How to do gender with names

The name changes of trans individuals as performative speech acts

Bibliographic Data

ID18945682
AuthorsMiriam Lind (0000-0002-2314-7641, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume12
Issue1
Pages1-22
Publication date2023-02-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Language and Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2211-3770 • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/jls.21002.lin
OpenAlexW4319793565
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited12

Most trans people change their name in accordance to their gender in the process of transitioning. The decision for a new name can take place at any stage during an individual’s exploration of their identity, typically coming into use when the individual comes out to others and asks to be addressed with this new name. Whether or not this new name is accepted and adopted by others is not only a matter of time, but correlates to the acceptance of the “new” gender and thus of a person’s right to change their name. This article offers an analysis of trans name change announcements as performative speech acts and analyses the reactions to this name change, i.e. the acceptance or refusal of this new name, in relation to the speech act’s felicity conditions

Aesthetics · Linguistics · Performative utterance · Semantic change · Speech act · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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