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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOne of my favorite essays from this issue was \u201cCompulsory Gender and Transgender Existence:\u00a0Adrienne Rich\u2019s Queer Possibility.\u201d Written by critically acclaimed researchers C. L. Cole and\u00a0 Shannon L. C. Cate, the essay responds to Adrienne Rich\u2019s article titled, \u201cCompulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,\u201d by revisiting the subject through a trans perspective.\u00a0 The essay begins by addressing and analyzing Rich\u2019s essay, explaining the effects of\u00a0 heterosexuality as a tool of the patriarchy to reproduce traditionally \u2018masculine\u2019 and \u2018feminine\u2019\u00a0 values. After this introduction, Cole and Cate transition to queer gender theory, emphasizing the\u00a0 absurdity of a static, male\/female binary system. However, instead of criticizing the persistence\u00a0of such an invalid social system, the authors discuss Rich\u2019s alternative: male-identification. As\u00a0they explain, male-identification is a sociopolitical idea that neglects queer, specifically lesbian,\u00a0experience and instead focuses on practices that reproduce heteronormative ideals. The queer and trans communities come into Cole and Cate\u2019s argument after their explanation of\u00a0male-identification and the performance side of gender and desire, debunking stereotypical\u00a0 portrayals of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Some of the examples the authors present focus specifically\u00a0 on lesbians, and how femme and butch lesbians are received differently. They are considered\u00a0to have different intentions with their appearance, even though this presumed distinction is solely\u00a0rooted in prejudice and discomfort.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the most compelling part of the essay, in my opinion, was in the final two paragraphs.\u00a0 Both authors introduced Susan Stryker\u2019s essay, \u201cTransgender History, Homonormativity, and\u00a0Disciplinarity.\u201d This section switches gears within gender essentialism to focus on how the acronym\u00a0 LGBTQIA+ is marginalizing in itself, as people who identify as trans and a lesbian, for example,\u00a0feel forced to choose one label. Thus, the acronym assumes that each category (each letter) holds\u00a0a distinct place, isolated from the others, making it difficult to identify with multiple groups.\u00a0 However, this should not be the case. Coined the transgender continuum, the authors conclude\u00a0their argument by explaining how this marginalization reflects the dangers of a sexual binary\u00a0system, as well as an exclusive, seemingly contradicting standard for transgender individuals.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This essay is just one of many that challenges commonplace social and political practices,\u00a0opening up readers to the dangers of a complacent acceptance of the perpetuated practices of our\u00a0heteronormative society. Syntactically, the magazine is insightful and thorough, offering additional sources and notes on each topic for continued research. Although it is academic in\u00a0terms of prose and diction, it discusses each topic with a certain comfortability that allows\u00a0 readers to approach the material holistically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alli Armijo \/\/ Blog Writer In 2008, the City University of New York published a magazine issue composed of essays from different academics about gender essentialism in regards to transgender…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-reading","category-opinion","category-reviews","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions\/1766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/undergraduate-students-publishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}