Quantitative and Qualitative Independent Research

1. Bringin’ Home the Bacon:
Transgender Men’s Experiences in
the Workplace
Caroline

2. Why trans men? Why the
workplace?

3. Thesis Statement
Through survey data collection and a
theoretical framework encompassing history,
theory, and statistical data about trans men, I
portray both individual lived experiences and
macrolevel social patterns affecting
respondents. This research brings the
experiences of my respondents into the light
in order to de-marginalize trans men,
particularly in their places of work.

4. Research Questions
(1) Do trans men with
emotionally supportive
communities have higher
workplace satisfaction?
(2) Is conforming to
standards of hegemonic
masculinity at work important
for trans men?
(3) Are trans men who
perceive themselves as
masculine typically more
satisfied with their work?
(4) Do trans men living in
states with legislation

5. Theoretical Framework
1. Cultural norms connected to
gender are socially constructed
(Butler, Nagoshi and Brzuzy)
2. Hegemonic masculinity is limiting
and harmful for male-identified
people and everyone else
(Carrigan, Connell and Lee, Altman)
3. Transgender people are an
incredibly diverse demographic
who do not have one singular
experience
(Nagoshi and Brzuzy, Lane, Schilt)
4. Destabilizing normalcy and
popular conception of gender is
beneficial for society as a whole
(Excerpt from DUDE Transmasculine Magazine,
Issue #1)

7. Participant
s Geographic Diversity

8. Race
White or
Caucasian
Multiracial
Native
American
Black or
African
American
Jewish
Asian
Latino
Other
1.5%
4%
Participant
s
66.7%
9.7%
6.9%
5.6%
Education Levels
Some high
School
High school
degree or
GED
Some college
credit
Associate
degree
Bachelor's
degree
Master's
degree
Professional
degree
40.3%
6.9%
33.3%
6.9%
4.2%2.8%

9. Participant
s Position at Work
Employee
Supervisors or
Managers
Self-
Employment
Self-Directed
Work
19.7%
5.6%
12.5%
59.2%
Field of Work
Administrative
Manufacturing
Technology
Academia
Art Industry
Service Industry
Food Industry
Engineering
Physical Labor
Activist Work
Other
42.3%
14.4%
9.7%
5.6%
7%
5.6%

10. Participant
s
Race
White or Caucasian
Multiracial
Native American
Black or African
American
Jewish
Asian
Latino
Other
Education Levels
Some high School
High school degree or
GED
Some college credit
Associate degree
Bachelor's degree
Master's degree
Professional degree

11. Findings
VARIABLES
• Workplace
Satisfaction
• Support Systems
Outside of Work
• Relationship with
Coworkers
• Legal Atmosphere
• Perceived Masculinity

12. Work Satisfaction Scores
Participants' Scores
0 points
1 - 4 points
5 - 8 points
9 - 12 points
13 - 16 points
45.8%
6.9%
9.7%
15.3%
22.2%

13. “I enjoy my job for what it is. I
work with amazing people.
Although, I am at a point in
my life where I feel a bit
stuck. I haven't quite figured
out how to do what I want to
be doing, make money, and
be me. Surgery is one thing
in the way of that. Saving
money for medical costs,
even working a living wage
job, is difficult when
insurance doesn't cover
many trans* related
expenses.”
--Trans*, 23, North Carolina, Service Industry
“It’s okay. I'm kind of burnt out
in my field, but it is also one
of the more 'safe' fields for
trans/GNC/queer people to
be out.”

14. Support System
Friends, Family, Partners, and involvement in trans organizations
This photo depicts a trans man showing his friend
scars from chest surgery (DUDE magazine).

15. Partner Impact
10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5
Respondent Has Partner
Respondent Does Not
Have Partner
Workplace
Satisfaction
Scores

16. Support System
“Of all the people I know, my partner 'gets' it the most. My partner is
unflaggingly supportive not just of me, but of trans people in general and the
idea that our genders are as real and valid as the genders of cis people.”
--Man of Trans Experience, 33, Rhode Island, Patron Service Worker at an Academic Library

17. Relationship with Coworkers
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Not Supportive
Supportive
Workplace
Satisfaction
Scores

18. “I work at a small bank, there are only 8 or 9
of us total, the managers were on board
with me transitioning on the job and did a
great job of stepping up and leading when
it came time to switching to my chosen
name and they ordered me a new name
badge even though legally I haven't
changed my name yet. My co-workers
struggle at times with the name/pronoun
thing but overall they are trying. I haven't
had a negative reaction from any of them.”
--Trans guy, 24, Wisconsin, Bank Teller

19. Legal Atmosphere
Movement Advancement Project

20. “Some ass is always going to find a way around the
law to fire you or make you quit. A popular method
I saw at my previous employer that I disagree
with, was overloading a person to the point of
enormous stress, making them quit, or to the point
of overloading them to show they weren't reaching
quotas or goals, thus requiring termination.”
--Two spirit, 39, Illinois, E-mail Marketing Manager
State’s Legal Status
State has protection laws
States does not have
protection laws
Respondent does not know
31.3%
43.3%
25.8%

21. Options for Trans Workers
• State and Local
Judicial Arguments
• Title VII of the 1964
Civil Rights Act
• Employment Non-
Discrimination Act
National Center for Transgender Equality

22. Perceived Masculinity Scale

23. “The friends who are aware
are ones who knew me
before I socially or
physically transitioned. I
"pass" completely now
and prefer for people not
to know unless I desire to
be intimate with them.
The other exception to
this would be a close,
platonic friendship with
someone whose life and
personal history I know
well. I do not want
special attention for
being trans, nor do I want
to be the
trans*cyclopedia of
Britannica. I just want to
live my life as the person
I should have been all

24. “In the area that I work in, it is most male predominant and after coming out and identifying as
male, I have seen a change in how people treat me. When I was reffing as a female, male
players would always question my calls and think that I was incompetent to ref because of
my gender. When I started working as a male, the players didn't question me as much
and respected me a lot more.”
----FTM, Texas, 22, Program Assistant and Referee for University of Texas Intramurals
“The only discomfort I experience is when the men on the crew make racist, homophobic
or sexist comments. I am still trying to figure how to be assertive in these situations
because I now have male privilege, but it is hard to break the habit of keeping my
head down.”

25. Significance
Calls for Federal
Legislation
Leads to Further
Research
Destabilizes gender
norms
Painting by Cooper Lee Bombardier, famous trans male artist

26. References
Altman, D. 1971. Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. New York, NY:
Outerbridge & Dienstfrey.
Bender-Baird, Kyla. 2011. Transgender Workplace Experiences. Albany:
State University of New York Press.
Butler, J. 1990. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity.
New York, NY: Routledge.
Carrigan, Tim, Bob Connell, and John Lee. 1985. “Toward a New Sociology
of Masculinity.” Theory and Society, 14(5): 551-604.
Chesebro, James W. and Koji Fuse. 2001. “The Development of a Perceived
Masculinity Scale.” Communication Quarterly 49:203-278.
Lane, R. 2009. “Trans as bodily becoming: Rethinking the biological as
diversity, not dichotomy.” Hypatia, 24: 136-157.
Movement Advancement Project. 2013. A Broken Bargain for Transgender
Workers. Denver, CO. Movement Advancement Project.
Nagoshi, J. and S. Brzuzy. 2010. “Transgender Theory: Embodying
Research and Practice.” Journal of Women and Social Work, 25(4):431-443
Schilt, K. 2010. Just One of the Guys? Transgender Men and the
Persistence of Gender Inequality. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
DUDE Transmasculinity Magazine, Issues 1, 2
and 3
Movement Advancement Project
National Center for Transgender Equality
Cooper Lee Bombardier
http://www.oddee.com/item_98038.aspx
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7
/79/Buckangel_cowboy.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2
/2d/Thomas_Beatie_p%C3%A5_Stockholm
_Pride_2011.JPG
http://realofficecenters.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/Work-Stress-750x400.jpg
http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/p
ublic/story_images/tiredman.jpg
Theorists Photos

27. Acknowledgments
First and foremost, THANK YOU to all of my
participants!
To the Sociology/Anthropology Department of Warren Wilson
College, especially Siti Kusujiarti and Christey Carwile for
their mentorship and attention to detail throughout this
research
To my friends, especially Lia Kaz, Lily Kline, Nora White,
Dean Schlesinger, and Lewis Pullman, for keeping me
sane and for reminding me that I am smart enough to write a
thesis. Thank you to Zack Wintz for coming all the way from
Texas to support me, multiple times throughout the past 4
years.
To my family, for always picking up the phone and for supporting
me in everything that I do
To the Service Program Staff and Crew, for always being my

28. Questions?