Queering the trans: Gender and sexuality binaries in Icelandic trans,queer,and feminist communities

Abstract

Activists in feminist, queer, and trans movements share in common a critique of the existing gender order. Yet activists may have different understandings of what is wrong with existing gender arrangements, and different understandings of what might be required to establish greater social equality. Using data from interviews with activists in the feminist, queer, and trans movements in Iceland, this article looks at the ways that gender equality and the gender binary are understood by individuals who identify with feminist, queer, and/or trans activism, and some of their shared and conflicting critiques of the existing gender order.

Keywords

Feminist activists gender equality gender order queer activists trans activists

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

A Proposal for a New Constitution for the Republic of Iceland (2012) Available at: stjornlagarad.is/other_files/stjornlagarad/Frumvarp-enska.pdf.

Alþingi (1996) Act No. 87/1996 on Registered Cohabitation. Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/120/s/0564.html.

Alþingi (2006) Act No. 65/2006 on the Rights of Homosexual People (Cohabitation, Adoption, Artificial Insemination). Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/132/s/0374.html.

Alþingi (2009) Parliamentary Resolution on the Rights of Transpeople. Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/138/s/0187.html.

Alþingi (2010) Act No. 31/1993 on Marriage and Amendments No. 65/2010. Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/2010.065.html.

Alþingi (2011) Act No. 55/1996 on Artificial Fertilization and use of Human Gametes and Embryos for Stem-Cell Research. Available at: www.althingi.is/lagas/139b/1996055.html.

Alþingi (2012) Act No. 57/2012 on the Legal Status of Individuals with Gender Identity Disorder. Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/stjt/2012.057.html.

Alþingi (2014) Proposition to changes of the penal code no 19/1940 with later amendments (discrimination on the basis of gender identity and the European Council’s Convention on Cybercrime). Available at: www.althingi.is/altext/143/s/0112.html.

Ármannsdóttir

(2010) Transsexual-QA-professor-janice-raymond-2010-10-24.mp4 [Video file]. Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ogHsRZ2oA (accessed 28 December 2015).

10.

Árnadóttir

Bjarnadóttir

(2011) Konur í kreppu? Samantekt á opinberum tölulegum gögnum á áhrifum efnahagshrunsins á velferð kvenna. Reykjavík, Ministry of Welfare. Available at: www.velferdarraduneyti.is/media/ritogskyrslur2011/Konur_i_kreppu_22032011.pdf (accessed 26 February 2012).

11.

Árnadóttir

(ed.) (2011) Á rauðum sokkum. Baráttukonur segja frá. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, Rannsóknastofa í kvenna- og kynjafræðum.

12.

Benjamin

(2013) Let’s celebrate diversity, Baby! Gay Pride is back! Grapevine. 8 August. Available at: grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Lets-Celebrate-Diversity-Baby.

13.

Bettcher

(2014) Trapped in the wrong theory: Rethinking trans oppression and resistance. Signs 39(2): 383–406.

14.

Björnsdóttir

(2013) MP to compete in a beauty contest. Grapevine, 14 June. Available at: grapevine.is/news/2013/06/14/mp-to-compete-in-a-beauty-contest/ (accessed 24 July 2014).

15.

Connell

(2009) Short Introductions Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press.

16.

Connell

(2010) Transgender and the gender order. Polare 83 (April).

17.

Connell

(2011) Confronting Equality: Gender, Knowledge and Global Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.

18.

Connell

(2012) Transsexual women and feminist thought: Toward new understanding and new politics. Signs 37(4): 857–881.

19.

Currah

(2006) Gender pluralisms under the transgender umbrella. In: Currah

Juang

Minter

(eds.) Transgender Rights. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

20.

Dominelli

Jónsdóttir

(1988) Feminist political organization in Iceland: Some reflections on the experiences of Kwenna Frambothid. Feminist Review 30 (Autumn): 36–60.

21.

Dwyer

Buckle

(2009) The space between: On being an insider-outsider in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 8(1): 54–63.

22.

Einarsdóttir

(2005) Women in Iceland: Strong women: myths and contradictions. In: Mancini Billson

Fluehr-Lobban

(eds.) Female Well-Being: Social Change Around the World in the 20th Century. London: Zed Books, pp. 181–206.

23.

Ellenberger

(2013) Iceland: Trouble in queer paradise. Gay Iceland, 4 November. Available at: www.gayiceland.is/category/lbgt-rights/.

24.

Erlendsdóttir

(1993) Veröld sem ég vil. Saga Kvenréttindafélags Íslands 1907–1992. Reykjavík: Kvenrétindafélag Íslands.

25.

Femínistafélag Íslands (2003) Afbrigði af fegurð. Available at: www.feministinn.is/myndir/fegurdmai03/fegurdmai03.htm (accessed 24 July 2014).

26.

Gay Reykjavík (n.d.) Available at: www.visitreykjavik.is/travel/gay-reykjavik.

27.

Guðmundsdóttir

(2008) Femínistafélag Íslands. Sögulegt yfirlit. In: Kristmundsson

Hrafnsdóttir

(eds) Stjórnun og rekstur félagasamtaka. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, pp. 315–323.

28.

