Performativity of Gender in Speech: Life Experiences of Japanese Trans Women / 言語行為におけるジェンダーパフォーマティビティー：トランスジェン ダーの場合

Abstract

Abstract:The field of transgender studies has produced much interesting research since the 1990s. Incorporating feminist theory, queer theory, and poststructuralist theory, transgender theory provides a means to analyze trans people’s life experiences by emphasizing aspects of physical embodiment in gender and sexual identity. This article adds to this body of work by examining Japanese trans women’s gender identity in relation to their linguistic practice. It rejects the essentialist view of gender and challenges a poststructuralist view of understanding gender only as a social construct. It analyzes how “a fluid self-embodiment and a self-construction of identity” interact linguistically “in the context of social expectations and lived experiences (Nagoshi and Brzury, 2010: 435).