Intersectional Identities and Conceptions of the Self: The Experience of Transgender People

Kylan Mattias de Vries

Social Science, Policy, and Culture Southern Oregon University
Transgender people in the United States change genders in relation to androcentric, heterocentric, and middle-class whitenormative cultural narratives. Drawing on ethnographic data primarily with transgender people of color, I analyze the ways in which gender, race, social class, and sexuality all combine to create specic background identitiesintersected identity frameswhich others attribute in interaction. We can better understand these intersected identity frames through the experiences of transgender people, who actively engage in identity management. The meanings others attach to specic combinations are foregrounded in the context of transitioning; some audiences employ dominant, white cultural narratives, while others draw upon ethnic cultural narratives. In all cases, transitioning throws the multi-dimensionality of intersected identity frames into sharp relief against the background of intersecting social and cultural structural arrangements. Keywords: transgender, intersectionality, whitenormativity, race, gender identity

I never thought about being an interracial couple before...like it wasnt a problem [before I transitioned] because everyone read me as white. Scout (a working-class Latino/white queer transman)

The process of developing a sense of self not only involves individuals self-concepts, but also others perceptions of them and whether or not these align. In the case of transgender individuals (transpeople), their gender self-concept may not match what others assign to them; thus, others conrmation (often referred to as passing) is a powerful force. For many transpeople who make use of hormones and/or surgeries to transition (change genders), the resulting changes in physical features signicantly impact how others perceive them and often further their ability to pass as the new gender. However, socialization into a new gender also includes learning the various ways that race, social class, and sexuality inform the meanings others
Direct all correspondence to Kylan Mattias de Vries, Department of Social Sciences, Policy, and Culture Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, OR 97520; e-mail: devriesk@sou.edu.

Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 35, Issue 1, pp. 4967, ISSN: 0195-6086 print/1533-8665 online. 2012 Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1002/SYMB.2

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draw upon in relation to their gender presentation. Race, class, gender, and sexuality combine in specic ways such that others attribute these various combinations to transpeople in interaction, therefore inuencing how transpeople see themselves. This can unexpectedly complicate the emergence of the new self through transition. Drawing on ethnographic data primarily with transpeople of color, I analyze the intersected identity frames, or the ways that race, social class, gender, and sexuality all intersect to create specic background identities that others attribute to individuals to frame their interaction (Goffman 1974). We can better understand these intersected identity frames through the post-transition experiences of transpeople who engage in identity management. The meanings others attach to specic combinations are foregrounded in the context of transitioning, and these interactions take place in a larger context as well; some interactions occur with others who employ dominant, white cultural narratives, while other audiences draw upon ethnic cultural narratives. In all cases, transitioning throws the multi-dimensionality of enacted identity into sharp relief against the background of intersecting social and cultural structural arrangements. This article also demonstrates an intersectional analysis that illustrates the complexity of these frames, the resourcefulness of social actors, and how these frames are enacted in social interaction. The focus of this research is to examine the lived experience of transpeople in relation to changing, experiencing, and performing multiple intersecting identities. My ndings may not apply to all self-identied transpeople. However, this research gives insight into the ways the transpeople I interviewed experience and perform multiple dimensions of identity. Through the stories of their experiences, we also garner information on the ways people more broadly draw upon dominant and ethnic cultural denitions to attribute specic intersected identity frames to each other in interaction. Researchers have utilized transpeople as key informants in the examination of the social construction of gender (e.g., Kessler and McKenna 1978; Lorber 1994; Valentine 2007; for a sampling see Stryker and Whittle 2006) and gender identity (see Dozier 2005; Gagne, Tewksbury and McGaughey 1997; Garnkel 1967; Kessler and McKenna 1978; Mason-Schrock 1996; Rubin 2003); however, scholars have yet to fully consider the other dimensions of identity that transitioning can make salient and/or problematic. To date, research on transpeople is mostly composed of data gathered from white, middle-class individuals; when transpeople of color are included, the focus still remains on gender (Stryker 2006). More recently, some scholars have interrogated the signicance of intersecting social identities, such as race, sexuality, class, height, and age (Dozier 2005; Koyama 2006; Schilt 2006). Dozier (2005) makes a key contribution to our understanding about the connection between gender and the body and the ways the sex (male/female) attributed by others onto a transperson affects the social interaction by inuencing how others perceive and thus gender their behavior. While Schilt (2006) focuses on the workplace, she expands Doziers ndings and notes how other markers (e.g., race, height, age, and sexuality) intersect with gender. These markers inuence

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the social identity attributed to a transperson and the ways others change their interactions and meanings attributed to behaviors. Both Dozier and Schilt highlight the importance of interrogating whiteness and further exploring intersectional analysis when considering gender. My ndings further support those of Dozier and Schilt and demonstrate the impact of others attributions to interaction. Most participants in this study shared their initial surprise in discovering the inuence of others changing perceptions of their race, class, and sexuality in relation to their gendered social identity. Another unexpected shift was in how these intersections changed their social visibilitythe extent to which others acknowledged their presenceand how they learned to incorporate, manage, and/or challenge this. The self, or an individuals overarching self-concept, is composed of numerous identities. Snow and Anderson (1987) conceptualize these as social identitieswhat others attribute to individuals to situate themand personal identitiesa persons self-meanings or self-image. Identity is a negotiation process (Altheide 2000). An individual may or may not self-identify with the imposed social identity; nevertheless, they learn to manage (Goffman 1959, 1963) or negotiate (Strauss 1978) it. Moreover, master narratives from the dominant group inuence aspects of identity that others attribute to individuals (including transpeople) and themselves in interaction (McCorkel and Myers 2003). The social structural systems of gender, race, and class develop in relation to each other and affect individual understandings about gender, racial, and class identities (Butler 2003; Glenn 1999). Some scholars argue that gender is more than a social or personal identity; gender attribution serves as an anchor or background identity (Ridgeway and Correll 2004; Stone 1962; West and Zimmerman 1987). The perceived gender (social identity) of the other in relation to the perceived gender of oneself inuences interaction (Fausto-Sterling 2000; Kessler and McKenna 1978; Thorne 1997). Howard (2000) challenges this single dimensions of social identities approach, since it fails to account for the ways femininity and masculinity are hierarchical, dened as white, middle class, and heterosexual in the United States (Collins 2000; Connell 2005; Goffman 1963). Some scholars argue that racial identity is a master status (Hughes 1945), particularly for non-whites in the United States. Omi and Winant (1994) illustrate how others draw on meanings attached to physical appearance in order to attribute racial identity to individuals. Stryker (1980) suggests certain identities, like racial identity, are more salient in given situations. This creates some conict. For instance, scholars dispute whether gender identity or racial identity is more salient for women of color. Many black feminist scholars directly oppose this either/or thinking, and suggest that women of color experience both/and, multiple oppressions/jeopardies, or intersectionality; they experience a racialized gendered identity in interaction (Collins 2000; Crenshaw 1991; Glenn 1999). Purdie-Vaughns and Elbach outline a model of intersectional invisibility, a phenomenon resulting from ethnocentrism, androcentrism, and heterocentrism:

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three ideologies in which a dominant groups perspective and experience achieves hegemony, becoming dened as the social standard (2008:38081). With this in mind, I argue that individuals draw upon ideologies of the dominant group, and within specic cases ethnic cultural narratives, construct intersected identity frames which they attribute to others in interaction. All of these dimensions of social structure and identity are interrelated, and the way these combine and the meanings of these combinations are all inuenced by hegemonic narratives. In what follows, I consider the range of intersected identity frames attributed by others to transpeople. First, however, I briey discuss my research methods.

METHODS
As an active member in various online transgender communities and a previous participant in local transgender groups, I hold what Loand et al. (2006) term an insider role. Upon receiving approval, I began snowball sampling to recruit participants via conferences, online groups, and word of mouth. In order to gain access to spaces specic to transpeople of color and to reach stealth individuals (where others are unaware the person has transitioned), the call for participants included a full disclosure of my social location (a white queer working-class transguy raised in Canada) and my research interest in learning about the experience of transpeople of color. I also provided opportunities for potential participants to ask me about my research agenda and ask personal questions about my life. Often, the questions I received were based on countering bad experiences with other research projects; this is similar to Westons (2004) experience while studying lesbian and gay communities. I believe my openness to personal questions and my shared transgender identity made a difference in not only establishing rapport, but also in helping people feel more comfortable contributing. Additionally, several participants expressed their interest because this project dealt specically with transpeople of color. This study is part of a broader project based on extensive ethnographic data collected during 2005 to 2009 from self-identied transpeople, primarily of color, in the United States. My eldwork entailed traveling to the Southern, Midwestern, Western, and Southwestern states to conduct face-to-face interviews and attend conferences. The language used by participants is diverse and reects their unique self-concepts and the range of language and meanings within different communities. I attempt to be true to these distinctions while still emphasizing commonalities; therefore, Table 1 presents participants identiers using their language. The data include thirty-one in-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interviews, and hundreds of hours of informal interviews and participant observation at conferences, social activities, planning committees, and numerous online groups. The formal interviews lasted from one to three and a half hours and were conducted in a place chosen by the participant, ranging from individuals homes, to restaurants, to vehicles. My interview techniques varied but primarily included a conversational approach, open and closed questions, and interviewing by comment (Snow,

TABLE 1. Demographics of Participants

Sexuality Fluid Fluid Fluid Fluid Hetero Hetero Fluid Fluid Gay/uid College 41 7 Undergrad 38 15 AA MBA 44 33 1 3 MA 26 822 Hormones, surgeries Hormones, top surgery Hormones, top surgery Hormones Hormones PhD 47 410 Hormones, surgeries College 43 10 Hormones BA 52 7 Hormones MBA 39 9 Hormones, surgeries Management Retired Writer Nonprot Unemployed Graphic designer In Fortune 500 Student Church Education Age Yrs Out Medicalization Occupation

Pseudonym

Ethnosexual gender

Josie

Ebonyqueen

Intersectional Identities

Katrice

Jean

Jackie

Trent Jake

Chance

Joe

Romello Attracted to men Gay/uid Queer/uid Hetero/uid Hetero/uid Queer/uid BA Trade school Some college BA Undergrad 21 21 46 33 28 Grad school 28

Fluid

AA

24

2 5 13 2 5 4 7

Starting hormones Hormones Hormones

Nonprot Student Writer Student Hormones, top surgery Hormones, top surgery Took hormones for 1 year Software industry Mechanic Nonprot

Thoth

Andreas Bazil

Steve Alejandro Dexter

Middle-class, African American woman Middle-class, African American woman Middle-class, African American woman Middle-class, African American woman Middle-class, African American woman, intersex Working-class, Black man Upper middle-class, African American man Working-class, Black transguy Working-class, Black transguy, female-bodied man Working-class, African American man Working-class, Black FTM, Tboi Poor, African American man Working-class, Black/Native American queer transPOC Middle-class, Black man Working-class, Latino Working-class, Latino/white FTM

53

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TABLE 1. Continued
Sexuality Hetero Queer/uid Two-spirit Queer/uid Hetero/uid Grad school 39 915 Hormones, top surgery some college 24 5 Hormones, top surgery Tech School 28 3 Hormones, top surgery Electrician Farm coop Trade worker In law school BA 29 31 5 2 Hormones, top surgery Hormones Court investigator Artist Education Age Yrs Out Medicalization Occupation

Pseudonym

Ethnosexual gender

Jacobo Dante

BennyBoy

Diego

Lance

Morgan Queer/uid undergrad 23 4

Transdyke

BA

23

Hormones Hormones, top surgery

Student Student

Scout

Craig Henry Lesbian Bisexual Bi (more hetero) Lesbian Questioning/queer Fluid BA/BS Masters Some college BA/BS 35 22 25 49 BA/BS 36 12+ 512 6 2 10 College 22 26

Queer/uid Queer/uid

Grad school Grad school

32 25

14+ 2

Hormones, top surgery Hormones, top surgery Hormones Hormones, surgeries Hormones, surgeries Hormones, bottom surgery Hormones Hormones, surgeries

Student Student Entrepreneur Engineer Unemployeed Engineer Consultant Engineer

Remrie

Miranda

Amber

Laura

Symbolic Interaction Volume 35, Number 1, 2012

Elle Nici

Middle-class, Latino Upper middle-class, South East Asian guy, transguy Working-class, Bakla (Filipino/Puerto Rican) Working-class, Puerto Rican & white FTM Working-class, Mixed-heritage (Native American, Lakota, white) intersex man Middle-class, Multi-racial (white & Chicana) Working-class, Multi-racial (Cuban, white-Jewish) genderqueer transman Working-class, white transmale Upper middle-class, white transman Poor, white transgender woman Middle-class, Korean (rst gen) woman, intersex Middle-class, Chinese (fourth gen) female Upper middle-class, Asian female Middle-class, Chinese female Middle-class, Chinese feminine

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Zurcher and Sjoberg 1982). My engagement of humor and sharing of personal information and resources assisted in building rapport. Although I brought an interview guide, I maintained exibility and included time for participants to move beyond the initial scope of my questions. This allowed me to better understand the lived experiences of each participant. I was interested in transpeoples identity workthe processes of creating meanings they attributed to themselves and others. Therefore, I asked participants how they constructed their conceptions of self and identity and how they addressed specic interactions with others. My interview guide focused on ve broad areas: self-identication; interactions with family and friends; perceptions, experiences, and presentation of self in relation to interactions with others (i.e., acquaintances, strangers); perceptions, experiences, and presentation of self in relation to specic communities (e.g., religious, transgender, academic, cultural); and perceptions, experiences, and presentation of self in relation to the medical community. I began my analysis by open coding through which I identied common concepts, themes, and issues with my research questions in mind. I took memos about my processes in terms of coding, theorizing, and analyzing (Strauss and Corbin 1990). Loand et al. emphasize the importance for qualitative researchers to memo about various coding categories and their interconnections, [as well as] . . . procedures and eldwork experiences (2006:209). Based on early emerging themes, I expanded my research by engaging in theoretical sampling (Strauss 1987). For instance, given the low initial response from Asian American transpeople, I identied several blogs of people who identied as trans and Asian American (Chinese American, Korean American, Japanese American, etc.) and emailed them directly with the call. I then engaged in a more focused coding (Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw 1995); this entailed using initial codes to create categories and subcategories. I compared these categories against each other to examine connections between them and explore the commonalities of transpeoples lived experiences. Interview participants include twelve predominately middle-class transwomen (individuals assigned male sex markers at birth, but who now identify as women, whether or not they have undergone hormone therapy and/or surgery), who were out (acknowledged) seven years on average, and nineteen mostly working-class transmen (individuals assigned female sex markers at birth, but who now identify as men), who were out an average of four and a half years. Participants are racially and ethnically diverse; they include thirteen black, two Latina/o, ve Asian American, one South East Asian, seven bi/multi-racial, and three white transpeople. Their ages range from twenty-one to fty-two with an average of thirty-two, and all had some college education (most participants had at least a bachelor degree). All but three participants indicate that their sexuality is uid or queer. This is due in part to their bodies not aligning with the gender with which they identify (e.g., a transman still having a vagina1 ); however, this is also a response to an understanding of the complexities of language and their acknowledgement of being attracted to a variety of types of people.

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Two participants identied as poor, thirteen as working class, twelve as middle class, and four as upper middle class. Although a couple participants in their early twenties still identied with their family class status, the remaining based their class identication on their education level and nancial resources. Most participants easily identied their class status; however, in a few cases, participants were unsure if they would be classied as middle- or working class; this resulted in a dialogue about class status in the United States. I relied on Erdmans (2004), who denes the contemporary working class in the United States as those who typically obtain a high school education, often with some college or vocational education, earn over minimum wage, and, in healthy economies, live above the poverty line. In contrast, middle-class individuals tend to receive higher education, work in professional elds, and hold greater powereconomic power, political power (supervising the behavior of workers), and ideological power (dening the meaning of behavior, e.g., labeling manual work as undesirable) (p. 53). I veried that these denitions aligned with participants who self-identied as a specic class. The cultural narratives linking race with class signicantly inuenced participants intersected identity frame. For instance, others attributing a Latina/o social identity onto a participant entailed an assumption of them being working class. In what follows, I examine intersected identity frames in some detail. I begin by illustrating the racial and ethnic expectations within cultural narratives and how these intersect with gender, class, and sexuality. Next, I explore and examine the effects of these attributed intersected identity frames on transpeoples social identities.

CULTURAL NARRATIVES: LEARNING RACIAL AND ETHNIC EXPECTATIONS

Most participants felt it vital to learn specic racial and ethnic cultural expectations and meanings that others attached to their new social location, particularly the intersected identity frames others would attribute within certain racial/ethnic groups/communities and how social class and sexuality intersect with these understandings. Amber (a middle-class fourth-generation Chinese American bisexual transwoman) addressed her concerns about cultural differences within Asian communities, how familial expectations were a major issue, and the notion that rebelling against your culture or community is not an option. For Amber, what qualied as rebelling changed upon transitioning. Each ethnic culture denes its members by specic intersected identity frames, so for transpeople, this entails learning to negotiate both dimensions of what people now expect. Furthermore, the type of intersected identity frame others applied to them in specic cultural groups occasionally differed from those in the dominant culture, so learning about these differences, when to expect them, and how to respond to such different attributions were important in legitimizing ones gender. Below, I discuss some of the cultural narratives around intersected identity frames.

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Ethnically Gendered Expectations and Interactions

Interestingly, most of the black transwomen in this study state they are moving up in the African American community (Josie, a middle-class African American transwoman). They share their experience of being taken more seriously in the black community. After hearing this, I asked the black transmen if they experienced the opposite in black communities. They uniformly replied that they did not experience a loss of status or rank (later I address how this experience differed within dominant culture). This may be due to a few factors: rst, the black transwomen were older and transitioned on average nine years prior, while the black transmen were newer to transitioning (and had spent less time living as black men). Second, upon transitioning, black transwomen gained access and participated in women-only spaces (e.g., beauty parlors). In general, access to specic culturally gendered spaces often contributed to a transpersons legitimation. Participation in these spaces conveyed others acceptance of the intersected identity they were presenting. In addition to access to spaces, several transmen who were active in womens communities prior to transitioning experienced a sense of loss of access to womens spaces, although they did express feeling a need to let it go. This sense of loss is often in relation to transmen occupying a former lesbian or queer identity and being denied access to womens spaces upon transitioning.2 Culturally gendered expectations also factor into loss of womens spaces. Several Latino transmen feel conicting emotions over the change in gender roles within the Latino community and, more specically, within their families. For instance, Jacobo (middle-class Latino transman) shared: In the Latino community, at dinner, its the woman that serves the food, its the woman that prepares the food, its the woman that cleans up the dishes. Both Jacobo and Dexter indicate that when they made efforts to help out in the kitchen they were told by the men, You dont have to anymore, and by women, You dont belong in the kitchen anymore. This change in access to space also involves respecting womens spaces: If a bunch of women are sitting around talking, you dont go over to the area and sit down (Jacobo). This is consistent with research on Latina/Latino gender relations in the family which highlights the cultural rigidity and adherence to gender difference (Mirande 1977; Ray 2005; Stevens 1973). These ethnic cultural narratives limit the options available to Jacobo and Dexter in constructing and managing their new identities. Becoming a man of color entails specic types of interactions with other men of color. Diego (a working-class Puerto Rican/white transman) experienced being called cousin or brother (e.g., Majors and Billson 1992). Furthermore, Jake (an upper middle-class African American man) learned to interact in specic ways with black men:
In the African American community theres this whole other ritual of how you breathe, how you do that chest thing when you grab hands and sort of come together, and sort of stay, and then move in, so thats another thing, another layer that I now have to master.

