Trans*forming college masculinities: carving out trans*masculine pathways through the threshold of dominance

Abstract

Men and masculinities studies are gaining prominence in higher education literature, illuminating how cisgender college men understand and grapple with masculinity. Additionally, the increased visibility of trans* students has fueled the expanding scholarship and attention to their experiences, often however centering on white gender-conforming trans* students with little if any focus on their multiple and intersecting identities. The gap between these two strands of literature risks reifying hegemonic masculinity and genderism, as masculinities continue to be theorized as exclusively shaped and embodied by cisgender men. Through post-intentional and queer phenomenologies, this study seeks to fill that gap by investigating how trans*masculine students conceptualize masculinity/ies, and how that conception is informed by various intersecting and salient identities. Through a multifaceted conceptual framework and disruptive phenomenologies, the study positions trans*masculine students as agentic worldmakers, constructing trans*masculine pathways, with implications for building toward gender liberation for themselves and others.