Lost in Transition? Digital trans activism on Youtube

Bibliographic Data

ID20508190
AuthorsIolanda Tortajada (0000-0002-9310-652X, Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Cilia Willems (0000-0002-8272-498X, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, corresponding author), Lucas Platero (0000-0002-7196-6983, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona), Núria Araüna (0000-0002-1997-2833, Universitat Rovira i Virgili)
Year2021
Volume24
Issue8
Pages1091-1107
Publication date2021-06-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Communication & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369118x.2020.1797850
OpenAlexW3046034155
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited37

This article intends to contribute to a novel research area - the construction of critical transgender narratives on Youtube – examining how some Spanish trans youtubers shift the focus from the ‘fleshy metamorphosis’ [Barnett, J. T. (2015). Fleshy metamorphosis: Temporal pedagogies of transsexual counterpublics. In L. G. Spencer & J. C. Capuzza (Eds.), Transgender communication studies: Histories, trends, and trajectories (pp. 155–172). Lexington], to becoming trans ‘media-bodies’ [Raun,T. (2010). Screen-births: Exploring the transformative potential intrans video blogs on YouTube. Graduate Journal of Social Science, 7(2), 113–130]. We examine the channel Lost in Transition, by Spanish transgender advocate Elsa Ruiz Cómica. In contrast to other trans youtubers, who focus mostly on ‘passing’ as the ultimate trans achievement, Elsa creates alternative narratives. We will argue that her practices emerge as a new political subject, disobedient to the legal and biomedical framing of transgenderism as a disorder. Our main conclusion is that Youtube is a site of ‘digital trans activism’ [Raun, T. (2016). Out online. Trans self-representation and community building on YouTube. Routledge.], where non-binary youtubers can perform the nonconforming subaltern body [Platero, R. L., & Rosón, M. (2019). ‘Neithermale or female; just Falete’: Resistance and queerness on Spanish TV screens. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 11(1), 135–143. doi:10.1386/cjcs.11.1.135_1] that would otherwise be invisible. This has implications for the public debate on transrights, as it lifts the issue of transition out of the medical sphere and puts it at the center of abroader cultural debate on gender identity

Art · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Sociology · Subaltern · Transformative learning · Transgender · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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