Document Type
Honors Thesis
Major
Communication
Advisor(s)
Liliana L. Herakova
Committee Members
Jordan LaBouff, Jessica Miller, Nathan Stormer
Graduation Year
May 2023
Publication Date
Spring 2023
Abstract
Our society needs to talk about gender, but we aren’t very good at it. Avoiding these discussions has harmful impacts on body image and various health disparities (The Trevor Project, 2020). What if we have better and regular conversations about ways we can positively experience gender? This study’s model of negotiating gender can be used by families and educators seeking affirming exploratory learning opportunities. Insights into meanings of gender euphoria help validate diverse sets of experiences, informing a broader cultural discourse that increasingly questions gender binarism (Griffin, 2020).
This study explores conceptualizations and enactment of gender euphoria across demographics and contexts. Gender euphoria, one’s sense of gender belonging and fulfillment, offers a resistive approach to pathologizing gender (Benestad, 2010). Understanding gender as socially constructed communicative performances, 27 individuals were interviewed, including 9 healthcare professionals. Analysis followed a qualitative grounded theory approach, with findings offering healthcare and mundane practices for discussing gender.
Results show that patients and providers generally view gender as non-medically relevant, despite participants valuing negotiating gender in healthcare. Thus, gender is erased in clinical interactions, possibly believed to be a “self-managed” aspect of health. The disconnect between desired conversations and perceived relevance highlights a need for general healthcare to be reframed in terms of wellness, not only illness or crisis. Relatedly, in everyday life, participants’ conceptualization of gender euphoria was informed by self-exploration and exposure to non-mainstream histories and identities. It referred to their sense of autonomy, alignment, and affirmation, encapsulating both episodic experiences and states of being.
Rights and Access Note
Copyright 2023 Wind All Rights Reserved
Recommended Citation
Wind, Willow, "Imagining Gender Euphorias" (2023). Honors College. 814.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/814
Included in
Health Communication Commons, Health Services Research Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Medical Humanities Commons, Medical Pathology Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons