Hvem tæller med som mand?

Om inklusion af transpersoner i teorier om mænds identitetsdannelse

Abstract

In this text, I reflect on how the inclusion of transmen’s and transmasculine persons’ life experiences in critical studies on men and masculinities can contribute to the knowledge production on men’s identity formation. I reconsider the effects of taking the notion of cismen’s homosociality as the central point of departure in analyses within the field of critical studies on men and masculinities, in particular in Sweden and the Nordic countries. Drawing on queer and trans researchers’ questioning of a widespread connection between male sex, masculine gender and the category and identity man in studies on men and masculinities, I suggest that including empirical studies on transmen’s and transmasculine persons’, as well as feminist cismen’s identity formations, can fruitfully challenge the position of homosociality as the most central notion in men’s identity formation. I show that an increased inclusion of transmen, transmasculine persons, and feminist cismen in critical studies on men and masculinities could lead to a reconsideration and nuancing of views on what guides men’s identity formations. Furthermore, such inclusion would enable critical studies of cisnormativity within the field of critical studies on men and masculinities, as well as contribute to the acknowledgement of transmen as men.