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This is similar for Jacobo in the Latino community. Even for transpeople who maintain the same racial identity upon transitioning, the racial/ethnic meanings others attach to their gender are signicant and often vary from dominant, white cultural expectations. Jacobo explains how other Latinos treat him now: They give you your place as another male Latino, they wouldnt do that to another female. Similar to ethnically gendered expectations, others employ and challenge dominant cultural narratives around intersected identity frames.

Gender Expectations and Dominant Cultural Narratives

The meanings and types of femininity and masculinity attributed by others onto transpeople vary by cultural group, social class, and regional location. Connell (1987) argues that femininities and masculinities are not xed or linear; they are concurrently a product and producer of history. This is not to imply that each culture holds only one type of femininity and masculinity. In all cultures, there are a set of hierarchies which are inuenced by other social factors. Within a given culture, an emphasized femininity and hegemonic masculinity are at the top of the hierarchy and set the standards to which all other femininities and masculinities are compared (Collins 2000; Connell 1987). Thus, only a distinct minority qualies as truly feminine or masculine, and in the West, this is dened as white, middle class, heterosexual, and in contrast to all others (Connell 1987; Goffman 1963). The white transpeople in this study felt social class and sexuality play a more signicant role in their gender than race. For instance, Craig (a working-class white transman) discussed how shifting from middle- to working class and the change in social circles altered his denitions about masculinity. In his case, white workingclass masculinity entailed meanings of family connection, protection of [white] women, and a willingness to ght. It is important to analyze the ways that whiteness is tied to gender, social class, and sexuality even though it may not be directly experienced by those maintaining a perceived white identity as they transition (see Lewis 2004). This is most apparent in Lances (a working-class Lakota/white transman) experience in gaining a white identity as he transitioned. [R]ace is a construction . . . .cause if you can look at me and tell me Im completely white, well thats interesting, because you constructed for yourself what white looks like. The meanings others attach to his new masculine identity are rooted in whitenormativity. Ward denes whitenormativity as the cultural norms and practices that make whiteness appear natural, normal, and right (2008:564); she emphasizes that this systematically supports other normative expectations such as middle-class status and heterosexuality. Lance continues to explain:
When I was a kid Id always have people ask me, What are you? Theyd look at me and think I was Asian, which is pretty common. People often think that Native Americans are Asian, because of our eyes and stuff like that . . . . And its been interesting in the transition, cause my facial structure has changed so much that I dont get that question as often as I use to. Cause my cheek bones dont look the same, my face has gotten whiter.

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For Lance, learning to become a man is intimately connected to learning what it means to be white, middle class, and heterosexual, because these are the assumptions others place upon him. Many transmen spoke about their rst time being exposed to the sexualization of women in conversations with other men. Pascoe (2005) and Sanday (1990) note that the sexualization of women is an important part of mens homosocial spaces; however, how this is performed and the meanings associated with an individuals intersected identity frame vary by culture. For example, Bennyboy (working-class Bakla transman) reects on the following story about the cultural difference in the sexualization of women:
The other day . . . I was just sitting back actually watching [a conversation between workers on the job site]. It was sort of forty to sixty, forty being brown and sixty being white . . . some of the Mexican guys were talking about like seeing a woman, and hes like, oh yeah my tongue got hard you know, I saw her and my tongue got hard. . . . They always talk about going down on women and I would watch the white guys in the group and they would get like super uncomfortable, and it was all about like making her cum . . . versus like white guys talking about, . . . I got this girl to go down on me, you know I dont do shit for her. . . . Its all about . . . like for brown people being a man is more about how well you can please your partner versus how much you can get from them and not return it.

