The following report describes the conception, pre-production, production, and post-production of the short film Yvonne & Clyde. Set in present day South East Texas, the film was shot in the Texas gulf towns of Bayside, Aransas Pass, and Port Aransas. The film follows the journey of the same two small time crooks named in its title as they drive towards the coast to extort money from an estranged relative. It’s an atmospheric piece centered on tone, setting, character, and performance rather than plot. It is a glimpse into the lives of these two long time friends on the last hundred or so miles of the trip. The majority of the writing contained in the report is a first-person narrative detailing the process of the film’s creation from its early genesis through to principal photography and into post-production. Included in the report is an early draft of the script. / text

Over a 6-year period, 106 women involved with men who cross-dress (mostly heterosexual transvestites) completed a questionnaire regarding themselves, their male partners, and their relationships. Interview data supplemented these questionnaires for 75% of the respondents. All respondents were recruited from nonclinical settings. The "modal" female partner was a 40-year-old Protestant, Caucasian woman, who was a firstborn child, in her first marriage. She was more likely than other women her age to be childless, and to have earned at least a 2-year college degree. She was no more likely to have had lesbian experiences or substance use problems than comparably aged American women. She had been married to her cross-dressing mate for 13 years and had known of his activities for 9 years. A quarter of women reported at least occasional sexual arousal to their mate's cross-dressing. The two variables associated with low acceptance of cross-dressing were discovery of their partner's cross-dressing after marriage and lack of sexual arousal to cross-dressing stimuli. Low acceptance was unrelated to firstborn status, amount of exposure to cross-dressing activities, or having had children. This group may be more representative of women in relationships with cross-dressing men than previous reports limited to cross-dressers and spouses who are in treatment.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This qualitative, exploratory study comprises a discourse analysis of the emotional experiences of the parent of a transgendered child. The primary aim of the study was to detail the emotional experiences encountered by the parents of a transgendered child within the South African context, with a focus on how discourse is used to make sense of experiences. The research employed a single case-study, and data was collected via three semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed within a social constructionist framework, using discourse analysis (as per ten stages suggested by Potter and Wetherell, 1987). The literature review highlights various issues regarding the plight of transgendered children and their loved ones in trans-phobic societies, most of which are reflected in the findings. The pertinent themes were divided into four sections: “Discourse of Shaping”, “Discourse of Incongruous Loss”, “Discourse of Motherhood” and “The Transformer and Transformation”. In “Discourse of ‘Shaping’”, the focus is on the parent’s ‘compelled’ reconceptualization of issues and previously accepted ‘truths’ that lie at the core of identity, namely, gender and religion. “Discourse of Incongruous Loss” shows the trauma, challenges, complexity and many ambiguities in mourning someone who is simultaneously absent and present, the same yet different. It also explores additional aspects of the loss that distinguishes it from conventional loss, such as stigmatism and discrimination, lack of support, and ensuing losses. Data reveal that the discourse of motherhood, whilst placing immense pressure on the parent, also has an empowering effect. Although the discourse of motherhood gives rise to feelings of intense self-blame and hate regarding the trans-identity of the child, and ‘dictates’ unwavering compassion, selflessness, acceptance and nurturance, it also enables a basis for resisting oppression. The final section documents how a personal, painful, private experience is linked to broader social systems. It shows how an initially harrowing experience can become empowering, as the participant not only embraces previously unaccepted ‘truths’, but is also an advocate of transgenderism and contributes to social change. It is important to note though, that although ‘victorious’, the experience is a complex one and meaning-making is on-going. Throughout, the interplay of dominant discourses and alternate discourses and their role in the personal meaning-making experience of the participant, is documented. Various creative strategies are employed in order to enable acceptance of the trans-identity and the continuous meaning-making, such as, for example, vacillating between seemingly contradictory discourses. Based on the findings that emphasises the trauma caused by a dual-definition if gender, it is suggested that a more inclusive definition of gender be adopted, such as defining gender as a spectrum or on a continuum. A redefinition of gender should also include de-pathologising gender variance, but before it is removed as diagnosis from the DSM, resources and assistance enabled by its diagnosis should be readily available so as not to create further obstacles for an already marginalised group. Awareness is vital if stigmatising and discrimination are to be reduced. It is important that awareness be generated and resources be made available, with a special focus to include disadvantaged communities. There is an urgent need for literature within a South African context so that interventions can be designed to assist parents (and loved ones) of transgendered children. This is particularly important since support from parents have consistently been found to reduce both depression and suicide rates of transgendered children. Within a diverse South African context, it is also essential to determine how gender discrimination intersects with various other forms of discrimination pertaining aspects of identity such as religion, spirituality, ethnicity, race and culture. There is a need for the South African government to address the lack with regards to implementation of gender policy with some urgency.

