Transgender representations

Abstract

Transgender studies have long been blighted by social, political, moral, theoretical and methodological constraints, yielding a multitude of transgender representations in the field. As a result of theorisations informed by these constraints, transgender people have been respectively depicted as villains, victims and minions of patriarchal heterosexist binary orders. At the same time, they have been displaced from the very field of research named after them, as scholars have used transgender as a conduit for other theoretical pursuits that have no direct relation to the lived experiences and emancipation of transgender people.

This thesis examines selected contributions to the field of transgender theory, the underlying circumstances and constraints to their study and their implications on the lives of transgender people. Based on these considerations, it contextualises the assessment of transgender theories, arguments and theoretical proposals in Singapore and proposes a critical evaluation of the considerations that underline transgender representation.

This is a research conducted with a view to transgender liberation in Singapore.