This dissertation addresses the central research question--How does context matter for men's experiences of gender, sexuality, and race? --by analyzing interviews with 66 trans men, female to male transgender people, in the U.S. West, Midwest, and Southeast. This project contributes to four areas in the sociology of gender and sexuality: understandings of transgender people, regional variations in masculinity, inclusion of trans men in the study of men and masculinity, and understudied queer spaces. The first part of the analysis shows how being a man is a lifelong process of negotiating the expectations of different contexts in light of the gendered self and offers a conceptual framework for the subsequent analytic chapters, which focus on the different ways that context operates in the lives of trans men. The first of these chapters spotlights how emotional control, in this case appropriate emotion in particular contexts, is a hallmark of contemporary masculinities across spaces and a central way of marking distinctions between men and women and among men. The final two substantive chapters focus on how different spatial and institutional contexts affect trans men's fears and experiences of violence. The first centers on exploring the spatial distribution of fears of transphobic violence. This illustrates another aspect of context, how the ideas about who and what inhabit particular contexts shape men's actions in those settings. The second chapter shows how these fears and actual violence in particular institutional contexts act as powerful forms of social control that reproduce various forms of inequality. It illustrates how the structural arrangements of institutions are key contextual features that influence behavior and the reproduction of social inequality in ways that potentially reach outside of their institutional contexts. Finally, the dissertation concludes by returning to the research question and discussing the implications of this research on sociological understandings of inequality, the field of men and masculinities, and transgender politics.

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore Black transgender men's experiences navigating systems of racism and transphobia. To this end, I utilized a critical race theory and intersectionality theory framework to answer the following question: What are Black transgender men's experiences with power, privilege, and oppression? The ten Black transgender men and transmasculine people who participated in this study provided detailed and moving accounts of their experiences with systems of oppression. Six major themes were prominent throughout participant narratives: (1) developing an empowered view of self, (2) navigating double consciousness, (3) having a target on your back, (4) strategies of resilience, (5) culture of silence, and (6) finding quality care. Overall, participants offered insight and keen awareness of their intersecting racial and gender identities, as well as speaking intimately about how the shift from societal perceptions and identification as a Black woman to a Black man impacted their sense of self and views of the world. Additionally, implications and conclusions drawn from the stories of participants offer recommendations for counselors, mental health professionals, practitioners, and programs to consider implementing to provide culturally responsive and competent care to Black transgender men.

The overarching aim of this thesis was to explore psychological wellbeing among a treatment seeking population of trans individuals. Specifically, psychopathology and quality of life were studied as key dimensions of psychological wellbeing. The thesis begins with a proposed model of predictors of psychological wellbeing derived from a review of the literature, which includes social support, interpersonal problems, body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, experiences of transphobia, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), age and gender. Study 1 proceeds then to focus specifically on levels of perceived social support and its relationship to psychological wellbeing. Study 2 assesses interpersonal problems. Study 3 investigates prevalence rates of NSSI. Drawing on the findings from the previous three studies, Study 4 subsequently tests an amended model of predictors. In terms of the methodology employed across the studies, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted using standardised measures, a large sample of trans individuals recruited from a national gender identity clinic (GIC), and a matched control group of non-trans (hereafter referred to as cisgender) individuals. Throughout, consideration was given to differences between trans women and trans men as well as how trans individuals compare to cisgender individuals, with regards to each of the variables tested. The thesis concludes with a revised model of predictors, in addition to recommendations for preventing the development of poor psychological wellbeing and interventions for improving poor psychological wellbeing among the trans population.

Health disparities, including higher rates of mental or physical illness, are found among members of minority or marginalized groups including people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. However, there is a paucity of research incorporating both experiential components and measures of physical health, particularly among trans men during their transition from female to male. Trans men transition through the use of testosterone therapy (T) and surgical procedures in order to align their internal male gender identities with their physical presentation. This study combines the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data in order to understand trans men's experience of their changing bodies, identify the primary stressors faced during different stages of transition, and measure the biological manifestation of psychosocial stress during transition. Sixty-five trans men who were utilizing testosterone (T), participated in this cross-sectional study of stress experience during transition. The study involved in-depth, in-person interviews and multiple biological measures including: 24-hours of blood pressure monitoring, three consecutive days of salivary sampling for measures of cortisol and testosterone, a blood-spot for measures of C-reactive protein (CRP), and anthropometric measures. The general hypothesis for this study was that men in earlier, more liminal stages of transition would experience more transition and gender-related stress than men later in the process and that this stress would manifest experientially, psychologically, and physiologically. As expected, transition-specific psychosocial stress was associated with physiological measures, and was more pronounced among trans men in the liminal stages of transition. Moreover, comparisons of stress experience during different stages of transition uncovered variation in how trans men perceived and experienced changes in their bodies and social identity. A number of experiential aspects of transition were identified from the qualitative interviews and found to be linked to physiological stress measures including decreased nocturnal decline in blood pressure, increased cortisol levels, and increased C-reactive protein (CRP). In particular, issues related to transitioning identity stress (TIS), challenges linked to "passing" and being "out" as transgender, and specific acute stressors including the use of gender-specific public restrooms were each found to be independently associated with biological measures of stress.

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