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Introduction - Analyzing Transgender Rights and Representation Through Media Discourses
The introduction presents a comprehensive outline of the topic of gender identity, explicitly focusing on transgender people. It will analyze how mainstream psychology tends to this subject, analyzing societal attitudes toward transgender people and their human rights. The basic analysis of newspaper articles will be acquainted as a strategy to grasp verbose constructions around transgender identity inside the media. The rationale for picking this subject will be clarified, prompting the detailing of the research question. With regards to leading a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on the subject of “gender identity” inside the media, it is fundamental to recognize and recognize implied and explicit discursive constructions connected with transgender identity. The newspaper article picked for this analysis contains both implied and explicit References to transgender identity, giving a nuanced perspective on how this identity is built inside the media.
Aim
The aim of this research is to direct a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) on the development of transgender identity inside the media comparable to human rights. By analyzing newspaper articles from the most recent five years, the study looks to divulge the discursive arrangements encompassing transgender people and perceive the power dynamics that shape public discernments.
Research Questions
The research question for this study is “How is transgender identity constructed within the media in relation to their human rights?”
Objectives
The objectives of this research are:
- To research how mainstream psychology tends to transgender identity, investigating societal attitudes and expected predispositions.
- To indicate how discourses inside the media add to societal attitudes, legal frameworks, and the lived encounters of transgender people.
- To analyze existing discourses inside psychological frameworks that impact public comprehension of transgender issues.
Research Rationale
Understanding how transgender identity is constructed inside the media is necessary for multiple factors. Media representations altogether impact popular reviews, adding to the normalization or marginalization of transgender people. Looking at discourses around transgender identity reveals insight into the power structures sustained through language, uncovering basic societal norms and predispositions. The convergence with human rights focuses on the commonsense ramifications of media constructions, affecting legal frameworks, social acknowledgment, and the general prosperity of transgender people.
Research Significance
This research adds to the more extensive discourse on gender identity and human rights by offering a Foucauldian aim to learn the complex transaction between media, societal attitudes, and legal frameworks. It gives nuanced experiences that reach beyond surface-level analysis, diving into the nuances of language, power, and representation. At last, the review expects to cultivate mindfulness and add to continuous discussions encompassing the rights and dignity of transgender people in contemporary society.
Methodology
The methodology utilized in this Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) is intended to systematically analyze desultory constructions encompassing transgender identity inside the media, explicitly focusing on newspaper articles from the most recent five years. The chosen approach lines up with the ontology of social constructionism, setting that gender identity is a socially constructed concept impacted by linguistic practices and societal norms (Bravo, et al. 2019). The epistemological position is relativism, recognizing the contextual and subjective nature of information, especially in the domain of discourses and power relations.
Data Collection
The primary source of data for this analysis is newspaper articles acquired from trustworthy media outlets. The determination models focus on articles distributed within the most recent five years to guarantee pertinence and currency. The emphasis is on explicit and implicit references to transgender identity, inspecting how media discourse adds to the development of importance around this concept. A different example of articles will be chosen to catch different points of view and representations.
Theoretical Framework
The analysis includes two correlative theoretical frameworks to develop the comprehension of desultory constructions around transgender identity inside media narratives — Gender Socialization and Identity Theory and Gender Schema Theory.
Gender Socialization and Identity Theory
This theoretical primary aim is that people, including transgender people, incorporate societal norms and assumptions connected with gender through social interactions, foundations, and media. Gender identity improvement is affected by the support of social norms, influencing how people see and express their gender. With regard to media discourse, this theory develops how societal norms around gender impact the development of transgender identity (mdpi.com, 2014).
Gender Schema Theory
Gender Schema Theory, in light of crafted by Sandra Bem, underlines cognitive cycles in figuring out gender identity. It suggests that people coordinate data in view of gender categories, shaping schemas that impact how they interpret and answer the world. Applied to media discourse analysis, this theory enlightens how pre-existing gender schemas impact the gathering and interpretation of transgender identity representations. By looking at how media narratives connect with or challenge laid-out gender schemas, this point of view improves the analysis of the cognitive cycles engaged with the gathering of transgender characters inside societal discourse (sciencedirect.com, 2023).
