Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the experience of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals coming out and living authentically as their self-identified gender identity. Including the obstacles and discrimination, TGNC people navigate through everyday life in society. By adapting, Amiot et al. [66] developed a four-stage model of social identity development and integration of the self into an integrated social identity to a five-stage model. The term, Reflexive Authenticity, increases the process to five stages of social identity development and implements action/interaction strategies with conditions and consequences at each stage. TGNC individuals demonstrate the reciprocal nature of Identity Process Theory (IPT) and Social Representation Theory (SRT). SRT addresses both social products and processes. As a product, social representation is defined as a widely shared set of beliefs—a systematic framework for evaluating events. For invisible minorities (as the transgender community has been often described [92]), the digital age has given rise to multiple new options and opportunities to recognize, explore, and validate themselves.
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Notes
- 1.
Clock: to be recognized as transgender, defined by research respondents (Riley, 2015).
- 2.
Renee defined transbian as a transwoman who is attracted to transwomen.
- 3.
Joseph Campbell was an American mythologist, writer, and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. This quote was sourced from a book of his unpublished works, Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion, edited by Diane Osbon.
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Riley, D.B. (2019). The Social Elements of TGNC’s Individual’s Journey to Living Authentically. In: Poretsky, L., Hembree, W. (eds) Transgender Medicine. Contemporary Endocrinology. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05683-4_15
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