This thesis analyzes what academic literature describes as a so-called "GID discourse", which arose in Japan in the late 1990s and strongly changed how transgender people came to be seen and...Show moreThis thesis analyzes what academic literature describes as a so-called "GID discourse", which arose in Japan in the late 1990s and strongly changed how transgender people came to be seen and treated. This discourse, related to the medical term Gender Identity Disorder (性同一性障害, seidōitsuseishōgai), is generally problematized for pathologizing transness, reinforcing binary gender norms, and privileging some trans people over others. Academic texts on the topic tend to treat the emergence of this discourse as something that happened to Japan's trans population, without exploring the role played by trans people themselves. Using Critical Discourse Analysis as its primary methodology and dealing primarily with texts produced by trans people, this thesis demonstrates how trans people helped spread and institutionalize the "GID discourse", but also how it has been, and increasingly is, opposed by trans people. The thesis argues that the pathologizing discourse acted as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it made big socio-political changes possible that positively affected many trans people in Japan. Key examples are the legalization of sex reassignment surgery and the ability to change one's legal gender. On the other hand, the discourse serves as a conduit for social structures such as trans-, hetero- and cisnormativity, that negatively affect trans people.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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This thesis is an exploration of gender and gender categorization in chess. A sport that is different from most others in that it is a game of the brain rather than the physical moving body....Show moreThis thesis is an exploration of gender and gender categorization in chess. A sport that is different from most others in that it is a game of the brain rather than the physical moving body. However, this sport does see many gender inequalities, categorizations and excluding regulations also prevalent in other sports. Incorporating the stories of some of the most well known female chess players, transgender athletes and my own experiences and putting them in discussion with anthropological gender theory. This thesis argues that due to gender binary and gender essentialist notions we exclude people and keep gender differences alive even if they have no biological reason to. In doing so, I will follow and try to answer the guiding question; How does chess categorization expose our notions of gender in sport? I conclude with a note that chess could show a world in which we rethink the position and importance of gender in sport and look at other forms of categorization.Show less
This study investigated whether there is a relationship between Pyrrhonism and anxiety and stress with gender identity as a moderator. According to ancient Greek philosophy, a Pyrrhonist attitude...Show moreThis study investigated whether there is a relationship between Pyrrhonism and anxiety and stress with gender identity as a moderator. According to ancient Greek philosophy, a Pyrrhonist attitude ensures the presence of Ataraxia (or peace of mind). This study examined whether Pyrrhonism is associated with stress and anxiety. The Non Evident Questionnaire was developed to measure the independent variable. This was administered in a test battery together with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The test battery was completed online by 176 people. The first hypothesis stated that a Pyrrhonistic attitude and anxiety and stress would be negatively correlated. The second hypothesis was that identifying as transgender would weaken the effect. The main analysis was found to be insignificant for both GAD-7 and PSS. In the moderation analysis, the second hypothesis was found to be significant for both GAD-7 and PSS. On closer examination of the data, the effect turned out to be significantly positive in cisgender people, while it was insignificant and negative in transgender people. The conclusion of this study is that gender identity changes the effect of Pyrrhonism on anxiety and that Pyrrhonism does not reduce anxiety.Show less
This thesis looks into how able current human rights theories are able to handle instances of individuals identifying as things they are physically not. In particular the Otherkin, indivuals that...Show moreThis thesis looks into how able current human rights theories are able to handle instances of individuals identifying as things they are physically not. In particular the Otherkin, indivuals that claim they ought to have been born as an animal, and how that affects their position within the current human rights framework. This leads to several problems with the two most notable being that allowing somebody to identify as non-human means they don't have human rights so they can't identify as something non-human meaning they have human rights.Show less
Over the past few years transgender rights have become increasingly mainstream, and issues affecting transgender people have frequently made headlines. When considering these issues, transgender is...Show moreOver the past few years transgender rights have become increasingly mainstream, and issues affecting transgender people have frequently made headlines. When considering these issues, transgender is often placed within the greater scope of LGBT rights. However, only fairly recently has the LGB community embraced the T. This research will look at the history of transgender activism, and how the sectional nature of homosexual men and lesbian women excluded the intersectionality of transgender people. This thesis will consider the relationship between these factions in activism, in medical terms and in social terms. It will further come to show that the history of transgender activism is a struggle that is still alive today.Show less
Brazil’s heterodominant cultural climate subjects trans individuals to turbulent social realities emerging from their deferred styles of embodiment. Such realities are depicted by Pep Bonet in his...Show moreBrazil’s heterodominant cultural climate subjects trans individuals to turbulent social realities emerging from their deferred styles of embodiment. Such realities are depicted by Pep Bonet in his photodocumentary series All Imperfect Things. Through systematic visual analysis, paying particular attention to the different "ways of seeing" provided by Bonet, this research has as its objective the exploration of the effect to which the trans body is captured and displayed throughout the documentary. Through considerations of the body in conjunction with tendencies of documentary genre, space, and a sense of community, research has shown how Bonet subverts the reinforcement of Brazilian trans' powerlessness. What materialises is a humanizing way of representing which is both empowering and true to itself and the community depicted.Show less
