'A Trans-Feminist Reconceptualization': Transgender women in the Women's Liberation Movement in Britain, c.1970-1989

“跨性别女性主义重新概念化”：英国妇女解放运动中的跨性别女性，c.1970-1989

• 批准号: 2436884
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2436884
• 关键词: Trans; Feminist; Reconceptualization; Transgender; women

A pioneering social movement for women, the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) dominates the history of feminist activism in post-war Britain. Mary Adams argues that the development of the movement revealed that British feminism was exclusionary towards women who were not white, middle class and heterosexual. My doctoral research expands this argument, demonstrating another discounted category of women: transgender women.Transgender lives are a growing interest in historical study. Susan Stryker, founder of the Transgender Studies Initiative, revolutionised research on the social history of trans and gender non-conforming people in the United States. In Transgender History (2008), Stryker classifies the 1970s and 1980s as 'difficult decades' for trans people. Cressida Heyes has identified that trans liberation and feminism have been portrayed as conflicting movements, and Talia Bettcher has developed this analysis, suggesting that centring experiences of trans people in feminist analysis could raise points towards the understanding of intersecting oppressions of women.Histories of the WLM in Britain are extensive. The Women's Liberation Oral History Project (WLOHP) is a notable piece of research from this field, producing interviews with fifty key activists in the WLM. The criteria for interviewees in this project, however, did not include a variant of gender identities. My research questions investigate the agency of involvement of trans women in British feminism, and whether a lack of representation was a conscious choice or a forced exclusion. Answering these questions will build a more comprehensive understanding of the current relationship between feminism and trans liberation.Many activists working to improve the social mobility of women were resistant to the word feminist, perceiving it to encompass a set of social categories. Natalie Thomlinson has written on the position of Black women in second-wave feminism, suggesting that white feminists were stuck between being aware of racial inequality, and a failure to turn such awareness into action. Thomlinson argued that the growth of the Black women's movement fostered communication between Black and white feminists. I will investigate whether this communication can be extended to interactions between cisgender and transgender women.I will be undertaking oral history interviews with women who publicly identified as transgender in the 70s and 80s. Two studies focusing on the WLM have galvanised this project; the aforementioned WLOHP and 'The Heart of the Race: Oral Histories of the Black Women's Movement'. The Brighton 'Trans*formed' project has a rich collection of oral history interviews from trans people, allowing me to develop the framework for this project. My research will connect these categories, filling the historiographical gap of the experiences of trans women in the WLM.The notion put forth by Bobby Noble that 'a trans-feminist reconceptualization seems vital' will be built upon to further analyse the status of trans women in feminist history. This approach enables the use of a wider range of source material, and the application of queer and feminist theory. Literature from organisations such as the Trans Action Organisation, Self Help Association for Transsexuals and the Beaumont Society illuminate the resources available to trans women during the WLM.This project will further knowledge of the WLM in three ways. Firstly, it builds upon British trans history through a feminist lens. My research contributes to the range of trans history and develops Noble's suggestion of a reconceptualization of feminism through trans studies. Secondly, it historicises experiences of trans women in the 70s and 80s, providing agency to the women at the centre of the project by using their experiences as key material in analysing the trans-feminist position. Lastly, it integrates the experiences of trans women into feminist history.

妇女解放运动（WLM）是一个开创性的妇女社会运动，主导了战后英国女权主义运动的历史。玛丽亚当斯认为，该运动的发展表明，英国女权主义是排斥妇女谁不是白色，中产阶级和异性恋。我的博士研究扩展了这一论点，展示了另一个被低估的女性类别：跨性别女性。苏珊斯特赖克，跨性别研究倡议的创始人，彻底改变了对美国跨性别和性别不符合人群的社会历史的研究。在《跨性别者历史》（2008）中，斯特赖克将20世纪70年代和80年代归类为跨性别者的“困难年代”。Cressida Heyes认为跨性别解放和女权主义被描述为相互冲突的运动，Talia Bettcher发展了这一分析，认为在女权主义分析中以跨性别者的经历为中心可以提高对女性交叉optimization的理解。英国WLM的历史非常广泛。妇女解放口述历史项目（WLOHP）是这一领域的一项著名研究，对WLM中的50名主要活动家进行了采访。然而，该项目的受访者标准不包括性别认同的变体。我的研究问题调查跨性别女性参与英国女权主义的机构，以及缺乏代表性是否是有意识的选择或被迫排除。探讨这些问题将有助于更全面地理解女权主义和跨性别解放之间的关系。许多致力于提高女性社会流动性的活动家对女权主义这个词持抵制态度，认为它包含一系列社会类别。纳塔莉·林森（Natalie Linson）写过关于黑人女性在第二波女权主义中的地位的文章，认为白色女权主义者在意识到种族不平等和未能将这种意识转化为行动之间陷入困境。林森认为，黑人妇女运动的发展促进了黑人和白色女权主义者之间的交流。我将调查这种交流是否可以扩展到顺性别和跨性别女性之间的互动。我将对70年代和80年代公开承认为跨性别的女性进行口述历史采访。两项以WLM为重点的研究激发了这一项目;上述WLOHP和“种族之心：黑人妇女运动的口述历史”。布莱顿的“跨 * 形成”项目有一个跨人口述历史采访的丰富集合，让我开发这个项目的框架。我的研究将连接这些类别，填补了跨女性在WLM的经验historiographical空白。鲍比·诺布尔提出的概念，“一个跨女性主义的重新概念化似乎至关重要”将建立在进一步分析跨女性在女权主义历史上的地位。这种方法可以使用更广泛的源材料，并应用酷儿和女权主义理论。来自跨性别行动组织、变性人自助协会和博蒙协会等组织的文献阐明了跨性别妇女在世界妇女大会期间可利用的资源。首先，它通过女性主义的透镜建立在英国跨性别史的基础上。我的研究有助于跨历史的范围，并通过跨研究发展了诺贝尔的女权主义的重新概念化的建议。其次，它将70年代和80年代跨性别女性的经历历史化，通过使用她们的经历作为分析跨性别女性主义立场的关键材料，为项目中心的女性提供代理。最后，它将跨性别女性的经历融入女性主义历史。