UC San Diego

Through juxtaposing prose, poetry, and a screenplay, I aim to investigate familial, romantic, and sexual intimacy through the lens of trans femininity. Personal and critical essays examine contemporary art, image theory, and popular culture examine the ways in which the transsexual self is created through self-fashioning and matrilineal impulses, both familial and chosen. The collection of writing critically analyzes the development and consumption of the “manic tranny dream girl” archetype and reframes trans desire through a transfeminine lens. Theory and autobiography are used interchangeably here as I seek not to produce my own theory, but rather to engage in a critical self-analysis through the process of art making that extends into a broader conversation about trans bodies in contemporary media.