What is a Woman? Trans Inclusion Narratives at Women's Colleges in the United States

• In Event: 052 - Regular Session. Education and Gender: Gendered Transitions out of High School

Abstract

In the Spring of 2013, controversy sparked national interest and debate surrounding women’s colleges, as Smith College declined admittance to Calliope Wong, a transwoman. Since then, Simmons, Mills, and Mount Holyoke Colleges have adapted their admissions policies to be gender inclusive including transwoman and gender non-conforming applicants. Scholarship on gender differences in education, in general, and sociology of education, in particular, have focused on access to, experiences within, and outcomes of education (Jacobs 1996). When it does take such focus, this body of research focuses, traditionally, on binary conceptions of gender - male and female (Bilodeau 2007; Glasser and Smith III 2008). Such recent controversies lead us to investigate the narrative structures of trans student exclusion/inclusions in women’s colleges. Through an investigation of women’s college student newspapers across the United States, we seek to understand the narrative strategies employed by women’s colleges and their students regarding transgendered student application and acceptance. We investigate these patterns by analyzing the engagement with the issue of trans inclusions/exclusions at women’s colleges by analyzing the student newspapers of the 50+ US all-women’s institutions. We illuminate the patterns across these outlets, engage our theoretical understanding of transgender experience, and, offer practical suggestions for institutions of higher education, especially all-women’s colleges, on how to move forward including transgendered students.

Authors

• Megan Nanney, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• David L. Brunsma, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University