Sexual violence and safety: the narratives of transwomen in online forums.

An online forum analysis was conducted to explore experiences of sexual violence and safety among transwomen, with a particular focus on transwomen of colour. Four online forums were chosen for the analysis. Three key themes were identified: dating and violence in intimate relationships; fear of violence and safety strategies; and coping after sexual assault. Forum posters faced heightened gender policing and scrutiny, due to not conforming to normative ideals of femininity. Femininity was also predicated on white, middle-class status, and associated with domesticity and romance. As a result, expressions of femininity from non-white backgrounds could be read as deviant or excessive. The intersection of deviation from gender norms and femininity based on whiteness meant that transwomen of colour faced disproportionate levels of violence, both in public and private spaces. Transwomen of colour also faced disadvantage due to participation in higher-risk forms of sex work, low socioeconomic status and employment, and institutional discrimination. Coping mechanisms to deal with cumulative disadvantage included seeking support from health professionals and transgender community networks. However, it also included more harmful forms of self-medicating such as heavy alcohol and drug use, self-harm and suicide attempts.

Embodying Transgender: An Analysis of Trans Women in Online Forums.

This paper discusses the way that trans women embody their transgender identity, focusing on identity questioning, gender dysphoria, clinical gatekeeping and medicalized narratives. Situated within the hermeneutics methodological approach, we adopted the unobtrusive research as our research method, where data was derived from online forums where trans women posted content about their perspectives and experiences of gender and gender transitioning. Thematic analysis method was used for data analysis. Our findings suggest that gender identity is embodied and socially negotiated. Many trans women were initially ambivalent about their transgender identity and some continued to question their desired identity throughout adulthood. When presenting to healthcare professionals many trans women reported being expected to adopt a 'wrong body' narrative in order to gain access to treatment and surgery for gender transitioning and affirmation. In doing so, trans women interact with significant others and health care providers, and face many challenges. These challenges must be understood so that trans women can perform self-determination practices as a way to achieve gender autonomy.