cultural terms (“crossing cultures from male to female is big; it highlights some of the differences between men and women, and some of the similarities too” (2000, xii)) and in psychological terms (as migration, growing up, self-discovery” (2000, xiii)). Roen “change, (2002) describes the act of crossing as a political one, moving from one defined and exclusive group to another. As one crosses, in trans- theorizing, many trans- people express concern about A trans- person is said to have when the people around them in a given “passing.” “passed” social or professional situation believe that they are of the biological sex which they see themselves as/understand themselves to be/have changed their physical appearance to resemble. A trans- person that may to some may not to others, or someone may “pass” “pass” be able to in a distant or sterile work environment where they would not be able to “pass” in an intimate setting. “pass” The idea of changing defined groups is not new in IR; people change religions and state citizenships frequently, even as we think that those matter pretty fundamentally in defining international conflicts. People sides of wars and conflicts (like those people seeking ‘cross’ peace in Israel/Palestine despite their governments’ behaviors, or, more explicitly, Prussia’s changing sides in the Napoleonic Wars). Though IR speaks of it less, people also cross ethnic groups and castes (Dirks 2001). For example, some of the leading perpetrators of the ‘Hutu’ Rwandan genocide had been born to Tutsi parents, but become accepted into the of ‘tribe’ Hutus, even when acceptance or rejection was a question of life or death (e.g., Landesman 2002). At the same time, IR often cannot account for the process, logic, or consequences of these crossings between seemingly un-crossable divides.
cultural terms (“crossing cultures from male to female is big; it highlights some of the differences between men and women, and some of the similarities too” (2000, xii)) and in psychological terms (as “change, migration, growing up, self-discovery” (2000, xiii)). Roen (2002) describes the act of crossing as a political one, moving from one defined and exclusive group to another. As one crosses, in trans- theorizing, many trans- people express concern about “passing.” A trans- person is said to have “passed” when the people around them in a given social or professional situation believe that they are of the biological sex which they see themselves as/understand themselves to be/have changed their physical appearance to resemble. A trans- person that may “pass” to some may not “pass” to others, or someone may be able to “pass” in a distant or sterile work environment where they would not be able to “pass” in an intimate setting. The idea of changing defined groups is not new in IR; people change religions and state citizenships frequently, even as we think that those matter pretty fundamentally in defining international conflicts. People ‘cross’ sides of wars and conflicts (like those people seeking peace in Israel/Palestine despite their governments’ behaviors, or, more explicitly, Prussia’s changing sides in the Napoleonic Wars). Though IR speaks of it less, people also cross ethnic groups and castes (Dirks 2001). For example, some of the leading ‘Hutu’ perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide had been born to Tutsi parents, but become accepted into the ‘tribe’ of Hutus, even when acceptance or rejection was a question of life or death (e.g., Landesman 2002). At the same time, IR often cannot account for the process, logic, or consequences of these crossings between seemingly un-crossable divides.
Sjoberg.Towards%20Transgendering%20IR.docx