Abstract:

From birth until death, social structures dictate who we are expected to be and the social roles that we undertake. Values, norms, and beliefs guide those societal expectations. One of the most important arenas of societal roles are those that cluster around gender identity. In terms of gender, many societies strictly adhere to a male/female binary identifying people in the either/or categorization of male or female. The social construction of gender binary arrangements serves to maintain conformity and limit non-binary gender identities by providing two mutually exclusive choices of gender identity. The binary gender arrangements are reinforced and reconfirmed throughout our daily lives when we decide to engage in any number of activities and behaviors such as our dress, use of restrooms and locker facilities, and presentation to authority figures such as police officers, employers, and school officials. Further, societal gender identity expectations shape the gender roles one may assume. While the expectation of gender binary arrangements is present in societies, there are members of the society who transgress the prescribed gender identity arrangements. Some people who deviate from societal gender identity expectations can be described as transgender. Transgender people are those whose gender identity and/or gender expression does not reflect societal gender norms associated with their assigned sex at birth. The ways in which transgender people self-identify and express their gender identity will vary depending on the individual. For instance, some transgender people may take on a certain degree of masculine and/or feminine characteristics depending on their gender self-identification. It is also the case that a transgender person, rather than simply assuming the opposite of the gender binary, will redefine gender identity in a non-binary manner. This may mean that they may not completely identify as masculine or feminine but may fall somewhere within the continuum of the gender identity spectrum. In other instances, an individual may be born biologically male or female but self-identify as the opposite gender also challenging the idea of binary and linear conceptions of gender. This challenge is present because based on gender binary thinking there exists the expectation that biological sex will always reflect a person’s gender identity. For those individuals who identify as transgender, there is an endless array of gender identities one may develop. By moving beyond the societal gender binary arrangements, individuals whose gender identity falls within the category of “transgender” may be subjects of prejudice and discrimination for their transgressions. Their transgressive identities place them in conflict with societal institutions and therefore, transpeople must deal with issues including but not limited to lobbying for greater access to surgery and health care coverage, confronting policies that deny changes to official documents such as birth certificates, social security cards and drivers licenses, dress codes in public schools and the workplace, the right to marry, the right to adopt children, child custody, immigration, and rejection of family and friends. Additionally, transgender people are forced to confront issues of gender and negotiate their own gender identity in their interactions with social institutions on a daily, and in some cases moment by moment, basis. For example, transgender people must make choices about disclosure to family and friends, face gender-based policies at work, and make decisions about how to navigate public spaces such as restrooms and locker rooms. Focusing specifically on male-identified transpeople, this research will examine how social spheres, such as those mentioned above, influence transgender lives, bodies and experiences. Male-identified transgender people are individuals recognized at birth as the female sex, but who self-identify as a gender other than female. Their gender identity may be binary (male) or they may identify on a continuum toward the male gender. In other words, their biological sex is female but their gender orientation is something other than female. The problem is that in a gender dichotomized society, people are expected to conform to gender norms and express their gender relative to their biological sex. In the passage that follows, Garfinkel (1967) discusses the structural composition of gender and sex stating that: Societies exercise close controls over the ways in which the sex composition of their own populations are constituted and changed. From the standpoint of persons who regard themselves as normally sexed, their environment has a perceivedly normal sex composition. This composition is rigorously dichotomized into the ‘natural,’ i.e., moral, entities of male and female. The dichotomy provides for persons who are ‘naturally,’ ‘originally,’ ‘in the first place,’ ‘in the beginning,’ ‘all along,’ and ‘forever’ one or the other (p. 116). It is the purpose of this study to investigate individuals that Garfinkel (1967) described as falling within the “normatively prohibited” entities of gender identity or more specifically, those who challenge the “legitimate sexual composition of the population” (p. 117). Significance of Study This study is important in that it will increase our knowledge about gender within the discipline of sociology. First, this study challenges many of the concepts utilized within sociology that governs our understanding of society. For instance, investigating transgender people challenges what it means to be male and female and those roles that accompany the concept of gender. Within sociology, minimal research has focused on the area that exists between and outside the gender spectrum. Second, this study is significant because within the field of sociology, few studies both qualitative and quantitative have investigated the lives of male-identified transgender people. Therefore, this study will make a substantive contribution to the field. It will not only serve as a monograph in the field of sociology, but will provide insight into an often over-looked population. The qualitative nature of this study will provide an opportunity for the participants to voice their interpretations of social reality in relation to the social institutions that have come to influence their lives, bodies and experiences. Methodological Approach A qualitative study was conducted in order to