This thesis contains an analysis of transgender characters in games. The method for selecting the characters was based on the importance of the character in the game with the requirement that the game must have sold at least half a million units. The goal was to analyse well-known characters in gaming history to get an overview of how the game industry has represented transgender in games. Out of 102 characters only six of them met the requirements and have been analysed with the use of queer theory. Gender and how the characters break the norms of what is feminine and what is masculine is in focus. In the analysis, the characters are examined through their mannerism, design, personality and dialogue. The analysis is then summarized into identifiable patterns. The result of this thesis is a better understanding of how transgender characters are portrayed in the game industry.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom att använda ett specifikt teoretiskt ramverk kunna undersöka och problematisera den stora förekomsten av transpersoner med erfarenhet av ätstörningar. Ramverket är baserat på Sara Ahmeds teorier om orientering och bygger på synen på samhället som uppbyggt av heteronormativa linjer vilka transpersoner förhåller sig till. Genom att välja ut illustrerande exempel från två antologier kretsade kring kropp och identitet har jag kunnat peka på att den press som transpersoner utsätts för i samhället leder till minskat handlingsutrymme, maktlöshet, kroppslig dysfori och assimilation. Med behovet av att reglera de känslor som uppstår samt den fysiska kroppen kan ätstörningen ses som ett verktyg med dubbel funktion. Dels för att hantera maktlösheten inför världen och återta kontroll över den kropp som någon annan definierat och begränsat. Och dels utifrån behovet av att skapa sig själv som begriplig inför sig själv och världen - för att kunna existera.

Uppsatsen behandlar transpersoners livsberättelser och hur deras utveckling påverkat dem. Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse kring transpersoners identitetsutveckling och hur det påverkar deras livsvillkor. Uppsatsens huvudfrågeställning är: Hur beskriver transpersoner sin identitetsutveckling samt på vilket sätt påverkas informanterna av att ses som avvikande i deras livsberättelser? I genomförandet av studien valde vi att använda oss av en kvalitativ intervjumetod med sju transpersoner. Studien har en fenomenologiskt inspirerad metodsansats samt en hermeneutisk analysansats. Det teoretiska ramverket i uppsatsen var Goffmans teori om Stigmatisering, Scheffs begrepp Sociala band samt Queerteorin som samhällsbakgrund. Resultatet påvisade transpersonernas bristande livsvillkor i samhället. Det framkom att informanterna präglades av en komplex livssituation där samtliga nämnde att deras identitetsförändring haft en negativ inverkan på deras liv. Detta har skapat en psykisk ohälsa som bland annat uttryckts genom självdestruktivitet. Samhället behöver utveckla sin förståelse och kunskap inom ämnet. Vi ser att vidare forskning i ämnet är viktigt för att förbättra samhällets kunskap och synsätt i hopp om att skapa ett mer jämlikt samhälle. / The essay addresses transgender life stories and how their development affected them. The purpose of the study is to create an increased understanding of the development of identity in transgender and how it affects their life conditions. The main question of the essay is: How do the transgender tell recount their identity development and in what way are the informants affected by being seen as deviating in their life stories? A qualitative interview method with seven transgender was used in the implementation of the study. The study has a phenomenologically motivated methodology and a hermeneutic analysis approach. Goffman's theory of Stigmatization was used as the theoretical framework as well as Scheff's concept Social Bonds and Queer theory to describe the background of society. The results demonstrated the transgender's lack of life conditions within the society. It emerged that the informants were characterized by a complex life situation where all mentioned that their identity change had a negative impact on their lives. This has resulted in mental ill-health which was expressed by self-destructiveness. Society needs to develop its understanding and knowledge in this subject and we note that further research is important for improving society's knowledge and approach to transgenders in hope of creating a more equal society.

