Abstract
Purpose: Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has long been recognised as a successful treatment option for alleviating the distress associated with gender dysphoria for the vast majority of its recipients. From an Australian context, little research has been undertaken on the experiences of trans* people pursuing SRS. Thus, in part, the purpose of this PhD project was to understand the psychosocial experiences of Australian trans* people who had undergone SRS, how they navigated that life changing event, and if they perceived that their needs were met.
Materials
and Methods: Based upon a
theoretical framework based upon some key tenets of social constructionism,
embodiment and narrative, fourteen trans* people (9 trans* men and 5 trans*
women ranging in ages from 25-78) were interviewed. The interview was broken
into two sections; firstly, participants were invited (voluntarily) to draw a
picture or series of pictures depicting their SRS experience. From this,
participants were asked to title their picture, note a few keywords that
described their picture, and then were asked to explain the significance of the
picture. An unstructured interview based upon the pictures followed and the
pictures were used to supplement the narrative analysis of the interviews.
Results: Twelve of the fourteen participants agreed to
participate in the drawing activity, a novel approach to data generation. This
gallery of work displayed here represents the visual and textual thoughts and
feelings on how SRS was experienced by this cohort of Australian trans* people.
The images demonstrate how SRS alleviated not only gender dysphoria, but also
contributed to feelings of improved self worth, body image and a necessary step
in identity development.
Conclusion: Participants' visual accounts suggest that from a personal
perspective, surgery as an act relieved their dysphoria and met their needs.
New forms of masculinity and femininity were created and became normative. The
unique bodily experiences of these twelve Australian participants, unanimous in
their positive experiences of SRS, support previous studies on the
effectiveness of SRS as an outcome. However, the novel way in which the data
were generated placed a human aspect to SRS not normally depicted.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Jun 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | WPATH Biennial International Symposium: Growing: Empowerment, Expertise, Evidence - Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 17 Jun 2016 → 21 Jun 2016 |
Conference
| Conference | WPATH Biennial International Symposium |
|---|---|
| Country | Netherlands |
| City | Amsterdam |
| Period | 17/06/16 → 21/06/16 |
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Pictorial experiences of SRS in an Australian cohort. / Chaplin, Belinda; Cox, Leonie; Campbell, Christina.
2016. Poster session presented at WPATH Biennial International Symposium, Amsterdam, Netherlands.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › Research
TY - CONF
T1 - Pictorial experiences of SRS in an Australian cohort
AU - Chaplin, Belinda
AU - Cox, Leonie
AU - Campbell, Christina
PY - 2016/6/17
Y1 - 2016/6/17
N2 - Purpose: Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has long been recognised as a successful treatment option for alleviating the distress associated with gender dysphoria for the vast majority of its recipients. From an Australian context, little research has been undertaken on the experiences of trans* people pursuing SRS. Thus, in part, the purpose of this PhD project was to understand the psychosocial experiences of Australian trans* people who had undergone SRS, how they navigated that life changing event, and if they perceived that their needs were met. Materials and Methods: Based upon a theoretical framework based upon some key tenets of social constructionism, embodiment and narrative, fourteen trans* people (9 trans* men and 5 trans* women ranging in ages from 25-78) were interviewed. The interview was broken into two sections; firstly, participants were invited (voluntarily) to draw a picture or series of pictures depicting their SRS experience. From this, participants were asked to title their picture, note a few keywords that described their picture, and then were asked to explain the significance of the picture. An unstructured interview based upon the pictures followed and the pictures were used to supplement the narrative analysis of the interviews. Results: Twelve of the fourteen participants agreed to participate in the drawing activity, a novel approach to data generation. This gallery of work displayed here represents the visual and textual thoughts and feelings on how SRS was experienced by this cohort of Australian trans* people. The images demonstrate how SRS alleviated not only gender dysphoria, but also contributed to feelings of improved self worth, body image and a necessary step in identity development. Conclusion: Participants' visual accounts suggest that from a personal perspective, surgery as an act relieved their dysphoria and met their needs. New forms of masculinity and femininity were created and became normative. The unique bodily experiences of these twelve Australian participants, unanimous in their positive experiences of SRS, support previous studies on the effectiveness of SRS as an outcome. However, the novel way in which the data were generated placed a human aspect to SRS not normally depicted.
AB - Purpose: Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) has long been recognised as a successful treatment option for alleviating the distress associated with gender dysphoria for the vast majority of its recipients. From an Australian context, little research has been undertaken on the experiences of trans* people pursuing SRS. Thus, in part, the purpose of this PhD project was to understand the psychosocial experiences of Australian trans* people who had undergone SRS, how they navigated that life changing event, and if they perceived that their needs were met. Materials and Methods: Based upon a theoretical framework based upon some key tenets of social constructionism, embodiment and narrative, fourteen trans* people (9 trans* men and 5 trans* women ranging in ages from 25-78) were interviewed. The interview was broken into two sections; firstly, participants were invited (voluntarily) to draw a picture or series of pictures depicting their SRS experience. From this, participants were asked to title their picture, note a few keywords that described their picture, and then were asked to explain the significance of the picture. An unstructured interview based upon the pictures followed and the pictures were used to supplement the narrative analysis of the interviews. Results: Twelve of the fourteen participants agreed to participate in the drawing activity, a novel approach to data generation. This gallery of work displayed here represents the visual and textual thoughts and feelings on how SRS was experienced by this cohort of Australian trans* people. The images demonstrate how SRS alleviated not only gender dysphoria, but also contributed to feelings of improved self worth, body image and a necessary step in identity development. Conclusion: Participants' visual accounts suggest that from a personal perspective, surgery as an act relieved their dysphoria and met their needs. New forms of masculinity and femininity were created and became normative. The unique bodily experiences of these twelve Australian participants, unanimous in their positive experiences of SRS, support previous studies on the effectiveness of SRS as an outcome. However, the novel way in which the data were generated placed a human aspect to SRS not normally depicted.
KW - transgender
KW - nursing
UR - http://wpath2016.conferencespot.org/62620-wpathv2-1.3138789/t002-1.3139895/f030-1.3139896/0706-000195-1.3139901
M3 - Poster
ER -