproductive and productive labor, and thus development policies and theories need to reflect this reality. Additionally, WCD scholars attempt to move away from what they see as reductive and linear assumptions about culture and the development process. WCD differentiates itself from WID, WAD, and GAD primarily through its attention to culture.WCD theorists understand cul- ture as “lived experience.” That is, culture is some- thing that women (and men) “do” and thus is fluid and proactive rather than something that happens to a passive set of onlookers. From this perspective, WCD scholars argue, women are recognized as political, social, and indeed cultural agents and offer models for development projects that address the interconnection of reproductive and productive labor. Like GAD, the main criticism of WCD is that its framework is too politically fluid and relativistic, which makes it diffi- cult to identify a central organizing principle to apply to real development projects.WCD scholars, however, would argue that the absence of one common tactic is the result of political-cultural heterogeneity in the ThirdWorld,which renders a one-size-fits-all approach to development futile.

Conclusion

This entry illustrates the gendered nature and implica- tions of poverty and underdevelopment in the Third World. It shows thewaydevelopment scholarshaveand have not accounted for the experiences of women and transnational development. Academics and develop- ment practitioners are not the only ones concerned with thesequestions.Women in theThirdWorld livingunder the policies of the development regime also tackle the aforementioned issues both individually and collec- tively. As this entry demonstrates, women experience underdevelopment in (at least) economic, political, and physical ways.As a result, women have created organi- zations that address a host of issues, using a variety of

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organizational and ideological tactics. For example, in some instances, women join together around a single theme, like women and labor, with remarkable results. The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is one of the most illustrative examples. SEWA was founded in 1971 as a trade union for women working in India’s informal sector. It has since expanded to repre- sent 220,000 members and is seen as a prototype for women’s grassroots economic activism. Elsewhere, women take on single, local issues that

are the result of transnational policies and thus have global implications; for example, unionization of domestic and sex workers. Women also organize explicitly as feminists to challenge thegenderedpower structures in their own communities/nations that are in part responsible for exacerbating already difficult cir- cumstances. In other cases, feminists come together across borders to create transnational networks focused on globally relevant issues for women, like human rights. In short, the development regime pre- sents a host of obstacles that touch the lives of women in a variety of circumstances. However, women have repeatedly demonstrated that they are agents of change in the Third World. They continue to challenge the institutions responsible for the setbacksandcreatenew methods of individual and collective survival.

Julie Shayne

See also Feminist Activism in Latin America; Microlending, NGOs and Grassroots Organizing; Postcolonial/Subaltern Feminism; United Nations Development Fund for Women

Further Readings

Bhavnani, K.-K., Foran, J., & Kurian, P. (Eds.). (2003). Feminist futures: Re-imagining women, culture, and development. London: Zed Books.

Boserup, E. (1970). Women’s role in economic development. London: Allen & Unwin.

Fraser, A., & Tinker, I. (Eds.). (2004). Developing power: How women transformed international development. NewYork: Feminist Press.

Kabeer, N. (1994). Reversed realities: Gender hierarchies in development thought. London: Verso.

Marx Ferre, M., & Tripp, A. M. (Eds.). (2006). Global feminism: Transnational women’s activism, organizing, and human rights. NewYork: NewYork University Press.

Moghadam,V. (2005). Globalizing women: Transnational femi- nist networks. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Mohanty, C. T., Russo, A., & Torres, L. (Eds.). (1991). Third world women and the politics of feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Rathgeber, E. M. (1990, July). WID, WAD, GAD: Trends in research and practice. Journal of Developing Areas, 24, 489–502.

TRANSSEXUAL

The term transsexual originates from a 1949 article by sexologist David Cauldwell in which he refers to an individual requesting sex “transmutation” from female to male as a case of psychopathia transexualis. Today transsexual commonly refers to individuals who seek to live full time in a gender other than that to which they were assigned at birth. This transforma- tion often is achieved with hormone therapy and surgical interventions. Transsexuals are distinct from “cross-dressers,” who dress in the clothes of the “opposite sex” but do not wish to permanently change their social gender identities. Transsexuals also are not intersexed, a term that refers to people with vari- ous genetic configurations that give them genitals and/or reproductive systems that do not fit with expec- tations for male and female bodies. Finally, while transsexuals often are misunderstood as being homo- sexual, these identity categories are distinct. Being gay or lesbian has to do with the gender one is sexu- ally attracted to. Being transsexual has to do with whatgenderone identifies as.Transsexuals canbegay or lesbian, but they can just as easily be heterosexual, bisexual, or pansexual.

Transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of differently gendered identities, such as drag queens, drag kings, genderqueers, cross- dressers, and at times transsexuals. It comes from “transgenderist,” coined byVirginia Price, the founder of the first cross-dresser organization, Tri-Ess. Originally, transgender was used to make distinctions between cross-dressers and transsexuals. It took on its current meaning in the 1990s, when Leslie Feinberg, agender activist andauthor, used it in apamphlet enti- tled “Transgender Liberation.”The use of transgender as an umbrella term is similar to the usage of queer by groups like Queer Nation. The idea behind queer politics was to take apart identity categories and blur group boundaries so that bisexuals could find a com- mon cause to fight alongside drag queens, gay men,

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and transsexual lesbians. Like queer, transgender abandons rigid identity categories—categories often associatedwith medical and psychological regulation— to allow for coalitional gender activism.

Politicized Identities and Hierarchies

The history of these terms represents changing political currents, new ideas about identities, and challenges to discoursesonsexandgender.Theadoptionof transgen- der as a political rubric spread quickly among public policy advocates and activists in the late 1990s. Using the term was inclusive, as it allowed nonprofit gender organizations to include a variety of differently gen- dered individuals in their mission statements. However, an outcome of this inclusivity was that the term trans- sexual became viewed as politically conservative, as it was associated with regulatory medical and psycholog- ical institutions. This criticism of the term transsexuals as politically unproductive has meant that many people who transitioned in the1970sand1980s—andwhosaw transsexual as an important identity category—were excluded from the “transgender” melting pot, much in the same way that some older gays and lesbians felt alienated from the use of the term queer. The problems associated with putting transsexual under the transgen- der umbrella demonstrate the effects of generational shifts, as well as changing views about political tactics, sexuality and gender, and gender identity.

Kristen Schilt

See also Androgyny; Biological Determinism; Cross- Dressing; Drag King; Drag Queen; Gender Role Ideology and Intimacy; Gender Transgression; Intersexual, Intersexuality; Queer; Transgender; Tranvestite

Further Readings

Califia, P. (1997). Sex changes: The politics of transgenderism. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Gamson, J. (1996). Must identity movements self-destruct? A queer dilemma. In S. Seidman (Ed.), Queer theory/ sociology (pp. 395–420). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

Green, J. (2004). Becoming a visible man. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Mackenzie, G. O. (1994). Transgender nation. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Press.

Meyerowitz, J. (2002). How sex changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Prosser, J. (1998). Second skins: The body narratives of transsexuality. NewYork: Columbia University Press.

Rubin, H. (2003). Self-made men: Identity and embodiment among transsexual men. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Stone, S. (1992). The empire strikes back: A posttransexual manifesto. Camera Obscura, 29, 150–176.

TRANSVESTITE

The term transvestite refers to a person who dresses and acts in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In its induction, the term incorpo- rated a spectrum of gender behaviors and appear- ances. The definition has changed over time, however, and is not universal in application. Although the term may be used to describe the transvestic behavior of butch women, it is most commonly applied to male-bodied persons who imi- tate the dress and mannerisms of women. Transvestite is derived from the Latin words

trans, “across” or “over,” and vestitus, “dressed,” coined in 1910 by the German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld in his book Die Transvestiten: Eine Untersuchung über den erotischen Verkleidungstrieb (Transvestites: The Erotic Drive to Cross-Dress). Hirschfeld’s characterization of transvestites can be seen as a response to other scientists’ pathologiza- tion and criminalization of gender-transgressive behavior and homosexuality. Hirschfeld believed that variations on gender and sexual expressions were forms of biological diversity. Transvestites, like homosexuals, were deemed “sexual intermediaries” who existed on a spectrum between “pure male” and “pure female.” From his numerous cases, Hirschfeld noted that one’s gender expression or identification could not be reduced to one’s sexual orientation. For example, some homosexual men are effeminate, but this is not unanimously the case, and similarly, many transvestites do not exhibit homosexual behavior. In his book, Hirschfeld also clearly distinguished trans- vestitism from sexual fetishism and psychopathol- ogy. The primary goal of cross-dressing behavior for transvestites is to appear as the opposite sex, not for sexual pleasure as in the case of fetishists and not to inflict self-harm as in the case of masochists. Since the induction of the term, the definition has narrowed to make room for other classifications of gender expression and identity.

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In the 1950s, Hirschfeld’s work was revisited by Harry Benjamin, a medical doctor who became associ- ated with transgender advocacy and health care through Alfred Kinsey. Benjamin believed Hirschfeld’s charac- terization of transvestites was too broad in scope, argu- ing for another category of individuals, transsexuals. Benjamin claimed that while transvestites act out the role of the opposite sex through appearance, transsexu- als have a deep-seated mental and sexual disassociation from their selves and want to become members of the opposite sex. Thus, individuals who expressed their gender outside of traditional norms could describe their behavior as a willful act of dress and expression, trans- vestitism, or the expression of an essential or core gen- der identity, transsexualism. To obtain medical treatment such as hormones and surgery to alter their sexed bodies, many transsexuals distanced themselves from transvestites and often gay and lesbian communi- ties as proof to doctors of their transsexual identities. Since the 1970s, many people who exhibit behavior

and dress associated with the opposite gender have rejected the term transvestite for its strong association with deviance, homosexuality, perversion, and mental illness.Forexample,manypeopleoftenconfuse the term transvestitewiththepsychologicalconditionof transves- tic fetishism, a fetish for cross-dressing. The term cross- dresser has replaced transvestite both culturally and to someextentscientifically,anditdescribesmostlyhetero- sexual men who wear feminine clothing and act or behave as women. Because men in this group are pre- dominantly heterosexual and tend to live daily lives as men, they have historically, and still do, distance them- selves fromgaymenand transsexuals.Often, theycross- dress only for special events or when attending specific clubs, which may be as infrequent as a few times a year. For gays and lesbians who similarly reject the term

transvestite, many have adopted the identity of drag king or drag queen, who impersonate the opposite gen- der for purposes of parodying or imitating. Often these impersonations will be of iconic figures; for example, LizaMinelli,Madonna,orGeorgeMichael.Theircross- gender presentation is for play or performance and is often part of an act on stage, which differentiates them from self-identified cross-dressers. While a cross- dressermaydress likeacelebrityor icon, thedragqueen orkingnotonlydressesas suchbutalsoadapts figureas a character for drag performance. This is the primary difference between drag kings/drag queens and cross- dressers, although some alternate between identities.

Reese Carey Kelly

See also Benjamin, Harry; Cross-Dressing; Drag King; Drag Queen; Hirschfeld, Magnus; Transgender; Transsexual

Further Readings

Meyerowitz, J. (2002). How sex changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Stryker, S., & Whittle, S. (Eds.). (2006). The transgender studies reader. NewYork: Routledge.

TRUTH, SOJOURNER (C. 1797–1883)

Sojourner Truth (whose birth name was Isabella) was born a black slave in Ulster County, NewYork, to her enslaved parents, James and Elizabeth. During her enslavement, she was owned by several white families, including the Hardenbergh family, at birth, and several other NewYork families, Neely, Shriver, and Dumont, to whom she was later resold. Isabella’s experiences with physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her slave master and mistress became the basis of her opposition to slavery and her later work on behalf of abolitionism. She became emancipated in 1826 and eventually took on the last name of an abolitionist family,VanWagenen,withwhomshe livedandworked as a freed person. Her experiences as a slave, her emancipation, and the eventual spiritual rebirth that resulted from her activism in Methodist movements led to her transformation into renowned the preacher, and abolitionist. She took on the name “Sojourner Truth,” which appropriately describes the significance of her work during the 19th century, as a preacher of truth wherever she went.

Emancipation and Spiritual Transformation

Isabella Van Wagenen became “Sojourner Truth” on June1,1843, thedayof thePentecost.Prior toher sanc- tification as “Sojourner Truth,” she had won two major legal battles as a former slave and black person in the 19thcentury. In1828,shesuccessfullyprovedmaternity and regained custody of her son, Peter (one of her five children), who had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. In 1835, she also successfully won a court case in New York, in which she charged that a white

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couple had committed libel against her by claiming that she tried topoison them,aclaim thatwouldhave ruined her ability to acquire work as a cook. Isabella obviously had the tenacity to challenge others who discriminated against her, and this tenacity followed her through her transformation into “Sojourner Truth,” when she became a preacher who actively traveled and spread the word against slavery and the abuse of women. After her emancipation, Truth became involved as

a preacher in a Methodist movement, the Millerites, named after its leader, William Miller. Through her travels in Massachusetts in 1843, she came in contact with the abolitionistWilliam Lloyd Garrison, who put her in contact with his publisher so she could publish an account of her experiences as a slave.This publica- tion, whichTruth paid for, promoted, and sold herself, became known as the Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a remarkable accomplishment for a former slave who was unable to read or write. In fact, two famous white feminists, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frances Dana Gage, served as her amanuenses for different publica- tions of the Narrative.

