Gender Expression Research Articles

Factor structure of the international trauma questionnaire in trauma exposed LGBTQ+ adults: Role of cumulative traumatic events and minority stress heterosexist experiences.

To examine the factor structure of the international trauma questionnaire (ITQ), a self-report measure of PTSD and CPTSD, and the associations of cumulative lifetime trauma exposure assessed via the life events checklist and minority stress assessed via the daily heterosexist experiences scale, with CPTSD (three PTSD symptom clusters, three clusters reflecting disturbances in self-organization [DSO]) among LGBTQ + adults. Participants comprised 225 LGBTQ + adults (including 74 transgender and gender diverse individuals; age range: 18-60 years; M/SD = 31.35/9.48) residing in Spain. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that both a first-order six-factor model and a hierarchical two-factor model, comprising PTSD and DSO as second-order factors, fit the data best. Cumulative traumatic events score was associated with PTSD, and cumulative minority stress was associated with PTSD and DSO. Among the minority stress subscales, harassment based on gender expression was positively associated with all symptom clusters of PTSD and DSO. This is the first study to examine the role of minority stressors alongside exposure to psychological traumas in ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD and emphasizes the inclusion of minority stressors in trauma-related assessments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Picturing Solidarity: Photography and Cuban Internationalism during the Vietnam War

Abstract This article studies the use of photography in the construction of solidarity between Cuba and Vietnam during the war years. It shows the way photography helped illustrate and articulate Cuba's evolving understanding of the Vietnam War as a conflict that was analogous to, and in some ways the culmination of, Cuba's own revolution. While Cuba enthusiastically embraced and disseminated photographs from Vietnam, the meanings attached to these photos were also modified to speak to domestic concerns. By focusing on the images used in two specific solidarity campaigns devoted to imprisoned activist Võ Thị Thắng and “martyr” Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, the article explores the way Cuban understandings of acceptable forms of revolutionary violence and its gendered expressions shaped the meanings attributed to these two figures.

Viking Strong by Doug Cenko

Reviewed by: Viking Strong by Doug Cenko Meg Cornell Cenko, Doug Viking Strong; written and illus. by Doug Cenko. Viking, 2023 [48p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593202326 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593202319 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 3-6 yrs Vikings Ingrid and Stig share a fun life making delicious stews, having high seas adventures, and dressing up their cats in silly outfits, but the two friends get focused when Ingrid wants to compete in the "Strongest Viking Contest." While sporty Ingrid can likely sail through most rounds of the competition ("Lifting of Really Heavy Things!" and the "Running of the Kittens!"), she doesn't know how to swim and therefore won't be able to make her way across the sea to the event's finish line. Despite continued attempts and Stig's moral support, Ingrid keeps sinking morosely to bottom. She still decides to compete, however, and at the final event, Stig hands her a floatie—but it turns out she's not the only participant to struggle with swimming, as all her Viking competitors, in wacky beach wear, have flotation devices too. Buoyant colors contrast with neutral-toned backgrounds, and figures have an approachable cartoonish style, with varied, energetic shapes that convey the rowdy joy of the Viking contests and characters. Endpapers bring added interest with Viking art and early medieval interlace designs while cat-crazy kids will be especially pleased with the sheer variety of adorable felines incorporated across this book. As in Cenko's previous Viking in Love (BCCB 11/21), inclusive character design and affirmation of non-traditional gender expression make this an exuberant and supportive addition to any collection, especially as Ingrid reconsiders what Viking strength means to her. [End Page 286] Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Family Rejection, Socioeconomic Precarity, and Exchanging Sex for Food among Young Transgender Adults: Findings from the U.S. Transgender Survey.

This study explored factors associated with elevated risk of exchanging sex for food in young transgender adults in the U.S. We analyzed data from a sample of trans-gender adults (18-35 years old) who participated in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Participants were asked if they had engaged in sexual activity for food within the past year or more than a year ago. Welfare participation, family rejection, and experience of homelessness were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of exchanging sex for food. Young transgender adults with multiple marginalized identities, such as identifying as Black or African American, presenting a non-normative gender expression, and living with a disability, were at higher risk of engaging in sex for food. Our study underscores family rejection and socioeconomic precarity, which may erode the social support and safety net of young transgender adults, preventing them from affording and accessing adequate food.