Cromwell (1999) and Rubin (2003) nd that some transmen perpetuate sexist behavior as a way of enacting masculinity. While this may be the case, the type of sexism and objectication of women that some transmen participate in may differ culturally as Bennyboy states here. Additionally, several participants share their rst encounters with this sexist homosocial behavior, their discomfort with this, and concern that their silence contributed to the interaction. Similar to Dozier (2005) and Schilts (2006) ndings, some participants share their desires to speak out against sexism, and how this involves active engagement with their masculine narrative. Participants quickly learn what it means to occupy an intersected identity frame in both dominant culture and racial and ethnic cultures. For Morgan (multi-racial transwoman) and Scout and Diego (mixed-race transmen) who lost their white identity, learning to be Latina/o includes gaining a sense of ethnic pride: The more and more I pass, the more I felt like I was [perceived] as a Hispanic male . . . and Im identifying with it more and more (Scout). For Lance, the loss in a racial identity is a signicant inuence on his sense of self and speaks to the powerful, yet silent, narrative surrounding middle-class, heterosexual, white men (Connell 2005). Lances cultural history and experiences were erased. Although emphasized femininity and hegemonic masculinity are currently sociopolitically dened as white, middle class, and heterosexual, this denition is uid (Connell 2005). Within dominant white culture, there are numerous subfemininities and submasculinities, often revolving around the conceptions of race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality. A key component for transpeople is learning these numerous gender expectations, the circumstances that others attributed these to them, and the ways to negotiate, integrate, or resist them.

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THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES

For transpeople, transitioning genders is not a simple process of moving along a continuum of woman to man or vice versa. Dominant cultural narratives such as whiteness inuence an individuals perceived gender. Loseke suggests cultural identities reect symbolic codes that contain images of the rights, responsibilities, and normative expectations of people in the world, and of the expected affective responses to these people. Symbolic codes in the Western world typically construct one identity in contrast to another (2007:666). These serve as codes of conduct that function as a baseline or in the background. A white transperson may experience and may be perceived as only changing genders; however, their whiteness is an important factor in the gender identity they experience and enact. The most visible illustration of whiteness is among mixed-race participants who experience a dramatic change in their intersected identity frame (inuenced by their perceived social class and sexuality). Diego, a mixed-race transman, shared how he changed from white to Latino. Living as female, people really didnt pick up on the fact that Im Puerto Rican . . . I actually grew up in the foster system, and I looked up my court papers recently, and they listed me as white. Diego and Scout addressed being perceived as white women prior to transition. As a result of taking testosterone (and its resulting masculinizing physical changes) and their shorter height, Diego and Scout began to pass as Latino. Morgan (a middle-class multi-racial transwoman) revealed a similar experience of being perceived as a white man prior to transition and now passing as Latina; each of them express initial surprise in gaining a new racial identity, or in some cases, nally having their racial identity acknowledged. Lances (Lakota/white) experience was the opposite: upon transitioning he lost his racial identity and is now perceived predominately as a white man. Lance depicts the powerful inuence of whiteness on his masculinity, from losing his racial identity, to being excluded from communities of color, to gaining white male privilege. Diego, Scout, Morgan, and Lances experiences serve to illustrate the signicant and inuential combinations of race, social class, gender, and sexuality and how meanings associated with these combinations are interconnected and inuence others actions toward them. Thus, intersected identity frames others attribute in interaction are not just about race or social class or gender or sexuality.

Becoming Less Visible

Chou and Feagin describe Asian Americans experience of social invisibility being ignored or not seen (2008:65). In terms of dominant culture, specic intersected identity frames are more socially visible than others, depending not only on changes in power or status, but also on how others perceive a person as dangerous or exoticized. Chou and Feagin (2008) and Han (2009) demonstrate the ways Asian men are feminized, emasculated, and portrayed as harmless. Dante (an upper

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middle-class South Asian transguy) felt that his transition went smoothly. He wanted to become a gentle guy and reected on how he was not stigmatized like other transmen of color. Because Asian men are marked by others as nonthreatening (for the most part), they become socially invisible. For Dante, his class status and college education further conrmed for others that he was smart, nerdy, and safe. This perceived femininity and submissiveness of Asians is illustrated by a comment from a white transwoman to an Asian American transwoman:
[A]nother T[ransgender] friend of mine, who transitioned at the same time as me . . . shes white or Caucasian, and one of the biggest beefs she keeps giving me is, Youre Asian, that sucks, shut up, what do you have to complain about? Cause the general rule of thumb is that most Asians have an easier time transitioning. (Elle)

Media representations of black men oscillate between the nonthreatening black buddy to sexually deviant and violent men (Collins 2005). Representations of black women oscillate between images of being less beautiful, since they cannot meet the standards of white middle-class femininity, and being targeted as hypersexual (Collins 2005). The black transwomen in this study moved from high stigmatization as black men to lower social visibility. This may be because most of the black transwomen I interviewed are middle-aged and their age factors into the extent of social invisibility. The younger black transwomen I met at conferences expressed feeling that they were seen as more exotic.

