Abstract:
In this study, we examined narratives of childhood gender experiences from queer undergraduate students in a Predominantly Queer Institution (PQI) college. We interviewed 16 students with gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and social class representative of the college community in which it occurred. Using qualitative thematic analysis and examining each theme through narrative analysis, we aim to understand how college students recall their internal experiences, and what meaning they ascribe to interpersonal interactions from childhood. Reflecting on a range of queer childhood experiences, and centering intersectional, decolonial and queer theories, we found five themes. The importance of gender exploration and play in childhood was highlighted by both participants who had access to that space and those who did not until later in life. Additionally, puberty was noted as a crucial turning point. Participants talked about explicit and implicit gender standards and the modes of communicating and policing ‘correct’ gendered behavior. Access to gender-queer descriptive language was seen as important for both self-understanding and communicating identity to others. Finally, participants talked about the dangers of being feminine and how they might adjust or manipulate their gender presentation for safety. Children often show signs of queerness, or have internal awareness of their differences. Any child could be quietly contemplating their gender, and all children should be given the space and support to explore their identities.
In Progress
Abstract:
In this study, we examined how undergraduate students in a small liberal arts college negotiate queerness along with race/ethnicity and class identities during this formative time of their lives. We interviewed 16 students with representative gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and social class. Using qualitative thematic analysis and an inductive epistemological approach, we attended to students’ descriptions of macro, meso, and micro level influences on their identity formation, self-expression, and gender performances. We were particularly interested in how students experience and adapt multiple facets of identity while negotiating contexts with varying degrees of acceptance, including their family home and college campus. Centering the intersectional, decolonial and queer theories, we found support for the importance of representation, acceptance, and normalization for self-expression, openness and freedom.
In Progress
Abstract:
What do institutions and systems that are not cis-centered look like, and how do they affect transgender experiences and perceptions of self? This qualitative study aims to understand both the joyful and stressful experiences of being trans in the relative absence of cis-hetero normative narratives and how centering queer narratives at a Predominantly Queer Institution (PQI) affect one’s perceptions of self through narratives of self-identified trans* and nonbinary college students at a PQI. The PQI provides a space of protection from much of the harm that exists in the outside world, allowing for more complex exploration of identity and a stronger sense of self. This sense of self often diverges from the 'Born This Way' narrative that has been popularized in the cis-normative world. On the other hand, the PQI environment can feel rigid in its understanding of queerness, and result in feelings of not being trans enough, or not fitting in to a platonic ideal.
In Progress