Enslaved by one's body? Gender, citizenship and the 'wrong body' narrative

Bibliographic Data

ID4525367
AuthorsPaddy Mcqueen (0000-0001-9696-8654, Queen's University Belfast, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume18
Issue5
Pages533-548
Publication date2014-07-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621025.2014.923705
OpenAlexW1980254951
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited35

This paper uses the concepts of slavery, citizenship, the body and political subjectivity to interrogate how gendered bodies are produced, regulated and normalised. It explores the ‘wrong body’ claim within transsexual narratives to analyse how we can be enslaved by/to our body. The coercive force of embodied existence is demonstrated by examining how gender norms act on us through our bodies, thus identifying the body as a major conduit of power. It argues that the ‘wrong body’ claim must be understood as a discursive construction that is rendered possible by established gender norms and practices, which place heavy restrictions on the available actions of individuals. These norms and practices are linked to the normalising processes of becoming an acceptable citizen. It is argued that the enslaving effects of embodiment can be mitigated through constructing alternative narratives of gender based upon performativity and fluidity. Such alternative gender narratives are used to contest and disrupt the meaning of the acceptable citizen, thus opening up new claims for citizenship and new forms of embodied subjectivity. These narratives are then used to critique the medical community's understanding and treatment of transsexuality, which is itself a site of coercion and normalisation.Keywords:: gendertranssexualityidentityembodimentcitizenship AcknowledgementsMy sincere thanks to Raia Prokhovnik and the journal's anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier drafts of the paper.Notes1. These are, of course, constructed and contested categories and their boundaries are fluid. The description of each is not intended to be – and cannot be – exhaustive or definitive but rather a way of preparing the ground for my main argument.2. For discussions of the concept of citizenship see Kymlicka and Norman (Citation1994, Citation2000). Okin (Citation1992), Young (Citation1989) and Lister (Citation1997) provide useful feminist critiques of citizenship. For the idea of substantive citizenship, see Isin and Wood (Citation1999) and Isin (Citation2008).3. The feminist reading of this has typically shown how the male was associated with the mind, which represented reason and truth, whereas the woman was associated with the body, which represented passion and also a degree of mystery (to be treated suspiciously). Naturally, the (male) mind was privileged over the (female) body – hence the classic Cartesian image of the disembodied rational ego. Useful feminist discussions of the body include de Beauvoir ([Citation1949] 1972), Lloyd (Citation1984), Jaggar and Bordo (Citation1992), Grosz (Citation1994) and Young (Citation2005).4.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/14/gay-claim-ejected-pub-kissing (accessed August 18, 2013).5. For an excellent discussion of the how the body is taken to represent the true self see Heyes (Citation2007).6. I am grateful to a reviewer of a previous draft for suggesting the example of forced gender reassignment surgery in Iran. Within Iranian law, homosexuality is punishable by death and thus it seems that some homosexual men are choosing (possibly in a loose sense of the word) to undergo gender reassignment so that they can live with their male partner as a women. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7259057.stm (accessed August 12, 2013).7. It is worth noting that feminism's critical view of the medical community and its understanding of gender is often shared by trans-individuals (Davy Citation2011)

Aesthetics · Citizenship · CONTEST · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Narrative · Performativity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Subjectivity · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Philosophy

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