Analytical Strategy
The analysis will continue through numerous stages, starting with a rambling development stage. During this stage, the researcher will peruse and systematically feature segments of the chosen newspaper articles that allude to transgender identity, recognizing explicit and implicit references. This interaction includes color coding to separate the constructions of transgender identity outwardly. When the rambling constructions are distinguished, the analysis will advance to the recognizable proof of predominant and contending discourses (Dimova, et al. 2022). Roughly five to six discourses will be thought of, in-depth analysis of the two most critical ones. This step intends to disentangle the narratives and power dynamics encompassing transgender identity inside the media.
Following the distinguishing proof of discourses, the analysis will investigate positionings inside these discourses. This includes inspecting how different partners, including the media, position transgender people inside societal frameworks. The accentuation is on figuring out power relations and the ramifications of these digressive constructions on the encounters of transgender people.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations are essential to this research. Care will be taken to stay away from sensationalism and misrepresentation of transgender people. Regard for the dignity and rights of people talked about in the media articles will be kept up with (Suri, 2020). Additionally, the researcher will basically expect inclinations and subjectivities during the analysis, guaranteeing transparency and rigor.
Analytical Narrative
Discursive Constructions
Implicit: “Britain was also in the bottom half of the countries polled on the question of whether transgender people should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing and access to restaurants and shops, with almost one in four saying they disagreed with protections or were not sure.” [Appendix 1]
The highlighted paragraph implicitly builds transgender identity by demonstrating the societal position on safeguarding transgender people from discrimination. The assertion, “Britain was also in the bottom half of the countries polled on the question of whether transgender people should be protected from discrimination”, recommends an understood discourse around the apparent absence of help for transgender rights (Bravo, et al. 2019). The utilization of the expression “bottom half” suggests a hierarchy, adding to the development of transgender identity inside a setting of lower societal acceptance.
Explicit: “Most of the new state laws have focused attention on trans youth, with at least 22 states banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors.
For many transgender seniors, it’s brought new fears to their plans for retirement and old age. They already face gaps in health care and nursing home facilities properly trained to meet their needs. That’s likely to be compounded by restrictions to transgender health care that have already blocked some adults’ access to treatments in Florida, and sparked concerns the laws will expand to other states.” [Appendix 2]
“In spite of the roadblocks, the 56-year-old Florida actress and activist has seen growing acceptance since she first came out decades ago. 'If you see older transgender people, it shows the younger community that it’s possible I can have a life. I can live to an older age,' she said. 'So I think that’s a very important thing.' Now, as a wave of new state laws enacted this year limit transgender people’s rights, Narinesingh has new uncertainty about her own future as she ages.” [Appendix 3]
The explicit discursive constructions are basically found in portions examining the effect of new state regulations on transgender rights. For example, the article explicitly specifies regulations confining gender-affirming care for minors, which centers consideration around trans youth. This explicit discourse positions transgender people as an objective of legislative restrictions, stressing a possible danger to their rights (Lou, 2022). The article likewise features the feelings of trepidation of transgender seniors with respect to retirement plans and admittance to healthcare, depicting explicit challenges encountered by this demographic.
An independent review of the service by the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass highlighted the lack of agreement “and in many instances a lack of open discussion” on the nature of “gender incongruence” in young people, and whether it was “an inherent and immutable phenomenon for which transition is the best option for the individual, or a more fluid and temporal response to a range of developmental, social, and psychological factors.”[Appendix 4]
Claahsen-van der Grinten et al. (2021) contribute current experiences to the diagnostics, management, and follow-up of gender incongruence and gender dysphoria in youth and pre-adulthood. The absence of arrangement featured by Dr Cass lines up with the complexities examined in this literature review, stressing the developing nature of understanding gender incongruence in young individuals (Claahsen-van der Grinten, et al. 2021). The tensions around whether the transition is the most ideal choice or a more liquid reaction reverberate with the symptomatic challenges investigated in the literature, underlining the requirement for nuanced approaches in overseeing gender-related concerns in this demographic.
Dora et al. (2021) give further profundity by tending to changes and challenges in the analysis of gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, and gender nonconformity in youth. The reference to an absence of open conversation repeats the more extensive discourse introduced in this literature review, which highlights the developing scene of understanding and tending to gender-related issues in young individuals (Dora et al. 2021). The tensions between an inborn and unchanging phenomenon and a more liquid reaction are intelligent of the demonstrative complexities illustrated by Dora, underscoring the requirement for continuous exchange and exploration in this field.
