Grace Under Glass: A Life-Span Narrative Analysis of the Sounds of Transgender Identity Construction

• In Event: Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: Issues of Identity Navigation and Construction Among Queer Youth

Abstract

Narratives of transgender people have been studied to some extent, but not in depth across the lifespan. In this article, I feature a study of a transgender woman named Grace. Using a lifespan approach, Grace narrated her life experiences as a transgender child, youth and adult. Drawing from critical discourse studies, transgender identity and discourse, and narrative construction of self, I analyze her texts. My findings focus on six categories of transgender discourses from Grace’s narratives. In the conclusion of the article I discuss how the findings from this analysis add to scholarship on transgender identities. I confirm the importance of trans-affirmative language in private and public sector spaces where professionals interact with transgender people across the lifespan.

Author

• Kathryn G. O'Brien, University of Missouri