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The ‘Online Othering’ of Transgender People in Relation to ‘Gender Neutral Toilets’

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Online Othering

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity ((PSCYBER))

Abstract

We provide an exposition and critical analysis of some of the ways in which transgender people are ‘othered’ online and of attempts to resist or challenge this. This is achieved through the discursive analysis of 1756 online comments made in response to ten YouTube videos concerning ‘gender neutral toilets’. Three themes were developed: ‘gender neutral toilets as sites of sexual danger’; ‘claiming victimhood: gender neutral toilets as undermining the rights of cisgender people’; and ‘the delegitimisation and othering of transgender people’. The theme of delegitimisation and othering is elaborated in detail. We conclude that sexual and gender non-conformity is responded to with a limited set of tropes that delegitimise and other non-conforming people in culturally recognisable ways. The framing of effective resistance to anti-transgender, othering online talk is not straightforward but calls for creative, evidence-based, contextually informed discursive labour.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK

    Ben Colliver

  2. Department of Psychology, Kingston University London, Kingston, UK

    Adrian Coyle

  3. School of Social Policy, Sociology & Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Marisa Silvestri

Authors
  1. Ben Colliver
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  2. Adrian Coyle
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  3. Marisa Silvestri
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Researcher, Leicester, UK

    Karen Lumsden

  2. Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Emily Harmer

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Colliver, B., Coyle, A., Silvestri, M. (2019). The ‘Online Othering’ of Transgender People in Relation to ‘Gender Neutral Toilets’. In: Lumsden, K., Harmer, E. (eds) Online Othering. Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12633-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12633-9_9

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12632-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12633-9

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