The trans person seeks to shift the gender expression of their body, often socially and sometimes physically. While not all trans people have binary gender goals, the desire is typically a transition in the direction opposite to the gender one is assigned at birth. Within the transgender community, there are multiple camps with opinions about who can be considered trans. These range from anyone who self identifies to only those who have intense gender dysphoria that makes transition a life or death decision. A posthuman perspective on “who gets to be trans” sides more with the dissolution of boundaries and expansion through flexible self-identification. 

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The trans body is a site of contestation in contemporary society. There is a discrepancy between the theory and the practice of the American idea that citizens have personal rights to speech and lifestyle in theory and practice. Trans people are othered into predatory monsters so that they can be dehumanized and pushed out of public spaces, inviting violence. Trans women of color- the most at risk for violence and murder are the most vilified. Violence becomes justified when the trans person “tricks” the cisgender person into believing that they are something other than what that person originally thought. What happens when the trans person embraces this monstrosity?