Political Activism

Throughout the mid-1840s and the mid-1850s, Truth gave several antislavery speeches across New England, andshewasaskedbyGarrison in1851 togoonananti- slavery speaking circuit. She preached to blacks about uplift, comportment, and economic independence. She alsodeliveredseveral speechesatwomen’s rightsmeet- ings in New England and the Midwest. In her famous feminist speech “Ar’n’t I a Woman?” (1863), she chal- lenged her mostly white audience at the Women’s Rights Convention inAkron, Ohio, to embrace her as a woman despite her strong, baritone-like voice, nearly 6-foot frame, and determination to challenge being barred to speak because she was black. Prior to this speech, in 1852, Truth had had a famous encounter with the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass, at the Progressive Friends conference in Salem, Ohio. She had interrupted his speech and asked him, “Is God gone?” This act attested to her feminist tenacity, as she questioned a man in public, a practice that countered gender norms about a woman’s role in public affairs and a woman’s deference to a man, black or white. During Reconstruction and in her older age, Truth

remained active with abolitionist causes, as she con- tinued preaching and advocating economic develop- ment and independence among former black slaves.

Truth was involved with relief efforts of the National Freedmen’s Relief Association and the Freedmen’s Bureau. She later advocated in the 1870s that southern blacks form a mass exodus to the West to build their lives, and she petitioned Congress to support legisla- tion that would allot western land to blacks. She also continued her feminist activism in the later 1860s, and sheeventually joined theAmericanWomen’sSuffrage Association (which also supported black male suf- frage), founded by another famous black feminist at the time, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Commemoration of Truth

Truth’s strong persona led to her being called “the Libyan Sibyl” by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This moniker referred to a sculpture (1860) of the same name by the artist William Wetmore Story. Although Story had been in contact with Truth in 1857 and the sculpture bore a strong resemblance to her, contrary to popular belief, the sculpture was not based on her image.Story’s sculpture, Libyan Sibyl, representedhis aesthetic of blackness in general. Truth actively sought tomarketherown likeness through theproduc- tion and sale of her signed photographs. She presented a signed photograph of herself to President Abraham Lincoln, with whom her abolitionist work had put her in contact. This meeting became the inspiration for an 1893 painting by the artist Frank C. Courter. Truth died November 26, 1883, in Battle Creek,

Michigan, and her gravesite is there. It served as the location where Shirley Chisholm, a feminist herself and the first female and first black presidential candi- date, announcedher candidacy in1972. In1981,Truth was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 1986, a U.S. commemorative stamp was dedicated in her honor.

Shayla C. Nunnally

See also Black Feminist Thought

Further Readings

Bernard, J. (1990). Journey toward freedom: The story of Sojourner Truth. NewYork: Feminist Press and the City University of NewYork.

Lebedun, J. (1974). Harriet Beecher Stowe’s interest in Sojourner Truth, black feminist. American Literature, 46(3), 359–363.

862———Truth, Sojourner (c. 1797–1883)

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Mabee, C. (1988). Sojourner Truth and President Lincoln. New England Quarterly, 61(4), 519–529.

Mabee, C. (1993). Sojourner Truth: Slave, prophet, legend. NewYork: NewYork University Press.

Painter, N. I. (1994). Representing Truth: Sojourner Truth’s knowing and becoming known. Journal of American History, 81(2), 461–492.

Painter, N. I. (1996). Sojourner Truth: A life, a symbol. NewYork: Norton.

Pauli, H. (1962). Her name was Sojourner Truth. NewYork: Avon Books.

Washington, M. (Ed.). (1993). Narrative of Sojourner Truth. NewYork: Vintage Classics.

TWO-SPIRIT

See BERDACHE (TWO-SPIRIT)

Truth, Sojourner (c. 1797–1883)———863

EBSCOhost - printed on 10/26/2021 8:17 PM via UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use

EBSCOhost - printed on 10/26/2021 8:17 PM via UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use