Suchergebnisse

The presentation of this article is to address in detail the situational experiences and social circumstances of trans men living in Poland today. Based on results arrived at through the author's research, this article focuses on a number of accounts by transgender people of social reception of trans masculinity in Poland. The arising problems which trans men face in these situations are highlighted by the severity of the kinds of social pressure which are placed upon them, most of which are aimed at teaching them to conform according to the normative patterns of masculinity as commonly acknowledged in Polish society. Polish trans men's attitudes to these pressures and their subsequent responses oscillate between passive conformity and conscious, performative resistance, which is herein analyzed.

AbstractThe article examines the criteria for determining which individuals become legible as transgender in Poland and how expert medical and legal discourses normalize the gender identity, sexuality, and gender performativity of this group. Only those transgender people who fit the outdated model of the "true transsexual" are allowed to (in fact expected to) undergo a physical transition. Once transitioned, they are expected to blend into society and present heteronormative, socially conforming gender roles. In Poland, only those people who have been diagnosed as so-called true transsexuals are counted in the estimated number of transgender people. After describing the convoluted legal and medical processes that individuals are required to follow, the article presents qualitative research describing how transgender people in Poland have responded to these normalizing systems. The article concludes with proposals that would make trans populations more legible to policy makers and the mass media without imposing outdated medical norms on the trans community.

The paper concerns mythology, rites, philosophical tradition and other intellectual inspirations, which have influenced the Western culture's approach to the male-female dualism in social categories and the culture's attitude towards the phenomenon of androgyny. This male-female bipartite category and the occurrence of transgressing it, or not fitting it, is analysed in relation to divergent philosophical and sociological theories, like the thought of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michael Foucault, Judith Butler, etc. The purpose of the paper is to expose – and search for the reason for – Western culture's ambivalent attitude towards androgyny: perceived either as something odd and stigmatized for not matching the traditional dichotomy in cultural categories, or a perfect dual-unity integrating the two polar opposites in one being. Straipsnyje susitelkiama ties mitologija, ritualais, filosofine tradicija ir kitomis intelektualinėmis inspiracijomis, turėjusiomis įtakos Vakarų kultūroje įsišaknijusiam požiūriui į vyriškumo ir moteriškumo dualumą socialinėse kategorijose bei kultūros pozicijai hermafroditizmo fenomeno atžvilgiu. Ši vyriškumo ir moteriškumo dvidalė kategorija bei jos pažeidimo ar neatitikimo atvejis analizuojami remiantis divergentinėmis filosofinėmis ir sociologinėmis teorijomis, pavyzdžiui, plėtojamomis Claude'o Lévi-Strausso, Michaelio Foucault, Judith Butler ir kt. Straipsnio tikslas – atskleisti ir nustatyti Vakarų kultūros ambivalentiškos pozicijos hermafroditizmo atžvilgiu priežastis. Hermafroditizmas suvokiamas arba kaip kažkas keista ir gėdinga, nes tai neatitinka tradicinės dichotomijos kultūros kategorijų požiūriu, arba kaip tobulas dvilypis vieningumas, sujungiantis vienoje būtybėje dvi visiškas priešybes.

In Poland, most of the existing information on transgender has been heavily influenced by the pathologizing, medicalizing discourses of the 1980s and early 1990s, and deeply rooted in the essentialist per­ception of gender. In contrast, under the influence of queer theory and social constructionism, Polish social studies re-discovered the theory of transgender in the late 2000s. Combining these two competing viewpoints and discourses has shaped and determined that which currently constitutes transgender studies as they are gradually emerging in Poland. The article aims to explore these alternative approaches, including the discourse prevalent in the Polish medical community at present, the accompanying gatekeeping practices that it conse­quently employs (even though WHO no longer categorizes transgender as a disorder), and how it is perceived in the field of social sciences. Next, this article will present an analysis of the broader social perceptions of trans individuals in Poland. The authors will conclude with a number of varying perspectives from transgender persons. Based on these particular analyses, the article will argue that the existing Polish gatekeeping system not only makes transgender people dependent on diagnostic outcomes, but also promotes a specific brand of experience policing among trans communities, in which people are often labeled as being disordered.