Gústafsdóttir

(2011) The economics of beauty. Þjóðarspegillinn, Rannsóknir í félagsvísindum XII, Stjórnmálafræðideild, pp. 54–61.

29.

Irving

(2013) Normalized transgressions: Legitimizing the transsexual body as productive. In: Stryker

Aizura

(eds) The Transgender Studies Reader 2. New York: Routledge, pp. 38–59.

30.

Jakobsson

(2014) Judy Garland er löngu dauð: Tilgáta um hvers vegna ‘hinseginhátíðin’ sé í vanda. Ritið, tímarit Hugvísindastofnunar 13(3): 201–207.

31.

Johnson

Einarsdóttir

Pétursdóttir

(2013) A feminist theory of corruption: Lessons from Iceland. Politics and Gender 9: 1–33.

32.

Kantola

(2014) The paradoxical gendered consequences of the EU policy on multiple discrimination: The Nordic case. In: Weiner

MacRae

(eds) The Persistent Invisibility of Gender in EU Policy, European Integration Online Papers (EIoP), Special issue 1, Vol. 18, Article 7, pp. 1–19. Available at: eiop.or.at/eiop/texte/2014-007a.htm.

33.

Kjaran

(2014) Queering the Icelandic upper secondary schools: Heteronormative discourse and the experiences of queer students in Icelandic upper secondary schools. PhD Dissertation, University of Iceland.

34.

Kvennafrídagurinn 2010 (n.d.) Available at: http://kvennafri.is/skotturnar (accessed 28 August 2014).

35.

Liamputtong

(2007) Researching the Vulnerable: A Guide to Sensitive Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

36.

Magnusson

Rönnblom

Silius

(eds) (2008) Critical Studies of Gender Equalities. Göteborg: Makadam Publishers.

37.

Mánudagsblaðið (1972) Einstæð og lýðræðisleg fegurðarsamkeppni. 18 September, p. 1.

38.

Morgunblaðið (2007) Margbreytileikinn ræddur. 26 October, p. 43.

39.

Morgunblaðið (1985) Halla Bryndís Jónsdóttir fegurðardrottning Íslands ’85. 29 May, pp. 64–65.

40.

OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) (2013) OSCE media freedom representative concerned proposed legislation in Iceland could limit freedom of expression. Press Release, 4 November, OSCE, Vienna. Available at: www.osce.org/fom/107789.

41.

Pink Iceland (n.d.) Available at: www.pinkiceland.is/.

42.

Rögnvaldsdóttir

(2013) Ungfrú Meðfærileg og ungfrú Spök. Knúz, 15 September. Available at: knuz.is/2013/09/15/ungfru-medfaerileg-og-ungfru-spok/ (accessed 24 July 2014).

43.

Rydström

Mustola

(2007) Criminally Queer: Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia 1842–1999. Amsterdam: Aksant.

44.

Samtökin 78 Félag homma og lesbía á Íslandi (Samtökin 78, the National Queer Organization). Ársskýrsla 2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2008–2009 (Annual Report 2005–2006, 2006–2007 and 2008–2009). Available at: samtokin78.is/images/pdf/arsskyrsla_2005_2006_web.pdf, samtokin78.is/images/pdf/arsskyrsla_2006_2007_web.pdf and samtokin78.is/images/pdf/arsskyrsla_2008_2009_web.pdf.

45.

Spade

(2011) Normal Life. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

46.

Stone

(1987) The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttransexual Manifesto, 4 edn. Austin, TX: ACTLab.

47.

Stryker

(1994) My words to Victor Frankenstein above the village of Chamounix: Performing transgender rage. GLQ 1: 237–254.

48.

Tíminn (1972) Rauðsokkótt kvíga í fegurðarsamkeppni á Akranesi. 12 September, p. 1. Available at: timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?issId=264478&pageId=3727022&lang=is&q=kv%EDga (accessed 24 July 2014).

49.

Valentine

(2004) The categories themselves. In: Jagose

Kulick

(eds) Forum Thinking Sex, Thinking Gender. GLQ 10(2): 215–220.

50.

Vandamál Önnu Kristjánsdóttur (2010) 25. október 2010 – Um Skotturnar. Available at: velstyran.blogspot.com/2010/10/25-oktober-2010-um-skotturnar.html.

51.

Velferðarráðuneyti (2014) Proposition on the administration of equality issues. Available at: www.velferdarraduneyti.is/media/frettatengt-2014/Frumvarp-til-laga-um-stjornsyslu-a-svidi-jafnrettismala.pdf.

52.

Westbrook

Schilt

(2014) Doing gender, determining gender: Transgender people, gender panics and the maintenance of the sex/gender/sexuality system. Gender and Society 28(1): 32–57.

53.

World Economic Forum (2015) The Global Gender Gap Report 2015. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

54.

Þjóðviljinn (1985) Borgarstjórn: Karlrembu mótmælt. 7 June, p. 1. Available at: timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?issId=224425&pageId=2898366&lang=is&q=Borgarstj%F3rn (accessed 24 July 2014).

55.

Þorvaldsdóttir

ÞH

(2012) From gender only to equality to equality of all: A critical examination of the expansion of equality work in Iceland. PhD Dissertation, University of Iceland, Faculty of Political Science.