Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Transgender identity can be defined as the self-awareness of a discrepancy between the assigned sex at birth and the personal gender identity of an individual. This study assumed the constructionist perspective, focused on the influence of culture on sex-typing and the representations of gender in child development. This research considers how parents of transgender children emotionally handled the transition. Being faced with a child's transgender identity may cause an emotional experience similar to mourning, in particular, ambiguous loss (Coolhart, Ritenour & Grodzinski 2018, McGuire et al. 2016, Norwood 2013). In this qualitative research, 97 associations dealing with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) issues were contacted to recruit participants from three different countries: Italy, Spain and U.S.A. The sample includes 18 parents of trangender people who completed an ad hoc questionnaire. A brief standard story was constructed about an experience of sexual transition, followed by some questions on the experience of parental mourning during the transgender transition of their children. The corpora were analysed in the three original languages, and the analysis was performed with Atlas.ti. From the qualitative analysis of the texts that describe parents' experience, three fundamental elements emerged. The first is inherent to the mourning orientation to loss and the fear of death; the second to the disenfranchisement of mourning and transgender identity between family and society; and the third illustrates the final restorative outcome of mourning.

The authors of this volume look into the origins of gender based violence as well as ways to tackle this issue. They link systematic reflections unfold-ing a socio-cultural viewpoint and depictions of concrete action with psychological tools regarding the effect of interventions. The book is a result of the European project "Empower", which is part of the Daphne III Programme (2007-2013) and whose goal is to realize the objectives defined by European policy aimed at preventing and fighting all forms of gender based violence.

AbstractThe present study investigates differences between gay and heterosexual Italian men regarding both social networking behaviors and addiction. Furthermore, it explores the possible mediation effects of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, fear of missing out, and physical appearance on social networking behaviors and addiction. A total of 586 Italian men (334 gay and 252 heterosexual) were recruited with snowball sampling, and they completed an online questionnaire. Results showed a significant difference between the two groups, with men who identify themselves as gay having higher levels of social networking addiction, narcissism, fear of missing out, and the importance of one's appearance. A direct effect of sexual orientation on social networking behaviors and addiction can be seen, which is only partially mediated by the variables posed as mediators.

In recent years, online media have offered to trans people helpful resources to create new political, cultural and personal representations of their biographies. However, the role of these media in the construction of their social and personal identities has seldom been addressed. Drawing on the theoretical standpoint of positioning theory and diatextual discourse analysis, this paper discusses the results of a research project about weblogs created by Italian trans women. In particular, the aim of this study was to describe the ways online resources are used to express different definitions and interpretation of transgenderism, transsexuality and gender transitioning. We identified four main positioning strategies: "Transgender", "Transsexual before being a woman", "A woman who was born male" and "Just a normal woman". We conclude with the political implications of the pluralization of narratives about gender non-conformity. Specifically, we will highlight how aspects of neoliberal discourses have been appropriated and rearticulated in the construction of gendered subjectivities.

Transsexual and Transgender people have become more visible in the institutional media, although these portrayals sensationalise and ridicule trans people experiences by focusing primarily on a supposed fictionality of their gender. In this way, those media concur to the dissemination and legitimisation of hegemonic transnormativity (McDonald, 2006 & Garosi, 2011). Conversely, online media proved to be a fundamental political and social platform for transgender people. Nevertheless, few studies focused on how trans people use those media to build their self-recognition and political subjectivities. Drawing on the theoretical standpoint of Judith Butler's (1997) Theory of Subjectification, in this work I will focus on the different ways Italian trans women use online media resources to express different positionalities about transgenderism, transsexuality and gender transitioning. In particular, I will present the results of a discourse analysis on 44 online nonacademic resources (self-presentations, advice blogs and narrations of everyday life experiences) written by 10 Italian trans women. I identified four positioning strategies: "Transgender", "Transsexual before being a woman", "A woman who was born male" and "Just a normal woman". These positioning strategies are not mutually exclusive, but rather they act as discursive and narrative resources which enable trans women to continuously redefine their experience in different situations. Moreover, I suggest that these discursive positionalities cannot be strictly categorised as emancipatory or conformist, as they simultaneously enact the reproduction and the destabilisation of the hegemonic discourses about gender and sexuality.