Classification schemes are embedded into everyday life and people often expect that each category is fixed and stands alone from one another (Bowker & Star, 2000). In terms of gender, this is evident when people focus on gender as either male or female. With the increasing presence of people who are openly transgendered in the workplace (Taranowski, 2008), people’s expectations about gender as something ‘that just is’ are questioned. There is an emerging research literature focusing on people who transition in their work environments, but comparatively little on their coworkers. This research focuses on the experiences of the coworkers’ to examine how they interpret the meaning of gender after their colleague transitioned from being a “man” to being a “woman”. By analyzing and interpreting people’s behaviours in the context of a workplace where an individual reconstructs what it means to embody a specific gender identity, the feelings and behaviours that arise when expectations about gender are contradicted can be examined.

Sensation fiction, which flourished in England from the 1850s to the 1880s, was viewed by Victorian establishment figures as a threat to prevailing social values. This dissertation focuses on the work of Charles Reade, who along with Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, was among the most well-known sensation novelists. While several novels by Collins and Braddon have been rediscovered by scholars since the 1980s, Reade's fiction remains neglected. With its explicit critique of the emerging regimes of power/knowledge in the fields of medicine, criminal justice, and sexual mores, Reade's work anticipates Michel Foucault's theories elaborated a century later. Although previous readings of Victorian fiction have drawn on the ideas of Foucault in an attempt to identify sensation novels as cultural productions complicit with a developing bourgeois hegemony, I argue that these novels represent a narrative genre that challenges and resists these disciplinary constraints. In addition, Reade's work provides a rare glimpse of alternative sexualities and gender identities in nineteenth-century fiction that can be read in light of feminist and gender theory. This dissertation recovers the fiction of Charles Reade as a body of work that anticipates recent trends in literary and cultural theory and that speaks to us today with an uncanny familiarity.

Personer med könsöverskridande beteende är en grupp med större risk för psykisk ohälsa jämfört med resten av befolkningen. Ett professionellt bemötande är en viktig del av behandlingsprocessen och påverkar terapeutiskt utfall. Tidigare forskning visar brister i kontakten mellan vårdpersonal och personer med könsöverskridande beteende. Det saknas dock studier som fokuserar på psykologer och deras arbete med denna klientgrupp. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka psykologers upplevelse av klienter med könsöverskridande beteende. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med fem psykologer som hade erfarenhet av klienter med könsöverskridande beteende. Resultaten pekar på att könsöverskridande beteende är ett ämne som väcker både intresse och engagemang, men också en viss osäkerhet hos psykologer. Det framkommer att psykologers förförståelse och personliga inställningar spelar en stor roll i arbetet med klientgruppen när utbildningen och tillgången till information i ämnet är begränsad. En icke-patologiserande syn på könsöverskridande beteende dominerar, men även motsatsen förekommer. Ytterligare forskning krävs för att kartlägga på vilket sätt psykologrelaterade faktorer påverkar behandlingen av personer med könsöverskridande beteende. En annan viktig aspekt är hur befintlig kunskap kan implementeras i läroplaner för psykologers grundutbildning och effektivt spridas bland yrkesverksamma. / People with gender-incongruent behaviors have a higher risk for psychiatric problems compared to others. A professional approach is an important part of the treatment process and will influence the therapeutic outcome. Earlier research shows deficits in the contact between care personnel and people with gender-incongruent behaviours. There are no studies focusing on psychologists and their work with this client group. The aim of this study is to research psychologists’ subjective experience of clients with gender-incongruent behaviours. The study uses a qualitative method. The research data was collected with semi-structured interviews with five psychologists that had some experience with clients with gender-incongruent behaviours. The results point to gender-incongruent behaviors being a topic that evokes both interest and commitment, but also some insecurity in psychologists. Psychologists’ preconceptions and personal beliefs play a big role during the work with these clients when education and access to information on the topic is limited. A non-pathologizing outlook on gender-incongruent behaviours dominates, but the opposite also exists. More research is needed to map out in which way psychologist-related factors influence treatment of people with gender-incongruent behaviours. Another important aspect is how existing knowledge can be implemented in psychologists’ basic training and how it can be spread effectively amongst professionals.

