Transgender trouble: gender transcendence in self-ethnographic genderqueer experience in Hong Kong

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores key issues in relation to transgender and genderqueer experiences. It aims to: (1) to delink dualisms such as sex/gender, body/mind to suggest the inadequacy of locating gender identity through the “felt sense of self” in transgender studies; (2) to suggest a genderqueer perspective in reinterpreting trans subjectivity through self-ethnography. This paper first suggests a theoretical rethinking of limitations in transgender studies, then challenges the mandatory stable perception of gender and gender identity, and argues that the becoming of a genderqueer person involves a continual process of destabilizing and self-discovering identities. By applying Buddhist philosophy and my first-hand experience as a female and genderqueer bodybuilder, I aim to provide an innovative perspective to reinvent our imagination on gender and body. My unique experience provides successful praxis to explore possibilities that could transcend gender hierarchies and traverse gender boundaries. This paper ends with a discussion of a possible genderqueer narrative based on my gender advocacy in Hong Kong.