Gender Revolution: Integrating Trans Issues into Progressive Social Movements for Cultural Transformation

Women’s Heritage Presentation by Joelle Ruby Ryan
March 20-Thursday-7:00 p.m.-Aleshire Theatre

In this talk, Ryan will discuss the work of the transgender liberation movement in the last 15 years. In particular, she will stress the importance of intersectional approaches to trans civil rights work and the need for increased unity between divergent social movements. Through discussion of her research and personal experiences, Ruby will cajole participants to use their agency to provoke social transformation and to unify in the fight for a gender revolution.

Joelle Ruby Ryan
Joelle Ruby Ryan is a PhD Candidate in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Previously, she earned Master of Arts degrees in English Literature and Women’s Studies. Her master’s work focused on images of transgender people in film, television and literature. Her current research interests are GLBT (Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transsexual) Studies, feminism, queer theory, ethnic studies, film and media studies, fat studies, and sex work. Her dissertation is tentatively entitled: "Reel Gender: The Politics of Trans Representations in Film and Television." Her goal is to examine the ways that trans images function politically, and how they have shifted historically. What affect do these images have on furthering acceptance of gender diversity in society and on countering cultural transphobia?

In addition to her academic work, Ryan is an activist and involved in artistic production. She is the founder of New Hampshire Transgender Resources for Education and Empowerment (NH TREE), a grass-roots trans group in NH dedicated to social support, education and political advocacy. She is the co-producer (with Peter Welch) of two autobiographical videos: 1995’s A Transgender Path and 2003’s TransAmazon: A Gender Queer Journey, which screened at film festivals in the US, Australia and the UK. In 2005, Ryan released a book of poems entitled Gender Quake. Gender Quake is a book of revolutionary poems that explores what it means to be a transgender individual in America.

Visit Joelle Ruby Ryan’s website at: http://www.joellerubyryan.com