Becoming More Visible

Changes in attributed intersected identity frames also result in some transpeople gaining social visibility. Increased visibility centers around two points. For transwomen, an increase in social visibility is related to being exoticized. For transmen, an increase in visibility is related to male privilege and others perceptions of them as exotic, sexually threatening, and/or criminal. Several scholars address the historical ways women of color are hypersexualized and exoticized in the West (Collins 2005; Nagel 2003; Wilkins 2004). The Asian American transwomen in particular proclaim being treated as a provocative sex object by white men (Nici a middle-class Chinese transwoman). Amber was concerned about moving from a socially invisible category of Asian man to Asian woman: now that you are a sought after item, so instead of trying to get into groups, youre trying to get away from them, like standing on a street corner [waiting for a taxi] is actually a really dangerous thing. Thus the potential for violence against Asian American transwomen is very likely tied to colonialist histories that leave the so-called exotic bodies more open to violence from whites. Also, other factors contribute to sexualization including age, body size, and expression of femininity. Most of the Asian American transwomen maintained middle to upper middle-class status and their perceived femininity marked them as heterosexual. Miranda (a

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rst-generation Korean transwoman) gives an example of the hypersexualization in being an Asian woman: I was at [company] . . . it was rumored that I was pregnant with a coworkers baby . . . I used to swear that Im not pregnant; I would be the rst one in shock if I was. Miranda felt the rumor started because of the strange Asian foods she ate (supposedly an indication of pregnancy food cravings), but that the sexualization of Asian women contributed to co-workers insisting on her affair. Although Asian transmen often move to a less socially visible category, other transmen indicate becoming more visible. In this case, the feminization of Asian men (Han 2009) decreased their social visibility, while the hypersexualized masculinity attributed to black and Latino men increased their social visibility. In some instances, this increase in visibility is connected to gaining what Schilt (2006) refers to as gender advantage, particularly for white transmen; however, the extent of gender advantage varies by race, social class, and height (Schilt 2006). Collins (2005) and Nagel (2003) outline the hypersexualization of men of color and the historical representations of them as sexually dangerous, especially to white women. Scout (mixed-race transman) explains, I never thought about being an interracial couple before. When I was with [white girlfriend] I would get looks . . . like, Why are you dating a white girl? When like it wasnt a problem [before transitioning] because everyone [perceived] me as white. Alejandro (a working-class Latino) provides an illustration of a specic heteronormative, working-class intersected identity frame:
I nd that people are scared of me; they see a dark eyed/haired non-Anglo man walking near them off the train at night and they are scared . . . . I am more scared of police who are always stopping me in my car . . . . I am scared when I go to clubs and things get heavy; I have been in [three] ghts. Being a Latino blue collar male I am seen as a trouble maker and Im not used to that.

Jacobo revealed similar experiences in terms of the way others connected his social class with being perceived as Latino. Even though others utilize normative denitions of middle class for most people, Latinos are often assumed to be poor or working class. To counter this stereotype, Jacobo deliberately wears suits and ties to his job and other places and events. People are surprised to see that Im a Latino male with a Bachelors degree and not involved in a gang (Jacobo). Even in a suit, working in the criminal justice eld, Jacobo is occasionally mistaken as a defendant, particularly by whites: I was in court one day with my suit and stuff . . . so a [white] guy said what are you here for . . . and I said, Actually Im with the defense team . . . Im probably representing you (laughing). As I exemplify above, men of color are also hypersexualized. In some cases, this involves representations as perpetrators, and in other cases, hypersexuality is exoticized, such as Dexters experience in being perceived as a Latin lover (see Rodrguez 1997). For Dexter, this hypersexualization is less dangerous than for the Asian American transwomen, but it is still disconcerting, particularly when he feels boxed into that role with partners. Dexters approach to this new sexualization is

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playful; he spoke of having fun with this identity by going to gay bars and playing on this exoticizing of Latinoness. Although Dexter makes light about his experiences, he is still concerned with how this hypersexualization will inuence future relationships and the potential for negative consequences when others perceive him as a threat. Collins (2005) nds working-class black men are more often portrayed in the media as perpetrators. As they begin to transition, several black transmen expressed concerns about becoming black men; I know that theres a stigma you know white America has of black men (Trent, working-class black transman). Jake states:
When I transitioned from being an African American woman, you know thats a double minority, to being an African American man, youre probably the scariest person in the United States of America. When I walk down the street, people walk to the other side so they dont have to be near me. When I walk through the mall they follow me around and make sure Im not stealing anything . . .

