Trans Tumblr

Screenshots from #FTM Tumblr Search. 2016.
Screenshots from #FTM Tumblr Search. 2016.

How do trans people carve out and stitch together spaces and cultures of their own, while navigating political economies of oppression? What can online environments afford and limit trans people in their production of culture, access to accurate medical knowledge, and their sense of self? How do trans youth act to define the meaning of trans identities for the larger trans community, and how do trans online discussions serve to enact larger trans identities in the US and abroad?

These questions are driving my on-going project. For about two years, I’ve been collecting data on the #ftm and, for a shorter time, #mtf hashtags from Tumblr. These oft used trans hashtags, standing for female-to-male and male-to-female, drew my attention as I was coming into my own trans identity. I spoke on my early findings at the American Association of Geographers meeting in 2016, and I look forward to doing more analysis on this work this year to send out some papers and share findings with the public.