Talking back: trans youth and resilience in action

Abstract

In 2015 the Gender Vectors research team received a major research grant to conduct research with and about transgender youth in the Greater Vancouver Area. A unique aspect of this research project involved combining social action research with the development of a prototype of a video game as a knowledge translation tool to depict the life experiences of trans youth. We draw on transformative gender justice theory to document and address the diminished life chances of and the need to promote resilience among trans youth in the region and more broadly, across Canada and the United States. This article provides an overview of the research project and concludes by identifying key insights relating to resiliency that resulted from 15 narrative interviews with transgender youth, focus group meetings with the Project’s Youth Advisory Council, and dialog from an intergenerational workshop for transgender youth and adult care/service providers and allies. These themes informed the creation of the prototype.

Keywords:

• transgender
• youth
• social action research
• resilience
• video game technology
• social inequality

Acknowledgements

This article reports on a (2015-2019) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded project. We also received funding for this research from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, and the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University.

Notes

1 Jacob von Uexkull was a German biologist who argued that our knowledge about any living creature can only be understood by studying their umwelten or ‘self-worlds’

2 For an analysis of social justice and gaming, see Gray & Leonard, 2018. For examples of games, see Third World Farmer: a simulation to make you think! http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com; Darfur is dying http://www.darfurisdying.com/; SOS slaves: changing the trafficking game, http://www.sosslaves.org/

3 See Dys4ia, http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/591565; Transitory, http://aliendovecote.com/uploads/twine/others/transitory.html

4 See Queen at Arms; One Night Hot Springs and A Closed World, https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26898915-Trans-tastic-Games/

5 Character avatars in the prototype remain undeveloped due to the cost involved. Developers purchased models from Unity platform which is very limited. We are in the process of applying for major grants to provide adequate funds to develop multiple scenes with appropriate racial and body-type diversity.

6 Self-defined

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Travers

Ann Travers, Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Simon Fraser University

Jennifer Marchbank

Jennifer Marchbank, Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University

Nadine Boulay

Nadine Boulay, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University

Sharalyn Jordan

Sharalyn Jordan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University

Kathleen Reed

Kathleen Reed, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University