In Cameroon, as in many other African countries, there is a law prohibiting same-sex relationships. The relevant provision, Article 347bis of the Cameroonian Penal Code (Law No 65-LF-24 of 12 November and Law No 67-LF-1 of 12 June 1967), states as follows: “Whoever has sexual relations with a person of the same-sex shall be punished with imprisonment for from six months to five years and fine from 20 000 to 200 000 francs.” This study assesses the law criminalizing same-sex relationships in Cameroon as being discriminatory and encouraging a homophobic society and as contributing to the stigmatization and marginalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Both State and non-State actors in Cameroon do not accept the practice of homosexuality due to the conservative nature of traditional cultural values and religious beliefs. Consequently, presumed LGBT people are frequently harassed, persecuted and arbitrarily arrested on suspicion of their sexual identity. Moreover, the rejection and denial of LGBT people make them live in fear and hiding. It also exposes them to the greatest risk of HIV infection. It is argued in this study that the criminalisation of consensual same-sex conducts violates the rights to privacy, equality, fair trial, human dignity and the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the Cameroon Constitution and the various international human rights instruments that Cameroon has ratified. It also deprives LGBT people of their rights to education and health merely on the basis of them being who they are. The finding from this study indicates that the law alone is not enough to make a social change. Perspective and inputs from other disciplines such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Science of Education need to enhance the arguments for the decriminalisation of same-sex conduct. This study also shows the harmful impact that the law criminalising same-sex behaviour has on LGBT people as well as the society as a whole. Thus, it is very important for the Cameroonian government to take the first step towards decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in order to respect its obligation to respect, promote, protect and fulfil everyone‟s human rights without distinction of any, according to its international commitments and agreements. The government should also take a great and dynamic initiative regarding the educational aspect because education is a vital key for significant progress and change. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Spanning the period from the early years of the Cold War to the early twenty-first century, Crossing Out argues that medical theories of gender variance which emerge in the middle of the twentieth century are bound by the Cold-War–era discursive limits within which they were articulated, and that the ideological content of those theories persists into late-century research and treatment protocols. I parallel these analyses with interrogations of literary representations of transgendered subjects. What emerges most powerfully from this analysis of literary works is their tendency to signify in excess of the medical foreclosures, even when they seem consistent with medical discourse. By reading these two discursive systems against each other, the dissertation demonstrates the ability of literary discourse to accommodate multifaceted subject positions which medical discourse is unable to articulate. Literature thus complicates the stories that medical culture tells, revealing complex and multivariate possibilities for transgendered identification absent from traditional medical accounts. In tracing these discursive intersections the dissertation draws on and extends Michel Foucault’s theory of subjugated knowledges and Judith Butler’s writings on the formation of gendered subjects. Chapter One establishes the Cold War context, and argues that there are significant continuities between 1950s theories of intersexuality and Cold War ideology. Chapter Two extends this analysis to take in theories of transsexualism that emerged in the same years, and analyzes the discursive excesses of a 1950s pulp novel representation of a transsexual. Chapter Three establishes that the ideological content of the medical theories remained virtually unchanged by the 1990s, and argues that multivalent literary representations of transgenderism from the same decade promise the emergence of unanticipated forms of gender identity that exceed medical norms. Chapter Four is concerned with transgendered children, as they are represented in medical writing and in young adult and children’s literature. Interrogating fiction which negotiates between established medical discourse and an emergent transgender discourse, the chapter argues that these works at once invite and subvert a pathologizing understanding of gender-variant children while simultaneously providing data that demands to be read through the lens of an emergent affirmative notion of trans-childhood. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this essay is to examine how transgender people are represented in modern day popular fiction. To do this, I have analyzed two tv-programmes, Orange Is the New Black and Transparent. To do this, I have used thematic analysis as well as analyzed the images produced within the programs. The theories that I base my analysis on is largely based on the theories of representation as coined by Stuart Hall as well as queer theory and Judith Butler’s take on gender. I find that they share many common themes such as the process of “coming out” and a clear focus on what transgender peoples’ bodies look like and how they interact with gender. It is mainly trans women who are the subject of fictional movies and tv-programmes and this is perhaps because they are believed to be more approachable and hu-morous than other transgender people. The key to representation is variation and overlook-ing the fact that trans women are somewhat overrepresented, Orange Is the New Black and Transparent portray transgender people in a realistic and intersectional fashion.

Bakgrund: Transpersoner är personer som har en könsidentitet som skiljer sig från det medfödda könet. De har hög sjukdomsprevalens inom flera områden och utsätts för stigma, diskriminering och våld inom och utanför vården. Stigma, diskriminering och våld är kopplade till en ökad risk för ohälsa och ett behov finns att ta del av transpersoners upplevelser, för att förbättra deras vård, hälsa och livskvalitet. Syfte: Att beskriva transpersoners erfarenheter och upplevelser inom olika vårdsammanhang. Metod: En litteraturstudie omfattande tretton artiklar. Sju teman har identifierats: undervisa vårdpersonal, erkännande av könsidentitet, nekad vård, grindvaktning, specifika vårdbehov relaterat till medfött kön, diskriminering och positiva erfarenheter. Resultat: Många negativa upplevelser har identifierats. Det var vanligt att transpersoner behövde undervisa personal och upplevelsen av diskriminering varierade mellan 23,6% - 66,8% i studierna. Resultaten visade på bristande respekt av transpersonernas namn och pronomen. Slutsats: Transpersoner har många negativa erfarenheter och har upplevt negativt bemötande från personal, vilka kan påverka deras hälsa negativt. / Background: Transgender people have a gender identity that differs from their innate sex. They have a high prevalence of disease in several areas and are subjected to stigma, discrimination and violence within and outside of health care. Stigma, discrimination and violence are linked to increased risks of illness. A need to take part in their experiences in order to improve health care and quality of life for transgender people therefore exists. Aim : To describe transgender people´s experiences of encounters with health care staff within various health care settings. Method: A litterature review based on thirteen studies were conducted. Seven themes were identified: educating health care staff, acknowledgement of gender identity, denial of care, gatekeeping, difficulties accessing care related to innate sex, discrimination and positive experiences. Results: A range of negative experiences are reported. The need to educate staff was frequent and experiences of discrimination ranged between 23,6% - 66,8% in the articles. A lack of respect regarding transgender people’s names and pronouns was found. Conclusion: Transgender people are subjected to a range of negative experiences within health care settings that may result in risks of illness.