Queer Worldmaking in Sex-Positive Art Therapy: Radical Strategies for Individual Healing and Social Transformation

Queer worldmaking (QWM) in art therapy offers liberatory sex-positive interventions and modes of critical inquiry that affirm the lives, imaginations, and pleasures of all who enter the studio. The authors provide three major strategies for QWM in art therapy. A queer ethos of care decenters cis-heteronormativity by embracing the diversity of sexuality and gender identity and expression as valuable ways of knowing. A radically inclusive studio prioritizes queer and trans pleasure in establishing physical, psychological, and imaginal safety. Facilitating critical connections with(in) art and the community centers LGBTQ + historical strategies of care for healing and social justice. Art therapists can unite in the shared pursuit of making queer(er) worlds for individual healing and social transformation.

Gender as a social and structural variable: research perspectives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Gender is a social and structural variable that encompasses multiple domains, each of which influences health: gender identity and expression, gender roles and norms, gendered power relations, and gender equality and equity. As such, gender has far-reaching impacts on health. Additional research is needed to continue delineating and untangling the effects of gender from the effects of sex and other biological variables. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) vision for women's health is a world in which the influence of sex and/or gender are integrated into the health research enterprise. However, much of the NIH-supported research on gender and health has, to date, been limited to a small number of conditions (e.g., HIV, mental health, pregnancy) and locations (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa; India). Opportunities exist to support transdisciplinary knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary knowledge building by advancing health-related social science research that incorporates best practices from disciplines that have well-established methods, theories, and frameworks for examining the health impacts of gender and other social, cultural, and structural variables.

Pronouns in the Workplace: Developing Sociotechnical Systems for Digitally Mediated Gender Expression

Sharing personal pronouns (such as they/them, she/her, or he/him) in the workplace helps colleagues respectfully address each other. Many companies currently seek to design and implement new software tools to facilitate pronoun-sharing among employees. This paper analyzes the social processes of communication about pronouns in the workplace and identifies best practices for creating and using workplace pronoun-sharing software. We conducted 78 semi-structured qualitative interviews with various stakeholders involved in the launch of pronoun-sharing tools in workplace collaboration software, including transgender and queer people, HR and IT professionals, and LGBTQ advocacy organizations. We used an anthropological approach to qualitatively analyze interview materials and notes from interactions with research participants. We find that sharing personal pronouns is an ongoing communication process rather than a single act of information provision. Pronoun sharing tools encapsulate the tension between dynamic social processes of self-expression and technical systems of classification and information retrieval. People communicate their pronouns differently as they navigate identity expression across social contexts. Sharing pronouns is therefore both an individual expression of self-presentation and a complex act of social communication. Developers must create new methods for building pronoun-sharing tools that equip people to control ongoing social processes of self-expression instead of using an information retrieval approach that treats pronouns merely as stable, unchanging data.

Cultural Implications and the Transgender Community- Remarks on the Role of Jalsa for Visibility

Religion and beliefs play a role in shaping the primary human character. Due to genetic differences and hormonal imbalances, the female gender expression in the male body and the male gender expression in the female body return to their true essence over time. Family and society are alienated when they shift their gender identity through surgery. Religion is also taking a step back from the community most of the time. The transgender community believes in their single faith and moves forward with it. Transgender people practice their rituals named Haldi Mehandi and jalsa when they transform into another gender identity through gender reassignment surgery, from male to female. Constructed thoughts like femininity only towards women and masculinity only towards men, what would be the expressive status of transgenders? Being a part of many celebrations, Kerala excludes the transgender community from many, but they have some rituals and celebrations of their own. The present paper assesses the role of jalsa rituals in a transgender-closed community and to what extent the jalsa ritual liberates transgender communities from excluding other religious ceremonies.

Critically feminizing family science: Using femme theory to generate novel approaches for the study of families and relationships

AbstractHow do values, beliefs, and assumptions about femininity shape relational experiences? To answer this question, we critically feminize family science by applying femme theory to the field. Through this analysis, we present some of the ways that femmephobia (i.e., the systematic devaluation and regulation of femininity across all bodies and identities) is established in childhood and perpetuated throughout various relational contexts across the life course. Specifically, we examine how femmephobia is socialized via families, systematically normalized and perpetuated throughout childhood, and how it shapes gender‐based violence risk, perpetration, and tactics. We demonstrate how femme theory illuminates the importance of disentangling the intersectional axes of gender, sexuality, and gender expression, thereby generating novel approaches for family and relationship science and interventions that promote systemic social change. Subordinating and regulating femininity affects all individuals, making its disruption of critical importance for the prevention of gender‐based violence and the promotion of healthy families and relationships.

“They’re not feeling the love they need to feel”: HIV stigma and other intersecting stigmas among Black gay and bisexual men and transgender women in house and ball communities

Introduction: Stigma negatively influences engagement in HIV prevention and care. This study explores how young Black gay and bisexual men and transgender women (GBT) in the House and Ball Community (HBC) experience HIV and other intersecting stigmas. Method: We conducted phenomenological analysis of interviews with 60 young Black GBT HBC members and 30 older leaders of the HBC. Result: Participants described experiences of enacted, perceived, and internalized HIV stigma and intersecting stigmas related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, gender expression, and body size, as well as their responses to HIV stigma. Intersecting stigmas shaped and reinforced one another, leading to isolation and increased HIV vulnerability. Conclusion: Interventions to ameliorate intersectional stigma and its effects are needed to improve primary and secondary HIV prevention in the HBC.

Associations Between Gender Nonconformity, School Environments, Family Conflict, and Emotional and Behavioral Health Among Children Ages 10–11

PurposeIn youth, gender nonconformity (GNC; gender expression that differs from stereotypes based on assigned sex at birth) is associated with a higher likelihood of peer and caregiver victimization and rejection. However, few studies have examined the relationship between GNC, overall family conflict, perceptions of school environment, and emotional and behavioral health problems among children ages 10–11. MethodsThe Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study data release 3.0 was used (n = 11,068; 47.9% female). A path analysis was used to examine whether school environment and family conflict, mediated the relationship between GNC and behavioral and emotional health outcomes. ResultsWe found significant mediation of the relationship between GNC and behavioral and emotional health by school environment a2b2 = .20, 95% CI [0.13, 0.27] and family conflict a1b1 = 0.34, 95% CI [0.25, 0.42]. DiscussionOur results suggest that youth who present as gender nonconforming experience elevated family conflict, poorer perceptions of their school environment and elevated behavioral and emotional health problems. Further, the relationship between GNC and elevated emotional and behavioral health problems was mediated by perceptions of school environment and family conflict. Clinical and policy suggestions to improve environments and outcomes for youth who present as gender nonconforming are discussed.

Intersectional (in)visibility of transgender individuals with an ethnic minority background throughout a gender transition: Four longitudinal case studies

AbstractThis study draws on four longitudinal case studies of transgender individuals with an ethnic minority background that undergo a gender transition while being in employment in the Netherlands. Four individuals were each interviewed four times over a period of 2 years. They were asked to make sense of their experience using a narrative approach. Using an intersectional lens, the findings reveal that non‐White transgender individuals experience intersectional invisibility and intersectional hypervisibility in a dynamic and ongoing way, which influences their experiences and concurrently fosters and hinders their gender expression as they go through a gender transition while being in employment. More specifically, we build on the literature on managing (in)visibility by showing how transgender individuals with an ethnic minority background manage their (in)visibility in a dynamic and sometimes strategic way in which they reflect on the perceived consequences of their (in)visibility and then adjust their gender expression and/or strategy to elicit more positive outcomes for themselves. Practical and theoretical implications as well as suggestions to enhance our understanding of this understudied population at work and create a more inclusive work environment are presented.

