Doing Un/Troubled Subject Positions as a Transgender Woman with Autism
The Case of Vera
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v31i3.128180Nøgleord:
Transgender, Autism, Troubled Subject Positions, Identity, Intelligibility, IntersectionalityResumé
This paper aims to capture in/exclusion processes in the life of a transgender person who is also diagnosed with autism. We use Staunæs’ (2005) concept of troubling subjectivities to explore how Vera negotiates her identities as a neurodiverse transgender woman. We pay particular attention to how the categories of transgender and autism intersect and which in/exclusion processes they set in motion. We unfold how identifying as transgender and being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder shape Vera’s life. Specifi cally, we aim to unveil how these social categories shape her degree of agency in her private social relations and in institutional settings of education and healthcare. This is important because: a) research shows that a signifi cant number of transgender people also inhabit the clinical category of autism; and b) the intersections of multiple social categories change the conditions under which someone is allowed to do their particular personhood in different social settings. We show that while Vera is able to perform identities related to the categories of transgender and autism in personally empowering ways, she is also obstructed by identity overwork. That is, others’ positioning of Vera as troubled repeatedly requires her response on multiple social levels and in various contexts.
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