Transgender Studies Reader 2 - Introduction

Here is a discussion of Susan Stryker and Aren Z. Aizura’s introduction essay to the Transgender Studies Reader 2.0. 

Transgender Studies’ Past  

The introduction to the 2013 iteration of the Transgender Studies Reader goes a long way in explaining the goals of the editors as they curated this volume. It does far more than simply tease the essays found in the Reader, but sets up where trans studies began, where it may be going, and what radical acts need to take place to keep this area of study from stagnating in academia. There is an extensive discussion as to how this edition differs from the previous 2006 version, the broad extent of which is growth and diversity. Previous iterations of trans studies, the original reader included, have been focused on the individual experience, often through a psycho and medical lens and almost always from the perspective of white, Western individuals. Central to this introduction is the acknowledgement that much of the work published on and by trans individuals has been focused on whites and the majority of acceptance within mainstream society has been granted to these individuals while trans people of color have suffered disproportionately. Another focus the editors note was missing in the original Reader is work from the global trans community and in this new edition they wish to divorce trans studies from the idea that the trans academy began exclusively in the west and is spreading outward and use this edition to show that this framework has always existed worldwide. Important to note is that the editors do not wish to dismiss the roots of trans studies, merely acknowledge its limitations and explain how they have worked to broaden its reach as well as making it clear that trans and non-binary identities, though they may be thought of as new and trendy, have always existed. 

Stryker and Aizura’s Vision for Trans Studies

Despite trans studies being a relatively new field, it has grown past the limited thinking discussed above, at least within this collection through the eyes and thoughtful curation of Stryker and Aizura. The editors seek to make trans studies focus on anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-xenophobic, and non Anglo-focused advocacy. They want for trans studies to include far more than discussions of gender, to do this they have included essays on everything from economics to race, post 9/11 security, body modification, political and social policies, and more. One major theme that is found throughout this introduction is what Stryker and Aizura feel trans studies place in academia needs to be. They want for it to be an area of “counter action and creative alliance building” (4). They call out academia specifically for its lack of focus on creating safe spaces for trans students and professors. The editors insist that trans individuals need to infiltrate this system to give trans students greater access to higher education and to disperse the available resources to those in need, instead of keeping them in the hands of wealthy establishments.

Another way of thinking they call into question is the idea that trans healthcare is often used as a “euphemism for the production of gender normativity” and they bring up the need to spread the concept of a wide variety of “potentials of bodily being” (7). They wish to decolonize the idea of gender altogether, not just push the idea of trans identity, but call into question the categories man/woman, male/female altogether, asking the question “what might an anti-colonial or decolonizing transgender studies look like?” (9). Finally, central to trans studies needs to be the acknowledgement of misogyny and racism within and without the trans and queer community and the redistribution of resources to those struggling communities. One of the most important focuses they placed on what they wanted to include in the new edition are the voices that have been ignored and now need to be firmly established in this field, those of non-white, differently abled, global trans individuals. 

Thank you so much for reading this post and comment your thoughts below if you’ve read this piece, or what other books/essays/articles you think I should talk about!