“I had to qualify my belonging to the group”: Trans women's experiences of gendered boundary work and the symbolic boundaries of womanhood.

Abstract

This study examines the symbolic boundaries and boundary work (Lamont, 2000) that trans women experience in relation to the cis women in their lives with whom they share a close or meaningful relationship. Centering trans women’s voices and experiences, I analyze the ways in which boundary work is used to maintain or challenge symbolic boundaries between trans women and cis women, and how those boundaries and boundary work then act to locate trans women inside or outside of a larger conceptualization of womanhood. Analyzing data from 10 semi-structured interviews and 5 follow-up journal entries from 10 trans women in Sweden, this study shows that trans women experience a complex mix of inclusive and exclusionary boundary work from the close cis women in their lives. The findings show that several sites act as overlapping inflections points for boundary work, namely those pertaining to real or presumed biological differences (body), social space (spatial), and sexual orientation (sexuality). Trans women then respond to exclusionary forms of boundary work by employing several strategies to weaken symbolic boundaries, thereby reasserting their womanhood, and locating themselves back into a larger conceptualization of womanhood. These strategies include engaging cis women in discussion, navigating or negotiating acceptance of trans particularities with cis women, and filtering out cis women who are too exclusionary.

Popular Abstract

In recent years, anti-trans feminist movements and anti-gender movements have grown in both scope and influence globally, and anti-trans discourse has led to the erosion of trans rights in different parts of the world. Feminist organizations have become divided about what to do about trans women and trans rights, with some opting to frame trans rights as incompatible with cis women’s rights. This raises questions about the social relationships between cis women and trans women. In this study, I interviewed 10 trans women in Sweden about the social relationships they have with the cis women in their lives that they are close to. From trans women’s point of view, I explored how the cis women in my participants’ lives had demonstrated inclusiveness. I asked participants to describe the times and ways in which the cis women in their life had defended my participants’ womanhood or their inclusion into women’s spaces. I also explored how the cis women in my participants’ lives had been exclusionary. I asked participants to describe the times and ways in which the cis women in their life had invalidated my participants’ womanhood or sought to justify excluding trans women from women’s spaces. I also asked participants if they had close relationships with cis women who are not supportive of them being trans, and if so (or not), why (or why not). I found that the trans women I interviewed had a mix of experiences of being included and excluded—sometimes even from the same cis woman in their life. I found that there were conceptual distinctions around womanhood that acted as boundaries between trans women and cis women, and that those boundaries were built up in some instances but weakened in others. Those boundaries, which changed over time, were maintained, challenged, or reinforced in different situations, and they served to either push trans women out of womanhood at times or pull them into womanhood at other times. I found that those boundaries became relevant when it came to different social spaces, sexuality, and real or imagined bodily differences between cis women and trans women. I also found that trans women then used different strategies in response when they felt the cis women in their lives were pushing them out of womanhood. Those strategies included engaging close cis women in discussion, negotiating or navigating the unique aspects of trans womanhood with cis women, and filtering out cis women who did not accept or respect their womanhood.

• author: Faer, Valyn Ophelia
• supervisor: Sara Eldén
• organization: Sociology
• course: SOCM05 20241
• year: 2024
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: transgender, gender inequality, symbolic boundaries, boundary work, inclusion and exclusion
• language: English
• id: 9156036
• date added to LUP: 2024-05-31 10:30:31
• date last changed: 2024-05-31 10:30:31