inductively investigate the lives of male-identified transgender individuals who were born biologically female but self-identify towards some degree of male identity. The sample consisted of 26 participants from around the United States between the ages of 18 to 57. The exact terms that participants used to self-identify varied and included transman, transmale, transsexual, female-to-male (FTM), FTM transsexual, FTM tranguy, FTM transgender, Jewish Queer FTM, transgender, genderqueer, queer, male, man, heterosexual male, and heteroqueer. Physical transition was not a requirement of this study. Participants were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling techiques. Using a combination of face-to-face and phone interviews to collect data, partipants were interviewed utilizing a questionaire consisting of predetermined open-ended questions and those pertaining to the demographics of the participant. After transcribing all 26 interviews, the researcher analyzed the data using NVivo qualitative software. Limitations The limitations of this research study can be attributed to the use of purposive and snowball techniques. The data collected using these sampling techniques do not require random sampling and therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to the male-identified transgender population. More specifically, this sample population is not representative of the general female-to-male (FTM) transgender population in terms of race/ethnicity, class, disability and so on. Therefore, nonrandom sampling jeopardizes the external validity of this research study. There were also participant characteristics that further question the external validity of this research study. For instance, only participants who volunteered to participate were included in this study meaning that the sample did not include a representative sample of those male-identified transgender people who were “stealth,” meaning those who were not “out” as transgender living full time socially and physically as male. Also not included in the sample were those who were isolated from other transgender people, those without access to the internet, and those who were uncomfortable discussing their gender identity. Due to the limitations, this study did not include a wide range of social and personal experiences of those who identify along the male-identified transgender continuum. Definition of Terms 1. Transgender: Individuals whose gender identity and/or gender expression does not reflect societal gender norms associated with their assigned sex at birth. 2. Male-Identified Transpeople, FTM (Female-to-Male): Individuals recognized at birth as the female sex, but who self-identify on a continuum toward the male gender. 3. Transition: Male-identified transgender individuals may transition physically by taking testosterone, elect to have “top surgery” (a form of breast reduction) and/or “bottom surgery” (creation of a penis and testicles). 4. Authorities of Delimitation: Coined by Foucault (1972), this term is used to investigate “authorities” such as social institutions and/or social relationships with the power to determine and perpetuate gender binary discourse. 5. Discourse: From a Foucaultian perspective, discourse is both linguistic systems or texts and “practices” that are maintained in everyday interactions on both a macro and micro level within a society. Gender binary arrangements function as linguistic systems and define “practices” specific to each gender category. 6. Surface of Emergence: Coined by Foucault (1972), this term is used to investigate the origins and maintenance of gender binary discourse particularly in early socialization. Overview of Dissertation Chapters The following provides a brief overview of each dissertation chapter: 1. Chapter I provides an introduction to the social issue under investigation, the significance of the study, the methodological approach, limitations of the study, definition of terms and a brief description of each chapter (present chapter). 2. Chapter II focuses on the review of the literature in the area of general identity categorization, transgender identity and male-identified transgender identity or female-to-male (FTM) identity. 3. Chapter III outlines the theoretical framework of this research study. In order to understand how transgender people negotiate their gender identities in a gender dichotomized society, gender binary arrangements are explored. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: 1) to explore identity from a queer theory perspective 2) to discuss how binaries shape and constrain identity and 3) to investigate how social institutions, via discourses/practices maintain and preserve gender binary arrangements and impact the lives of transgender individuals. 4. Chapter IV discribes the methods of this research study and includes a section on each of the following: a discussion concerning the requirements of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), design and recruitment, the sample population, intruments used in data collection (interview schedule), procedures including face-to-face and phone interviews, and data analysis utilizing NVivo software. 5. The focal point of Chapter V is Theme #1 entitled “Growing Up: The Emergence and Solidification of the Gender Binary.” This theme considers issues that arose during the participant’s childhood relative to their social relationships and their gender and sexual identities. 6. Based on the findings, Chapter VI focuses specifically on Theme #2 entitled “Negotiating Spaces: Living in a Gender Dichotomized Society.” This theme considers how participants navigate gendered spaces in negotiating their gender identities. The spaces include restrooms, locker rooms, and medical environments such as doctor’s offices, hospitals, emergency rooms and clinics. 7. Chapter VII provides the findings focusing on Theme #3 entitled “Private Spaces: Intimate Relationships.” The participants discuss their relationships with family members and their significant others. 8. In Chapter VIII or the conclusion chapter, “Growing Up,” “Negotiating Spaces,” and “Intimate Relationships” are discussed in relation to the theoretical framework set forth in this study. Also included in this chapter is discussion on the current standing of the theoretical framework, contributions to the literature, policy implications and suggestions for further research.

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