“In the last six months, our services have seen a 74% increase in trans and non-binary people seeking support after experiencing transphobic hate crimes compared with the previous six months.” [Appendix 5]
Transphobic hate crimes are one of the GBV forms that effect trans women the most. A very high portion of trans women faced a transphobic hate crime with socio-structural risk factors by some of the crime types. In the US, violence against trans people mostly against trans women is systemic and widespread. In Orlando, an anti-LGBTQ hate crime almost took 49 people’s lives on the fourth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre. Even in that same week, two black trans women were brutally killed in the US (Gyamerah, et al. 2021). Gyamerah et al. (2021) contribute a nuanced understanding by looking at the encounters of transgender women in the San Francisco Bay Area, underscoring the diversity of race in the commonness and nature of transphobic hate crimes. The study perceives that hate crimes are not homogenous and feature varieties across racial lines. Drawing matches, the expansion in trans and non-binary individuals looking for help demonstrates a squeezing need to investigate the multifacetedness of personality markers past orientation, like race, to understand the particular challenges faced by different networks. The 74% ascent in looking for help recommends that the effect of transphobic hate crimes isn’t just steady but rising, supporting the desperation for designated mediations.
Bradley’s (2020) Transphobic Hate Wrongdoing Report for Galop in London lines up with the concern brought up in the cited proclamation. The report thoroughly frames the scene of transphobic hate crimes, revealing insight into the pervasiveness, nature, and results of such occurrences. The surge in individuals looking for help reverberates with Bradley’s discoveries, accentuating the disturbing recurrence of transphobic occurrences (Bradley, 2020). This correspondence highlights the inescapable nature of the issue, transcending geographical boundaries. The analytical narrative, subsequently, gains profundity by drawing on Bradley's report, establishing the statement in a more extensive setting past the San Francisco Bay Area.
Discourses
One discourse revolves around “Legislative Restrictions on Transgender Rights”. The explicit conversation of new state law and their emphasis on limiting gender-affirming care for minors uncovered an administrative discourse that positions transgender people as subjects of legislative investigation and likely discrimination. The actual demonstration of legislating the rights of a particular gathering signals a power dynamic, where societal standards are classified into legitimate designs. This discourse reinforces the possibility that transgender people are dependent upon societal conclusions as well as institutional decisions that might limit their independence and admittance to fundamental administrations (Galupo, and Resnick, 2016.). The discourse of legislation turns into a tool through which power relations are ordered upon transgender bodies, adding to the more extensive societal development of transgender identity as a challenged and controlled space.
Another discourse spins around “Transgender Aging and Healthcare”. The explicit notice of fears among transgender seniors in regard to retirement plans and admittance to healthcare presents a discourse stressing weakness and expected discrimination in aging populations. This discourse positions transgender people inside a story of intersectionality, featuring the intensifying challenges encountered by transgender seniors (Kreukels, and Guillamon, 2018). The gap in healthcare administrations and the vulnerability about the future uncover what societal discourses can mean for the lived encounters of transgender people across various life stages. The explicit conversation of healthcare challenges turns into a discursive item through which power relations are worked out, demonstrating a societal story that might underestimate or disregard the particular necessities of transgender seniors.
In these discourses, it becomes obvious that the media plays an important part in molding the story around transgender identity. The explicit conversations on legitimate restrictions and healthcare challenges give an unmistakable system, while certain components offer an understanding of the standardized societal mentalities that support these challenges.
Positioning
The recognized discourses inside the newspaper article add to particular positionings of transgender people inside the wider societal discourse. These positionings enlighten power dynamics, societal mentalities, and the complex exchange between media portrayal and the development of transgender identity.
Legislative Restrictions on Transgender Rights
One conspicuous positioning emerges from the explicit discourse encompassing legislative restrictions on transgender rights. The article features the effect of state regulations on gender-affirming care for minors, underlining a narrative that positions transgender people as subjects of legitimate examination and imperative. This positioning reinforces the possibility that transgender rights are in danger and dependent upon societal discussion and guidelines (Nadal, et al. 2012). The utilization of expressions, for example, “limit transgender people’s rights” underlines a weakness inside the legitimate system, projecting transgender people in a role where their rights are shaky and dependent upon legislative decisions.
