Men in Place: Trans Masculinity, Race, and Sexuality in America

Description

Daring new theories of masculinity, built from a large and geographically diverse interview study of transgender men American masculinity is being critiqued, questioned, and reinterpreted for a new era. In Men in Place Miriam J. Abelson makes an original contribution to this conversation through in-depth interviews with trans men in the U.S. West, Southeast, and Midwest, showing how the places and spaces men inhabit are fundamental to their experiences of race, sexuality, and gender. Men in Place explores the shifting meanings of being a man across cities and in rural areas. Here Abelson develops the insight that individual men do not have one way to be masculine—rather, their ways of being men shift between different spaces and places. She reveals a widespread version of masculinity that might be summed up as “strong when I need to be, soft when I need to be,” using the experiences of trans men to highlight the fundamental construction of manhood for all men. With an eye to how societal institutions promote homophobia, transphobia, and racism, Men in Place argues that race and sexuality fundamentally shape safety for men, particularly in rural spaces, and helps us to better understand the ways that gender is created and enforced. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Introduction: “I Don’t Have One Way to Be”......Page 10 1 Masculinities in Space: Thugs, Rednecks, and Faggy Men......Page 34 2 One Is Not Born a Man: Social Recognition and Situated Gendered Knowledges......Page 68 3 “Strong When I Need to Be, Soft When I Need to Be”: Situated Emotional Control and Masculinities......Page 98 4 Geography of Violence: Spatial Fears and the Reproduction of Inequality......Page 134 5 Institutional Contexts of Violence: Heterosexism and Cissexism in Everyday Spaces......Page 164 Conclusion: Contemporary Masculinities and Transgender Politics......Page 202 Acknowledgments......Page 216 Appendix A: Interviewee Demographics......Page 220 Appendix B: A Note on Methodology......Page 224 Notes......Page 228 B......Page 262 C......Page 263 E......Page 264 F......Page 265 G......Page 266 H......Page 267 I......Page 268 M......Page 269 N......Page 271 P......Page 272 R......Page 274 S......Page 276 T......Page 277 V......Page 280 Z......Page 281