STRUGGLING FOR ORDINARY
CRITICAL CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
General Editors: Jonathan Gray, Aswin Punathambekar, Nina Huntemann
Founding Editors: Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kent A. Ono
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Edited by Michael G. Lacy and Kent A. Ono
Circuits of Visibility: Gender and Transnational Media Cultures
Edited by Radha S. Hegde
Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance in Neoliberal Times
Edited by Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser
Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11
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Visualizing Atrocity: Arendt, Evil, and the Optics of Thoughtlessness
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The Makeover: Reality Television and Reflexive Audiences
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Authentic™: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture
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Technomobility in China: Young Migrant Women and Mobile Phones
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Love and Money: Queers, Class, and Cultural Production
Lisa Henderson
Cached: Decoding the Internet in Global Popular Culture
Stephanie Ricker Schulte
Black Television Travels: African American Media around the Globe
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Citizenship Excess: Latino/as, Media, and the Nation
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Feeling Mediated: A History of Media Technology and Emotion in America
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Making Media Work: Cultures of Management in the Entertainment Industries
Edited by Derek Johnson, Derek Kompare, and Avi Santo
The Post-Racial Mystique: Media and Race in the Twenty-First Century
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Sounds of Belonging: U.S. Spanish-language Radio and Public Advocacy
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Orienting Hollywood: A Century of Film Culture between Los Angeles and Bombay
Nitin Govil
Asian American Media Activism: Fighting for Cultural Citizenship
Lori Kido Lopez
Struggling for Ordinary: Media and Transgender Belonging in Everyday Life
Andre Cavalcante
Struggling for Ordinary
Media and Transgender Belonging in Everyday Life
Andre Cavalcante
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
© 2018 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cavalcante, Andre, author.
Title: Struggling for ordinary : media and transgender belonging in everyday life / Andre Cavalcante.
Description: New York : New York University Press, [2018] | Series: Critical cultural communication | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017034137 | ISBN 9781479881307 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479841318 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Transgender people—Social aspects. | Social media.
Classification: LCC HQ77.9 .C398 2018 | DDC 306.76/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017034137
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
Introduction: I Felt Like I Was Going to Explode
1. We Can No Longer Hide in Plain Sight: From the Cultural Margins to the Tipping Point
3. I Want to Be Like a Really Badass Lady: Media and Transgender Possibilities
4. You Have to Be Really Strong: Practicing Resilient Reception
5. We’re Just Living Life: Media and the Struggle for the Ordinary
A Queerly Ordinary Conclusion: We All Put Our Skirts On One Leg at a Time
Introduction
I Felt Like I Was Going to Explode
“I don’t know what drew me to the cover of the book, but I looked at it and went, ‘Oh my god!’ I’m like this! Everything changed after that,” explained Margie. Etched into her memory, Margie recalled that pivotal