Abstract

Using in-depth interviews with 20 transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) young adults (aged 18-24) in Florida, I examine how TGNC people navigate accountability structures to meet gendered expectations in the US healthcare system. While a growing body of sociological literature has expanded West and Zimmerman's "doing gender" and social accountability concepts, gaps remain in understanding how transgender populations encounter accountability structures, and the navigation of such structures by TGNC youth. Utilizing thematic analysis, I examine how TGNC people manage a practice I call "cisnormative accountability." Specifically, I demonstrate how the majority of respondents were often held accountable to a cisgender standard of accessing and utilizing health services through the gendered expectations of 1) enforcing a cisnormative standard of care through medical notions of binary gender and 2) upholding the medical model of transgender identity. Further, I outline the process of and consequences of "cisnormative accountability" and its potential implications for sociological studies of transgender experiences in healthcare.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Carter, Shannon

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008093; DP0023232

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023232

Language

English

Release Date

February 2025

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Campus-only Access)

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