In Jakes example, we see how comparisons of who is more oppressed using the Double/Multiple Jeopardy model versus the Single Social Location Model do not accurately reect individuals lived experiences (Purdie-Vaughns and Elbach 2008). For Jake, his gain in gender advantage (moving from a double minority to a single subordinate position) is situationally muted by acquiring a more visibly stigmatized status as a black man. Similarly, Lance questions, Its like if youre female and youre seen as a person of color, what does that mean? Versus if youre seen as a man and a person of color? And whats less threatening? The increase in social visibility is related to dominant, white racist cultural narratives that others draw upon to assign specic intersected identity frames in interaction.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Transpeoples lived experiences offer rich analysis. Transpeople in the United States change genders in relation to androcentric, heterocentric, middle-class whitenormative cultural narratives. These dominant Western narratives shape the meanings we attach to different social locational identities, which combine in various ways to frame interaction. Although all people must engage with the intersected identity frames others attach to them, many specic combinations are foregrounded in the context of transitioning. Utilizing interviews of transpeople, I demonstrate how the meanings others attach to interconnections of race, social class, gender, and sexuality vary by combination and shape interaction. Furthermore, expanding on Lewis (2004) and Ward (2008) who make evident the importance of analyzing dominant cultural narratives such as whiteness, I link the interconnection of class and sexuality which inuence a participants perceived gender. This article also expands the growing literature on transgender studies, offering accounts primarily from transpeople of color. Almost all participants indicated a

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desire for more diverse voices to be made public, not only in terms of transcommunities, but within social science research focusing on transpeople as well. Although gendered meanings are signicant to transpeople and transnarratives, we often neglect how these are racialized, classed, and sexualized. Thus, as Stryker notes:
[T]he analytical framework for understanding gender diversity that has emerged from transgender studies . . . [is] inadequate for representing the complex interplay between race, ethnicity, and transgender phenomena. (2006:15)

The universalizing of transgender perpetuates a white and predominately middleclass transgender experience, identity, and collective (see also Valentine 2007). This research illustrates the importance of considering race, class, and sexuality when studying the transgender phenomenon. This article marks an important step toward an intersectional analysis of identities in interaction. Identity literature in sociological social psychology suggests that certain singular social identities are more salient for individuals, depending on the interaction. I attend to the ways race, social class, gender, and sexuality combine and are used to attribute specic intersected identity frames in interaction. This provides an empirical example of intersected identity frames and demonstrates an analysis that reveals the complexity of these frames, the creativity of social actors, and the numerous ways these play out in social interaction. Finally, I would like to emphasize three ways this research advances our understanding of identities in interaction. First, it demonstrates how people draw upon dominant and racial/ethnic cultural narratives about race, class, gender, and sexuality to identify, code, and frame their interactions with others. Second, it suggests ways people incorporate the intersected identity frame others attribute to them. For participants, this begins with learning about the new frame being attributed to them in a process of resocialization. In some cases, this new frame is identity conrming; in many cases, participants were surprised by some of the meanings attributed to them. For instance, the change in intersected identity frame experienced during and/or after transitioning sometimes results in transpeople gaining or losing social visibility. Once they learned these new frames, participants engaged in various management and negotiation techniques. Third, it illustrates the powerful inuence of attributed intersected identity frames on an individuals sense of self. For transpeople, successfully passing entailed understanding themselves through these attributions. I have sought to incorporate the more overarching meanings people attribute to each other in relation to race, class, gender, and sexuality in interaction. These meanings are not only experienced by transpeople; rather, transpeoples experiences illuminate the complex intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality. While some audiences seem to employ dominant, white cultural narratives, others draw upon racial and ethnic cultural narratives. In all cases, transitioning throws the multi-dimensionality of intersected identity frames into sharp relief against the background of intersecting social and cultural structural arrangements.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Jen Dunn, Rob Benford, SJ Creek, Megan Farnsworth, Carey Sojka, the anonymous reviewers, and editors for their helpful suggestions. I also thank the participants for sharing their stories with me.

NOTES
1. Many transmen online use different language to refer to female body parts. For example cubbyhole instead of vagina, and cock instead of clitoris. 2. Some transmen wish to maintain ties to specic womens communities. Also, some transmen conceive themselves as partially female-bodied; this contributes to some contention between butches and transmen in lesbian and queer communities (see Halberstam and Hale 1998).

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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR(S)

Kylan Mattias de Vries received his PhD in Sociology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2010. He is currently an instructor in the Social Science, Policy, and Culture department at Southern Oregon University where he teaches in Sociology and Gender, Sexuality, and Womens Studies. His research interests include inequalities, intersectionality, queer theories, transgender studies, critical race studies, and social psychology.