The idea for this study was evoked from a number of observations that we did in relation to our personal interest for feminism and gender studies. We have noticed tendecies of identity politics in feminist web­based discussion forums, which have led to intermutual conflicts within the feminist movement. Discussions of great importance between the members of these discussion forums, have oftentimes ended up being matters of interpretative prerogative, and to whom it belongs, as well as questions about who holds authority to claim which opinion, and why one holds authority to claim any opinion at all. We read this phenomenon as a matter of power configuration ­ for even within these formed groups of people that are oppressed in the western majority culture, relations including roles with oppressing positions as well as roles with oppressed positions emerge. In this study we have chosen to focus on a certain type of identities that are frequently stressed when conflicts emerge in these web­based forums, namley transgender identities. The purpose of this paper is to bring forward the narratives of people with transgender identities, about their experienced possibilites to word in feminist web­based discussion forums, as well as analyze the discourses of power that figures in these forums. The material for this study was collected through qualitative interviews, which were made with four different respondents. All of which having experience of being transgender and members of different feminist web­based forums. The analysis in turn consists of essential recitals by the respondents, which are resolved from a discourse theoretical perspective. According to discourse theory, power configurations between people are made from a variation of factors that determine the directions of power, and are constantly reformed from one moment to another. From the recitals of our respondents we understand that there are several power discourses prevailing concurrently in the feminist web­based discussion forums, and that there is no binary and consistent divergence between the oppressing position and the oppressed position. A person whose identity validates its power in one discussion, can be totally powerless because of its identity in another.

INTRODUÇÃO: A disforia de gênero (GD) refere-se à incongruência entre o sexo de nascimento versus como ele é percebido e manifestado no comportamento do indivíduo, o que vem acompanhado por sofrimento. Em relação à transexualidade, tem-se sugerido que o cérebro não segue o mesmo padrão que o resto do corpo, pois há evidências de que determinadas regiões cerebrais nas mulheres transexuais (MT) - sexo biológico masculino - são parecidas com as mulheres sem GD. Estudos por imagens de ressonância magnética (RMI) têm investigado a morfometria cerebral pela técnica baseada no voxel (VBM), e pela técnica por tensores de difusão (DTI) - que avalia a microestrutura da substância branca (SB); essas pesquisas têm constatado diversas regiões com diferenças de volume da substância cinzenta (SC) e da SB por VBM, assim como alterações da microestrutura da SB por DTI, entre os sexos. OBJETIVOS: Investigar alterações volumétricas da SC e SB por VBM, e da microestrutura da SB por DTI, em quatro grupos de indivíduos. MÉTODOS: Uma amostra de 80 indivíduos foi analisada, sendo: 20 MT com GD sem uso de esteroides sexuais e 20 MT com GD em uso de esteroides sexuais, há, pelo menos, um ano (MTC); 20 homens e 20 mulheres (grupos-controle). Todos realizaram o exame de ressonância magnética em um aparelho de 1.5T. Nesse exame, duas sequências de imagens foram obtidas: (1) imagens ponderadas em T1 para a análise da VBM, processadas conforme o protocolo DARTEL, e (2) imagens ponderadas em difusão, processadas pelo TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics) com a finalidade de adquirir os valores da anisotropia fracionada (AF). A análise estatística, para ambos os métodos, foi conduzida pelo Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), versão 8. As comparações entre os grupos realizaram-se pela análise de covariância (ANCOVA), modelo disponível no SPM. Em seguida, aplicaram-se testes post-hoc para as comparações entre dois grupos, com o objetivo de investigar diferenças de volume. Pesquisaram-se regiões de interesse a priori definidas em estudos morfométricos e por DTI sobre o dimorfismo sexual, e em pesquisas com MT. Foram reportados os resultados pressupostos a priori, assim como os não previsíveis, que resistissem a um limiar estatístico com p<=0,05, corrigido para múltiplas comparações (Family Wise Error/FWE). Outro critério adotado foi que regiões com, no mínimo, 30 voxels, seriam citadas. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se pela VBM: (i) aumento de volume da SC na área de Brodmann 6 nas MTC; (ii) regiões com diminuição do volume da SC na ínsula, em ambos os hemisférios cerebrais, nas MT; (iii) aumento do volume do joelho do corpo caloso nos indivíduos que compartilham a identidade de gênero feminina. Observou-se por DTI: diminuição nos valores da AF no fascículo longitudinal superior (FLS) direito e no corpo do corpo caloso das MTC. CONCLUSÃO: diferenças significativas de volumes regionais cerebrais avaliados pela VBM foram detectadas nos grupos das MT em relação aos controles. As alterações de volume cerebral nas MTC sugerem uma possível influência dos esteroides sexuais na neuroplasticidade cerebral. Há indícios de feminização nos cérebros das MT, mais evidente no CC, e, mais sutilmente, no córtex posterior superior frontal. O padrão de alterações de volume da SC na ínsula em dois grupos MT independentes pode ser um marcador da transexualidade e/ou ser um correlato cerebral do sofrimento associado com esta condição. A redução no valor AF no FLS direito sugere associação com a GD / INTRODUCTION: Gender Dysphoria (GD) is the incongruence between sex at birth versus its perception and manifestation through individual behavior, and the suffering it is accompanied by. As for transsexuality, it has been suggested that the brain does not follow the same pattern as the rest of the body, since evidence has shown that certain brain regions in transsexual women (TW) - male biological sex - are similar to those in women with no GD. MRI-based studies have investigated brain morphometry through voxel based technique (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate the microstructure of white matter (WM). Those studies have verified a number of regions with gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume differences, as well as changes in the microstructure of WM through DTI between genders. OBJECTIVES: to investigate GM and WM volume changes through VBM, as well as the microstructure of WM through DTI in four groups of individuals. METHODS: A sample of 80 individuals was analyzed, as follows: 20 TW with GD not on sexual steroids, and 20 TW with GD on sexual steroids for at least one year (TWh), 20 men and 20 women (control groups). All were submitted to MRI in 1.5T equipment. Two image sequences were obtained from that exam: (1) T1 weighted images for VBM analysis in compliance with DARTEL protocol; and (2) diffusion weighted imaging through TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics) to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA). In both methods statistical analysis was conducted through Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), Version 8. Comparisons between groups were conducted through covariance analysis (ANCOVA), available on SPM. Post-hoc tests were then applied to investigate volume differences. Regions of interest were analyzed after having been a priori defined through morphometric studies and DTI for sexual dimorphism and research work with TW. A priori presupposed, as well as non-predictable, results were reported to resist the statistical threshold of p<=0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons (Family Wise Error/FWE). Another criterion was that regions with at least 30 voxels would be mentioned. RESULTS: VBM showed: (i) GM volume increase in Brodmann 6 area in TWh; (ii) regions with GM volume decrease in the insula and in both brain hemispheres in TW; (iii) genu of corpus callosum volume increase in individuals who share female identity gender. DTI showed: FA lower values in right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and in the body of corpus callosum of TWh. CONCLUSION: significant regional brain volume differences assessed by VBM were detected in TW groups relative to controls. In the TWh group, brain volume changes suggest a possible influence of cross-sex hormone theraphy on brain neuroplasticity. There are some indication of feminization in the brains of TW individuals, most evidently in the CC and more subtly in the posterior superior frontal GM. The pattern of GM volumes alterations in the insula in the two independent TW groups are novel; such finding may be a marker of transsexuality or be a brain correlate of the suffering associated with this condition. FA value reduction at right SLF has been suggested to be associated to GD

INTRODUÇÃO: A disforia de gênero (GD) refere-se à incongruência entre o sexo de nascimento versus como ele é percebido e manifestado no comportamento do indivíduo, o que vem acompanhado por sofrimento. Em relação à transexualidade, tem-se sugerido que o cérebro não segue o mesmo padrão que o resto do corpo, pois há evidências de que determinadas regiões cerebrais nas mulheres transexuais (MT) - sexo biológico masculino - são parecidas com as mulheres sem GD. Estudos por imagens de ressonância magnética (RMI) têm investigado a morfometria cerebral pela técnica baseada no voxel (VBM), e pela técnica por tensores de difusão (DTI) - que avalia a microestrutura da substância branca (SB); essas pesquisas têm constatado diversas regiões com diferenças de volume da substância cinzenta (SC) e da SB por VBM, assim como alterações da microestrutura da SB por DTI, entre os sexos. OBJETIVOS: Investigar alterações volumétricas da SC e SB por VBM, e da microestrutura da SB por DTI, em quatro grupos de indivíduos. MÉTODOS: Uma amostra de 80 indivíduos foi analisada, sendo: 20 MT com GD sem uso de esteroides sexuais e 20 MT com GD em uso de esteroides sexuais, há, pelo menos, um ano (MTC); 20 homens e 20 mulheres (grupos-controle). Todos realizaram o exame de ressonância magnética em um aparelho de 1.5T. Nesse exame, duas sequências de imagens foram obtidas: (1) imagens ponderadas em T1 para a análise da VBM, processadas conforme o protocolo DARTEL, e (2) imagens ponderadas em difusão, processadas pelo TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics) com a finalidade de adquirir os valores da anisotropia fracionada (AF). A análise estatística, para ambos os métodos, foi conduzida pelo Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), versão 8. As comparações entre os grupos realizaram-se pela análise de covariância (ANCOVA), modelo disponível no SPM. Em seguida, aplicaram-se testes post-hoc para as comparações entre dois grupos, com o objetivo de investigar diferenças de volume. Pesquisaram-se regiões de interesse a priori definidas em estudos morfométricos e por DTI sobre o dimorfismo sexual, e em pesquisas com MT. Foram reportados os resultados pressupostos a priori, assim como os não previsíveis, que resistissem a um limiar estatístico com p<=0,05, corrigido para múltiplas comparações (Family Wise Error/FWE). Outro critério adotado foi que regiões com, no mínimo, 30 voxels, seriam citadas. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se pela VBM: (i) aumento de volume da SC na área de Brodmann 6 nas MTC; (ii) regiões com diminuição do volume da SC na ínsula, em ambos os hemisférios cerebrais, nas MT; (iii) aumento do volume do joelho do corpo caloso nos indivíduos que compartilham a identidade de gênero feminina. Observou-se por DTI: diminuição nos valores da AF no fascículo longitudinal superior (FLS) direito e no corpo do corpo caloso das MTC. CONCLUSÃO: diferenças significativas de volumes regionais cerebrais avaliados pela VBM foram detectadas nos grupos das MT em relação aos controles. As alterações de volume cerebral nas MTC sugerem uma possível influência dos esteroides sexuais na neuroplasticidade cerebral. Há indícios de feminização nos cérebros das MT, mais evidente no CC, e, mais sutilmente, no córtex posterior superior frontal. O padrão de alterações de volume da SC na ínsula em dois grupos MT independentes pode ser um marcador da transexualidade e/ou ser um correlato cerebral do sofrimento associado com esta condição. A redução no valor AF no FLS direito sugere associação com a GD / INTRODUCTION: Gender Dysphoria (GD) is the incongruence between sex at birth versus its perception and manifestation through individual behavior, and the suffering it is accompanied by. As for transsexuality, it has been suggested that the brain does not follow the same pattern as the rest of the body, since evidence has shown that certain brain regions in transsexual women (TW) - male biological sex - are similar to those in women with no GD. MRI-based studies have investigated brain morphometry through voxel based technique (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate the microstructure of white matter (WM). Those studies have verified a number of regions with gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume differences, as well as changes in the microstructure of WM through DTI between genders. OBJECTIVES: to investigate GM and WM volume changes through VBM, as well as the microstructure of WM through DTI in four groups of individuals. METHODS: A sample of 80 individuals was analyzed, as follows: 20 TW with GD not on sexual steroids, and 20 TW with GD on sexual steroids for at least one year (TWh), 20 men and 20 women (control groups). All were submitted to MRI in 1.5T equipment. Two image sequences were obtained from that exam: (1) T1 weighted images for VBM analysis in compliance with DARTEL protocol; and (2) diffusion weighted imaging through TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics) to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA). In both methods statistical analysis was conducted through Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), Version 8. Comparisons between groups were conducted through covariance analysis (ANCOVA), available on SPM. Post-hoc tests were then applied to investigate volume differences. Regions of interest were analyzed after having been a priori defined through morphometric studies and DTI for sexual dimorphism and research work with TW. A priori presupposed, as well as non-predictable, results were reported to resist the statistical threshold of p<=0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons (Family Wise Error/FWE). Another criterion was that regions with at least 30 voxels would be mentioned. RESULTS: VBM showed: (i) GM volume increase in Brodmann 6 area in TWh; (ii) regions with GM volume decrease in the insula and in both brain hemispheres in TW; (iii) genu of corpus callosum volume increase in individuals who share female identity gender. DTI showed: FA lower values in right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and in the body of corpus callosum of TWh. CONCLUSION: significant regional brain volume differences assessed by VBM were detected in TW groups relative to controls. In the TWh group, brain volume changes suggest a possible influence of cross-sex hormone theraphy on brain neuroplasticity. There are some indication of feminization in the brains of TW individuals, most evidently in the CC and more subtly in the posterior superior frontal GM. The pattern of GM volumes alterations in the insula in the two independent TW groups are novel; such finding may be a marker of transsexuality or be a brain correlate of the suffering associated with this condition. FA value reduction at right SLF has been suggested to be associated to GD