Laverne Cox. Chaz Bono. Caitlyn Jenner. Chelsea Manning. Jazz Jennings. Ian Harvee. On television shows, in documentary films, on YouTube videos, and throughout other communication vehicles, the inclusion of transgender personalities and characters in the media has escalated like never before. Lately, it seems like images of people whose gender identities do not align with the sex box checked on their birth certificates are all the buzz.
What are the implications of these depictions of trans people on social constructions of gender? What is the nature of these portrayals? Is the wide range of gender identities (such as genderqueer, pangender, and many others) that challege the binary being reflected? Are we on the threshold of a gender revolution and, if so, what role are the media playing in it?
The academic literature is replete with texts that investigate representations of gender in the media. Some of these scholarly works also include a glance at popular transgender characters and celebrites. Clearly, however, the moment is ripe for a book completely devoted to the portrayal of trans and other gender-nonconforming people in the media. Consequently, chapters or at least chapter proposals are being solicited for an edited volume that will address this need. The editor will draft the introductory chapter and another piece that explores media depictions of gender-creative, pre-adolescent children.
As of yet, no publisher has been secured. But given the intensifying interest in the topic and the expected strength of the contributions, the editor will put together a book proposal that is bound to sell.
The editor is open to any submission that draws on any academically sound methodological approach--as long as the result will advance thought and knowledge on representations in the media that contest the gender binary. Interpretive textual analyses, content analyses, reception studies, production studies--they're all welcome.
Please email your submission--along with a brief bio--to the editor at: