The Gender Binary Meets the Gender-Variant Child

Abstract

Until recently, raising a young child as transgender was culturally unintelligible. Most scholarship on transgender identity refers to adults' experiences and perspectives. Now, the increasing visibility of gender-variant children, as they are identified by the parents who raise them, presents new opportunities to examine how individuals confront the gender binary and imagine more gender-inclusive possibilities. Drawing on Foucault's notion of "truth regime" to conceptualize the regulatory forces of the gender binary in everyday life, this work examines the strategies of 24 such parents, who represent 16 cases of childhood gender variance. Specifically, i analyze three practices-"gender hedging," "gender literacy," and "playing along"-through which these parents develop a critical consciousness about gender binary ideology and work to accommodate their children's nonconformity in diverse discursive interactions. taken together, their newfound strategies and perspectives subvert traditional conceptions of "gender-neutral" or "feminist" parenting, and reveal new modes of resistance to the normative transmission and regulation of gender practices.

Transactional pathways of transgender identity development in transgender and gender-nonconforming youth and caregiver perspectives from the Trans Youth Family Study

“…A common limitation of previous models and research on transgender identity development is the exclusion of gender nonconforming individuals, including those with non-binary gender identities (Rahilly, 2015). Another limitation is that the existing body of research is based primarily on the experiences of transgender individuals with a White race/ethnicity (Moradi et al, 2016); little is known about transgender identity development among transgender individuals of color.…”

“…In a sense, families with transgender youth are all transitioning. Recently, research on transgender youth has expanded to the family, particularly focusing on parents and caregivers (Dierckx, Motmans, Mortelmans, & T’sjoen, 2016; Rahilly, 2015; Sansfacon, Robichaud, & Dumais-Michaud, 2015). As for all youth, caregivers are understood to significantly impact the well-being of transgender youth (McConnell, Birkett, & Mustanski, 2016; Ryan, Russell, Hhuebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2010).…”

“…Caregivers who were raised in the United States or Canada have likely internalized the cultural ideology that assigned sex determines gender and that gender is binary (Rahilly, 2015; Sansfacon et al, 2015), although it should be noted that these ideologies may differ across race/ethnicities. Rahilly (2015) conducted a longitudinal study of 24 caregivers who represented 16 gender nonconforming youth and found three salient themes that centered on challenging the gender binary.…”

“…Rahilly (2015) conducted a longitudinal study of 24 caregivers who represented 16 gender nonconforming youth and found three salient themes that centered on challenging the gender binary. The first major practice that emerged was what Rahilly (2015) referred to as “gender hedging,” or caregivers attempting to set boundaries around their child’s gender atypical behaviors to find neutral ground that both satisfies their child’s preferences and meets societal gender expectations (e.g., caregiver purchasing pink socks, but not a dress for their child who is male assigned at birth and gender nonconforming). This maneuvering within the binary was often out of protection for their children and resulted in caregivers experiencing criticism of the current construction of gender.…”

Diversidade de género na infância e na educação: contributos para uma escola sensível ao (trans)género

“…No mesmo sentido, e também porque a linguagem não descreve apenas a realidade mas produz realidade, um dos mais significativos indícios da mudança de paradigma são as expressões que começam a emergir para referenciar estas crianças, concorrendo com as que vigoram no discurso médico tradicional, assentes na patologia («perturbação de identidade de género na infância»), e que assumem um sentido positivo e afirmativo: «crianças independentes em termos de género» (Pyne 2014), «crianças variantes em termos de género» (Rahilly 2015), «crianças não conformes em termos de género» (Platero 2014). Este novo modelo propõe assim uma deslocação no foco da intervenção, desde um problema ou mesmo patologia individual da criança até ao trabalho que é necessário fazer para a sua aceitação na comunidade (Pyne 2014).…”