For the Girls
Kristen Schilt is a professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She received her PhD from UCLA in 2006 and then spent two years at Rice University. She has just finished a book, coming out this winter, about the workplace experiences of transgender men. For this project, she interviewed transmen in Texas and California who were stealth at work and who had openly transitioned and stayed in the same jobs. As she believes it is very important to study non-trans people’s attitudes towards transgender people, she also interviewed the co-workers of transmen when possible. Building on this research, she has been collecting data on how cisgender(non-trans) people understand the term “transgender.”
For her next major project, she is interviewing transgender, including cross dressing, women about their transition experiences. In particular, she is interested in how making the physical transition into womanhood impacts daily interactions with friends, family, co-workers, and people on the street. As with her previous project, she is also interested in understanding how cisgender men and women understand transwomen. So, she is also asking transwomen who are interested in being interviewed to recommend two people who knew them “before and after” – whether a friend, a family member, or a co-worker – for interviews. For her, this addition is vital. As cisgender people, particularly men, are the main sources of violence and harassment toward transgender people, it is necessary to understand their beliefs and opinions on the transition process to get social change.
She will be conducting interviews with transwomen who are interested in Illinois and in Texas. She welcomes many questions about her research and hopes anyone interested (or just hungry) can make it to the bar-b-que on Sunday, June 20th. As always, vegetarian cuisine will be available!
What: Meet & Greet Social w/Dr Kristen Schilt
Who: Trans Identified women
When: June 20th 12-5 pm
Where: TG Center, 604 Pacific, 77006
Why: For fun and future research!
Excuse me, but exactly makes her an expert on transmen? This is probably just another self important transwoman bitching and moaning about how trans men have it soooooo much easier isn’t it?
She’s a cisgender women who has spent about a decade working, researching and supporting transmen and transmasculinity.