Trans thing 2

[ ] Project Question
[x] Project Methodology
[x] Academic Literature pt. 2
[x] Dramatic Literature pt. 2
[x] My Artwork

The reason why I wanted to begin by sharing a window into the Public Universal Friend's life is because they are one of the many transgender historical figures that I studied for my project. My desire to conduct this project stemmed from a desire to change the way transness is seen in the media landscape -- in the history books, in the news, and in my area of focus, theater. Transness is often understood through a medical framework that centers on gender dysphoria as the sole arbiter of who is and is not trans. Under this framework, trans people are expected to undergo all forms of medical transition possible, identify within the binary, and be constantly plagued with hatred towards their bodies. But that's not how I experience my gender at all. My lightbulb moment that told me that I was trans was when I stumbled upon the word "non-binary" at age 12 and it just... clicked. It was a moment of euphoria, not dysphoria - and there are so many other trans people who experience their identities in similar ways - knowing that they are trans because they love themselves post-transition. When transness is framed as a medical condition dependent on dysphoria, it hinges the validity and worth of trans people on how much dysphoria they experience -- in other words, how much they suffer. And it also erases so many narratives - narratives like mine, which is informed more strongly by euphoria than dysphoria, and narratives like that of the Public Universal Friend, who experienced their non-binary identity as a spiritual awakening. I wanted to channel these feelings into a play that would expand the cultural understanding of transness and push the narratives of trans historical figures into the limelight. And so I began my research with this question in mind: How can I write a play that is true to the ubiquity of trans people throughout history and the diversity of their narratives?

Before I begin digging more into the logistics of my work, I want to outline the lens that I looked through when examining historical and dramatic texts alike. I believe that the representation of transgender people in media is important. Trans representation promotes understanding and respect for trans people, and may even help people questioning their identities realize that they are trans. In the context of my work, this means that trans representation in historical and dramatic texts is important in different - but equally significant - ways. Another belief that strongly informed my view of my research is that, although the word "transgender" only rose to prominence roughly 50 years ago, trans people have existed forever across all time periods, places, and cultures. The fact that trans people often don't appear in the history books does not mean that they do not exist. I believe that the medical model of transness does not capture the vast range of experiences of trans people. It erases trans people who primarily understand their identities through euphoria, it erases both non-binary trans people and binary trans people who do not present strictly in accordance with their gender, and it erases trans people who lived before medical science progressed to allow people to physically transition. Finally, I am viewing all historical texts through the lens of historiography, an ethics-oriented view of history that not only asks "what" information is available but "why" it is available - and by extension, why some narratives may not be recorded in archives.

An overarching theme I saw across the academic texts that I read was a deep discomfort with the historical existence of trans people, which led to many significant figures having their identities erased or misrepresented. This didn't happen uniformly to everyone who I researched -- the Public Universal Friend was referred to using gender neutral language in every text about them that I read, and while there is debate among academics about the Chevaliere d'Eon, the leading scholar on her life, Gary Kates, argues that evidence confirms d'Eon is a trans woman. But other figures I researched had their identities erased, such as Dr. James Barry, Albert Cashier, and Amelio Robles Avila, all transgender men who have been claimed to varying degrees as "revolutionary women." This is significant because it is, in a way, a variation of the trans erasure that has been happening for centuries. Many indigenous peoples had roles for trans people deeply entwined in their cultures, but those cultures were overwhelmingly eradicated by colonization and genocide -- and the presence of those trans identities were erased as a result. And it was only decades ago that the Institute for Sex Research in Germany - one of the most significant archives for LGBT research - was burned down by the Nazis, striking their findings from the history books. There is more knowledge now than ever before about the ubiquity of trans people throughout history - but these attempts at erasure still persist today.

There were a number of disparities that I saw in these plays, with one of the most fundamental being authorship. Only two of the plays that I read were penned by transgender authors. That's not to say that any author should write exclusively from their own experience, but transgender authors will always be able to write on the subject of being trans with a greater degree of knowledge and authenticity. The plays that I read also overwhelmingly focused on transgender people who fall within the gender binary and present in ways that align with their gender. These stories are important and should be told - but they shouldn't be at the cost of telling the stories of non-binary people, or any other trans person whose experience falls outside of the expected narrative of transition. These disparities impact trans people in the theater on all levels -- when trans people are prevented from writing stories about the varied experiences of trans people, this creates a ripple effect that impacts transgender actors looking for work, as casting processes tend to be highly gendered and judge people on their ability to perform the prototypical role of a man or a woman, shutting out all trans people who don't adhere to that image.