Bakgrund: Begreppet transperson är ett paraplybegrepp vilket inkluderar alla personersom upplever att deras könsidentitet och/eller könsuttryck inte är kongruentmed det kön de blev tilldelade vid födseln. Prevalensen av transpersoner ivärlden är svår att uppskatta och på grund av den stigmatisering somgruppen utsätts för finns förmodligen ett mörkertal. Transpersonerdiskrimineras, utsätts för våld och övergrepp samt försätts ofta i hälsofarligasocioekonomiska tillstånd såsom social exkludering, arbetslöshet ochhemlöshet. Detta ökar risken för depression, ångest, suicid, missbruk ochpsykisk stress. Syfte: Att belysa transpersoners upplevelser kring bemötande från vårdpersonalinom den öppna hälso- och sjukvården. Metod: För att besvara syftet genomfördes en litteraturöversikt. Åtta vetenskapligaartiklar analyserades utifrån likheter och skillnader. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras utifrån fem olika teman vilka lyder: Vård som främjaridentitetsutveckling, Att avslöja sin könsidentitet, Kunskap och attityder frånvårdgivarens sida, Diskriminerad till följd av sin identitet och Ansvaretligger hos patienten. Diskussion: Diskussionen betonar hur vårdpersonal kan få ökad förståelse förtranspersoners behov utifrån Husserls livsvärldsteori. Konsensusbegreppetvårdande diskuteras i relation till de bristfälliga vårdrelationer mångatranspersoner vittnar om. Vidare diskuteras kunskapsglappet hosvårdpersonalen, dess effekter på vårdens tillgänglighet och behovet avutbildning. / Background: The term transgender is an umbrella term that include all people whosegender identity and/or gender expression is not congruent with theirassigned sex at birth. The prevalence of transgender people is difficult toestimate and due to stigma the numbers might be underreported.Transgender people are discriminated and exposed to violence and assault.Many end up in vulnerable socioeconomic situations that include socialexclusion, unemployment and loss of household which increases the risk fordepression, anxiety, suicide, abuse and mental distress. Aim: To illuminate transgender peoples experiences of health care staff’s attitudestowards them in the general health care. Method: A literature review was conducted to answer the aim. Eight scientificarticles were analyzed focusing on similarities and differences. Results: The results are presented in five main themes: Supporting the self-concept,To disclose ones gender identity, Knowledge and attitudes within the healthcare system, Discriminated due to ones identity and The responsibility lieson the patient. Discussion: The discussion emphasize how health care staff can gain understanding fortransgender peoples needs related to Husserl’s theory of the life world. Theconcept of care are discussed related to the substandard patient-caregiverrelationship that many transgender people report about. The lack ofknowledge within the health care system is discussed as well as how it willeffect transgender peoples access to care and the need of education.

GHOST TREE SOCIAL tells a coming out story of sorts. In terms of style, many of the poems are short, imagistic lyrics, though some are extended catalogues. Specific natural images—lakes, rivers, and snow—are often contrasted with cultural markers. The imagistic poems are thinking through the work of Sylvia Plath. The catalogue poems shift between diaristic, narrative, and critical modes, responding to the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop and the essays of Edouard Glissant. Voice-driven fragments disrupt the more traditional lyric poems. The fragments fall between formal lyrics like confetti from a gay club’s rafters; or the fragments hold the lyric poems in bondage. The lyric poem then re-signifies as form through resonances with the other discursive and poetic form of the fragment. Following critical writers such as Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde, the re-signification of lyric form reflects the need for new signs for self and community organized queerly as opposed to more typical binary categories—man or woman, living or dead, rich or poor, white or black—where the first term is privileged and the second term often denigrated.

Transgender law and politics may seem to have been nonexistent prior to the 21st century. This dissertation argues that the timeline of transgender progress should begin much earlier and the measure of success should be recalibrated. As early as 1955, states enacted legislation allowing transsexual persons to change their legal sex status. By the end of the 20th century, over half of America’s states had such statutes. I argue that these should be acknowledged as LGBT civil rights successes as significant as any other. Most early sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws omitted protections for trans people, based either on a belief that they were not attainable or that trans issues were not even a proper gay rights concern. Often engaging in direct confrontation, trans people in Minnesota demonstrated that that exclusion was not the only possible civil rights path, securing inclusion in local law in 1975 and in state law two decades later, while other states still maintained an exclusionary mindset. The lesson trans people learned was that if they were not included in such legislation from the outset, the likelihood of being added later was slim. They applied this knowledge to civil rights efforts at the state and federal levels. Gradually, more states did become inclusive, but not until 2007 did a federal proposal include trans-inclusive language. Paradoxically, the circumstances of its failure exacerbated fissures within the LGBT community but also brought most of the community together in favor of inclusion to a degree previously unimaginable.