"Being trans brings me love": Transgender and Gender Expansive Representation in Young Adult Novels as Counter Narratives

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  • July 28, 2021
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  • Davis, Esther
    • Affiliation: School of Information and Library Science
Abstract
  • A 2021 survey conducted by The Trevor Project suggests that more than a quarter of LGBTQ+ youth identify as gender expansive. As more youth publicly disclose holding trans and gender expansive (TGE) identities, there is a growing need for young adult (YA) novels that reflect and affirm real TGE teens’ experiences, rather than novels that offer only one understanding of what it means to be TGE. This study uses an emergent category style of content analysis, rooted in existing literature on TGE youth’s experiences and in the novels, to look at representation of TGE youth in young adult novels published in 2020 by mainstream publishers in the United States. Specifically, this content analysis highlights how these novels reflect and expand on the literature and operate as dominant narratives, seen through the lenses of cisnormativity and transnormativity, and as counter narratives. These nine novels both demonstrate and challenge mainstream conceptions about TGE youth, and they validate and affirm the wide range of TGE experiences.
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  • Hughes-Hassell, Sandra
    • Affiliation: School of Information and Library Science
Degree
  • Master of Science in Library Science
Graduation year
  • 2021
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