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Painting Social Change on a Body Canvas: Trans Bodies and Their Social Impact

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Queering Masculinities in Language and Culture

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality ((PSLGS))

Abstract

This chapter explores the life and artistic production of media celebrity Laverne Cox to show that––while incorporating certain aspects of masculinity (and femininity) perceived as positive––this transgender individual fails to produce other signs commonly deemed “appropriate” in terms of masculinity (and femininity) across the diversity of personal differences. In doing so, the performer of this identity “queers” social conditions which promote heterosexualities as natural and desirable, in addition to producing messages aimed at combating violence and ameliorating human behaviour in society. Indeed, Cox’s openly declared purpose is that of producing a counter-discourse intended not so much to balance out power distribution within the existing range of possible manifestations of masculinity (and femininity) as, rather, to bring about wider social improvement.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term “Discourse” in this chapter refers to the use of language to convey ideas, based on the view that “discourse” does not conflate with “language use,” but encompasses both language and life, thus revealing more, that is the world and our way of being in it. It corresponds to what Gee designates as Discourse (with a capital D): “[…] a socially accepted association among ways of using language , other symbolic expressions, and artifacts, of thinking, feeling , believing, valuing and acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or ‘social network’” (Gee 1996 [1990]: 131).

  2. 2.

    “Languaging ” is here meant as “the simultaneous process of continuing becoming of ourselves and of our language practices, as we interact and make meaning of the world,” in a view of language as “an activity rather than a structure, as something we do rather than a system we draw on, as a material part of social and cultural life rather than an abstract entity” (Pennycook 2010: 2, 8).

  3. 3.

    Following Milani (2015a), I would actually say “people (both male- and female-identifying).”

  4. 4.

    To use a more traditional label, meant as “a broad umbrella term in common usage in many community settings, recognizing the many debates over appropriate terms and terminology as all raising important points about the need to depathologize and recognize difference among people who may or may not see themselves falling under its purview” (Matte and Johnson 2009: 44).

  5. 5.

    To opt for a more recent definition, meant as “people who by their self-identities, behaviors, relationships, desires , public presentation, or attractions, do not fit mainstream normative sexuality or gender ” (Eliason 2014: 163).

  6. 6.

    Sophia is actually incarcerated because she stole credit cards in order to pay for sex-reassignment surgery.

  7. 7.

    It was not possible to obtain permission to reproduce this image, but it can be found online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-snow/laverne-cox-time-magazine_b_7238884.html

  8. 8.

    “Transituated strategic discourse ” queering the binaries in Cromwell’s terms (Cromwell 2006 [2001]).

  9. 9.

    Photographer Emily Hope generously allowed free reproduction of the picture she took for Variety.

  10. 10.

    It was not possible to obtain permission to reproduce this image, but it can be found online (at the time of publishing) at http://ew.com/article/2015/06/10/laverne-cox-entertainment-weekly-cover

  11. 11.

    On this topic, also see Nelson (1994), Birrell and Cole (1994), Kolnes (1995), Halbert (1997), Choi (2000), Russell (2007), and the definition of the female athlete as deviant in Veri (1999).

  12. 12.

    See, for example, The Huffington Post (2016 [2015]) and US Magazine (2016).

  13. 13.

    It was not possible to obtain permission to reproduce this image, but it can be found online at http://www.papermag.com/see-laverne-coxs-stunning-nude-portrait-for-allure-1427540754.html

  14. 14.

    The Promotional Trailer for FREE CeCe! is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pW8oHJ7zqg&t=10s. The video from the public dialogue with bell hooks at The New School is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oMmZIJijgY

  15. 15.

    The video from Wochit News is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzxuD3qtE48

  16. 16.

    The documentary is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDy0DhfuxfI&t=496s

  17. 17.

    Also see the “toughness” masculine ideology expressed in freestyle rap performances (Williams 2015).

  18. 18.

    See Michael (2015), (Steinmetz 2015), and the experience narrated by Thom: “The idea is that transwomen, with our ‘masculine’ bodies and having been ‘raised as male,’ receive all kinds of privilege that ciswomen don’t, such as relative safety from sexual harassment, social preference in school and the job market, and so on. As a result of this perspective, transwomen are often excluded from women-only spaces on the basis that we might be violent, or make ciswomen uncomfortable, or that we are already served by male institutions” (Thom 2015).

  19. 19.

    See Cox (2013) above.

  20. 20.

    Transmisogyny is a controversial concept: central in transfeminism and intersectional feminist theory but rejected by those feminists who do not see transwomen as female.

  21. 21.

    A short video from episode 12, Season 3 of “Orange Is the New Black” is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sC6VA--cNs

  22. 22.

    Ultimately, for the ineffability of the other, “who is not disclosed through speech but leaves a portentous shard of itself in its saying, a self that is beyond discourse itself” (Butler 2015 [2001]: 192).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facoltà di Lettere, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli, Italy

    Emilia Di Martino

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  1. Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, Lancashire, United Kingdom

    Paul Baker

  2. Literary, Linguistic and Comparative Studies, University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Naples, Italy

    Giuseppe Balirano

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Di Martino, E. (2018). Painting Social Change on a Body Canvas: Trans Bodies and Their Social Impact. In: Baker, P., Balirano, G. (eds) Queering Masculinities in Language and Culture. Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95327-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95327-1_8

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