“Testing the Waters” in a “World That Refuses to Make Space: Development and Coming Out with Transgender and Non-Binary Adults

ABSTRACT Transgender and gender non-binary (TGNB) adults face structural and interpersonal stigma from their families and society at large when living openly and seeking gender affirming healthcare. To better understand the significance of family and social contexts for shaping the lived experiences of TGNB adults, this phenomenological qualitative study aimed to describe TGNB transgender identity development and coming out processes inclusive of significant past and present experiences. TGNB participants (N = 17) completed a one-time semi-structured interview and member checking of analysis findings. Results identified two themes: 1) TGNB identity development and socially “testing the waters” in gender expression; and 2) coming out when “the world just refuses to make space.” Implications are made for advancing feminist systemic research and clinical practice with TGNB clients.

Queering Asylum in Europe: Legal and Social Experiences of Seeking International Protection on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Carmelo Danisi, Moira Dustin, Nuno Ferreira and Nina Held); Queer Migration and Asylum in Europe (Richard C. M. Mole)

During the last two decades, the protection of LGBTIQ+ migrants, asylum claimants, and refugees has gained the attention of civil society, academia, and state authorities. Among the millions of international migrants and forcibly displaced people worldwide, a growing number of LGBTIQ+ individuals leave their countries for very diverse reasons, from economic and security-related motives to fleeing persecution on grounds of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Europe is one of their most frequent destinations. Discourses advocating for the recognition of the human rights of these individuals worldwide are clashing with the fact that currently, 122 of the 193 UN member states either criminalize same-sex sexual activity or tolerate sexual-orientation discrimination (Mole 2021, p. 15). Given the multiple intersections they embody, including not only non-heteronormative SOGIESC but also race, ethnicity, religion, age, class, and health, this is a group whose rights are particularly vulnerable throughout the migration/asylum process.

31P EGFR mutation rate and spectrum in Ukrainian patients with advanced NSCLC: Relation to gender and PD-L1 expression

31P EGFR mutation rate and spectrum in Ukrainian patients with advanced NSCLC: Relation to gender and PD-L1 expression

Expression of acyl-CoA synthetase medium-chain 3 is associated with obesity in melanoma patients and correlates with androgen receptor

Background: Malignant melanoma is a typical type of cancer that feature the obesity paradox. Objectives: We aim to evaluate the role of acyl-CoA synthetase medium-chain 3 (ACSM3) in obesity paradox in malignant melanoma (MM). Methods: With reproduction of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) MM dataset and validation using immunohistochemistry, we evaluated correlations of ACSM3 expression with body mass index (BMI), gender, and androgen receptor (AR) expression. Results: ACSM family genes were downregulated in MM and in normal skin exposed to ultraviolet. Higher expression of ACSM3 was associated with improved overall survival in men but not in women. Subgroup analysis showed the best survival outcome in obese patients with high ACSM3 expression. ACSM3 expression was significantly lower in cases with ulceration. NET-GE-based gene enrichment analysis of ACSM-overexpressed cases showed significant enrichment in lipid metabolism and butanoate metabolism. AR stood as the top possible transcription factor of ACSM3 using multiple algorithms. Expressions of ACSM3 and AR were positively correlated in obese men and overweight women. ACSM3 expression was positively correlated with BMI in men and overweight women. Conclusion: ACSM3 expression is associated with obesity in MM patients and correlates with AR. Functional analysis linking the findings to the obesity paradox warrants further study.

The marginalization of LGBTQIA+ in public health discourse.

Violence, discrimination, stigma and criminalization negatively impact the lives of millions of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersex, asexuals and other individuals with diverse sexualities and genders (LGBTQIA+) people around the world and contribute to poverty and social instability. Even before the 2022 war in Ukraine, there have been instances of hate speech, discrimination, harassment and abuse of LGBTQIA+ people in Ukraine. A recently published article validates the claim that members of LGBTQIA+ has been experiencing marginalization ranging from the health systems to their rights movement during the 2022 military conflict in Ukraine.1 The author indeed asked an important question for our times: how can we address their needs and lessen their marginalization and decrease their distress and fears of uncertainties? In response to this important yet often look problem in public health discourse, the author of this correspondence proposes an inclusivist-pluralist principle to promote health equality and equity. The twentieth century saw a wave of organized activism to secure civil rights and freedoms for LGBTQIA+ people. LGBTQIA+ individuals had long been subject to public hostility and legal prosecution, and were widely denied protection against discrimination in employment, housing, military service, and private and public services.3 Historical data suggest that countries facing existential threat of war have mobilized their marginalized communities—women, racial and ethnic minorities—into new social belonging during wars. This often led to dramatic changes during and after war. One of the First World War’s most enduring legacies is largely forgotten: it sparked the modern gay rights movement. Following the Second World War, empires collapsed because of the war, old countries were abolished and new ones were formed and created. However, marginalized groups just as often return to a marginalized status during and after the wars. The LGBTQIA+ faces the same urgent concern of marginalization on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics.2 This is not only a human rights concern but a public health concern as well.

