The tyranny of gendered spaces – reflections from beyond the gender dichotomy

Abstract

This article argues critically that the consequences of a binary system of gender norms is experienced as a kind of gender tyranny both for those who transgress gender in their daily lives, but also for those whose lives are lived within such constraints. Feminist geographers and urban theorists have argued that space is gendered and that gendering has profound consequences for women. This article extends this analysis and shows how rigid categorizations of gender fail to include the intersexed and transgendered populations, a small and highly marginalized segment of the wider population. This article uses autoethnographic methods to illustrate the ways that those who transgress gender norms experience a tyranny of gender that shapes nearly every aspect of their public and private lives. The nature of these consequences is explored using citations from the transgender and queer literature as well as the lived experience of this tyranny by the author in a continuum of public to private spaces, including: parking lots, public restrooms, shopping malls, the workplace and the home.

Este artículo sostiene críticamente que las consecuencias de un sistema binario de normas de género, es vivido como una forma de tiranía de género tanto para aquellos que lo transgreden en sus vidas diarias, como para aquellos cuyas vidas son vividas dentro de tales restricciones. Las geógrafas y geógrafos feministas y las teóricas y teóricos de lo urbano han sostenido que el espacio está generizado, y que la generización tiene profundas consecuencias para las mujeres. Este artículo extiende este análisis y muestra cómo las categorizaciones rígidas de género no logran incluir a las poblaciones intersexuadas y transgenerizadas – un pequeño y altamente marginado segmento de la población en general. Este artículo utiliza métodos autoetnográficos para ilustrar las formas en que aquellos que transgreden las normas de género experimentan una tiranía de género que da forma a casi todos los aspectos de sus vidas públicas y privadas. La naturaleza de estas consecuencias es explorada utilizando citas de literatura transgenérica y queer así como la experiencia de esta tiranía vivida por la autora en un continuo de espacios públicos y privados, incluyendo: estacionamientos, baños públicos, centros comerciales, el lugar de trabajo y el hogar.

Keywords:

• transgender
• gender variant
• public space
• queer theory
• autoethnography

Keywords:

• transgénero
• variante de género
• espacio público
• teoría queer
• autoetnografía

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the substantive contributions of Kath Browne, Sally Hines and Catherine Nash whose encouragement and careful critiques helped to hone this article. The article also benefitted from the thoughtful comments and suggestions of the anonymous referees. Finally, the author also wishes to acknowledge the helpful comments of Lori Reid and Margeaux Mutz and the indefatigable support of Elizabeth Kamphausen in sustaining this project.

Notes

1. I had hoped that getting married and fathering two children would silence my gender questioning and anchor my identity as a man, but that is not the way that gender identity works. Though my marriage ended, I remain in close contact with my children and am now in a committed same-sex relationship.

2. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus argued that it is not possible to cross the same river twice, since a river is always in flux and with each step it is no longer the same river as before.

3. I can not be certain whether it was my womanhood that caused the issue or my gender variance, but I am sure it was vastly different from the response I received when I was perceived as a man.