Transgender Aging and Healthcare
Another key positioning appears in the explicit discourse encompassing the feelings of trepidation of transgender seniors in healthcare. This discourse positions transgender people inside the setting of aging as a weak segment confronting challenges. The narrative highlights worries about admittance to healthcare offices prepared to meet the particular necessities of transgender seniors (Henry, et al. 2020). By featuring these feelings of trepidation, the article positions transgender people as possibly underestimated inside healthcare frameworks, with their requirements not satisfactorily tended to.
Intersectionality of Positionings
These positionings intersect, making a layered comprehension of how transgender identity is developed inside the media. The legislative discourse infers a societal discussion on the authenticity of transgender rights, while the healthcare discourse intensifies weaknesses inside unambiguous settings, like aging (Bates, et al. 2020). Together, these positionings add to a narrative where transgender people explore a complicated scene of legitimate healthcare challenges.
Implications for Power Dynamics
These positionings highlight the power dynamics at play in the development of transgender identity inside media discourses. The media fills in as both a reflector and shaper of societal mentalities, impacting the impression of transgender people’s rights and weaknesses (Mamou, et al. 2020). Understanding these positionings is important for a nuanced analysis of how power works inside discourses, molding general assessment and possibly impacting policy decisions.
Conclusion
The Foucauldian Discourse Analysis exposes complex power elements forming the development of transgender personality inside media narratives. The explicit verbose constructions on legislative limitations and healthcare challenges grandstand what media goes about as a strong power in meaning for societal perspectives and discernments. The legislative discourse positions transgender individuals as subjects of lawful scrutiny, underlining the weakness of their freedoms to societal and institutional decisions. All the while, the discourse on healthcare challenges positions transgender individuals, especially seniors, as confronting weaknesses inside healthcare systems. These positionings converge, depicting a nuanced narrative where transgender individuals explore a complex scene of lawful vulnerabilities and healthcare differences.
The implications for power dynamics highlight the role of media in both reflecting and molding societal perspectives toward transgender freedoms and weaknesses. Understanding these positionings inside discourses gives an establishment to a more profound exploration into the transaction of power, discourse, and societal constructions of transgender personality. As media narratives keep on developing, this analysis fills in as a basic lens to look at and challenge winning standards, adding to continuous conversations on the privileges and respect of transgender individuals in contemporary society.
Reflection
Reflecting on this analysis prompts thought of the continuous responsibility to stay away from melodrama and distortion in media depiction, regarding the pride and freedoms of individuals talked about in these narratives. It features the requirement for progressing discourse, research, and ethical scrutiny to guarantee exact and empathetic portrayals that contribute emphatically to societal impressions of transgender characters. This Foucauldian approach enlightens the complex web of power relations, empowering proceeded with mindfulness and promotion for the privileges and prosperity of transgender individuals in media and society at large. Directing this Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on transgender characters in the media has been an excursion into the perplexing transaction of power, language, and societal constructions. Unwinding the discursive constructions, both implicit and explicit, uncovered the nuanced manners by which transgender character is depicted and, subsequently, seen by the public. The recognized discourses, for example, legislative limitations and healthcare challenges, shed light on the power elements molding the narrative around transgender individuals.
The reflection on this analysis prompts an acknowledgment of the more extensive ramifications for societal perspectives and strategies. The multifacetedness of positionings, especially in the legislative discourse, highlights the weakness of transgender privileges, dependent upon societal discussion and legitimate choices. All the while, the healthcare discourse positions transgender individuals as possibly underestimated inside maturing populaces, accentuating the requirement for nuanced contemplations in healthcare systems.
This analysis fills in as a sign of the responsibility implanted in media portrayals, as they add to molding public opinion and impacting strategy conversations. The Foucauldian lens uncovers what is explicitly expressed as well as the implicit power structures that support societal constructions of transgender character. Pushing ahead, it highlights the significance of media proficiency and the basic assessment of discourses to cultivate a more inclusive and exact comprehension of gender personality. This reflective process supports the continuous meaning of nuanced, multifaceted examinations of an empathetic society.