COX7B Is a New Prognostic Biomarker and Correlates with Tumor Immunity in Esophageal Carcinoma.

Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) refers to the most common type of malignant tumor, which reveals that it occurs often all over the world. ESCA is also correlated with an advanced stage and low survival rates. Thus, the development of new prognostic biomarkers is an absolute necessity. In this study, the aim was to investigate the potential of COX7B as a brand-new predictive biomarker for ESCA patients. COX7B expression in pancancer was examined using TIMER2. The statistical significance of the predictive value of COX7B expression was explored. The relationship between COX7B expression and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in ESCA was analyzed by using ssGSEA. In this study, the result indicated that several types of cancers had an abnormally high amount of COX7B. COX7B expression in samples from patients with ESCA was considerably higher than in nontumor tissues. A more advanced clinical stage may be anticipated from higher COX7B expression. According to the findings of Kaplan-Meier survival curves, patients with low COX7B levels had a more favorable prognosis than those with high COX7B levels. The result of multivariate analysis suggested that COX7B expression was a standalone prognostic factor for the overall survival of ESCA patients. A prognostic nomogram including gender, clinical stage, and COX7B expression was constructed, and TCGA-based calibration plots indicated its excellent predictive performance. An analysis of immune infiltration revealed that COX7B expression has a negative correlation with TFH, Tcm, NK cells, and mast cells. COX7B may serve as an immunotherapy target and as a biomarker for ESCA diagnosis and prognosis.

Doing gender, performing marriage: A study of China's xinghun marriage ads

This study examines why Chinese gay individuals pursue xinghun, a performative union between a gay man and a lesbian woman, and how they navigate societal heteronormativity. Analyzing 3957 online personal ads, we found that parental pressure is the primary motivator for gay individuals seeking xinghun. Male xinghun seekers were more likely to endorse traditional gender expression and expect their partners to fulfill gendered family obligations. Our results also indicated that the imaginings of marriage and family among xinghun seekers were limited by normative gendered discourse, as they often unconsciously legitimized essentialist gender norms and rejected their own subjectivities. These findings suggest that despite rapid social changes in China, sexual minorities still face considerable heteronormative hegemony and pressure of marriage. The phenomenon of xinghun provides a new alternative for Chinese gay individuals to negotiate between societal expectations and their personal desires, yet it also highlights the limitations and challenges of such negotiations.

Twinks, Fairies, and Queens: A Historical Inquiry into Effeminate Gay Bottom Identity

ABSTRACT Effeminate gay bottoms, or gender nonconforming men who are anally receptive and/or give oral sex to other men who are also “gender nonconforming,” are persistently marginalized in gay and LGBTQ+ communities in Britain and the US. For some LGBTQ+ commentators, “twink” has become relexified to mean a young-looking, slim, hairless effeminate bottom, whereas originally the term primarily denoted a body type and age bracket among gay men. This article explores how the twink has come to bear connotations of effeminacy and bottom subjectivity, highlighting the steady erosion of other available cultural terms to denote a bottom whose gender expression does not conform to dominant cultural masculine stereotypes. It offers an analysis of two key historical effeminate bottom identities in Britain and the US, the “fairy” and “queen,” and argues that the twink not only now carries connotations originally attached to these historical identities, but that it merges their gendered and sexual connotations with new characteristics concerning age and body type that may cause considerable anxiety among contemporary gay men due to their unsustainable “shelf life.”