The body in transit: the production of one’s self despite the effects of violence

Abstract

Trans implies a mismatching lies between self-identified gender and the gender assigned at birth. In response,
gender transitioning occurs with occasional body modifications. Although the rights of non-heterosexual people
depend on making choices about their body and health, these are not possible because heterosexuality is
considered a universal normality. Thus, exposing people with non-normative identities to social vulnerability
and health incidents. As a social commitment to development, this research set out the following objective: to
reconstruct subjectivity in the production of the self, self-perception of body image and technologies of the self
about the device of sexuality, female beauty standards versus eating habits in the historical process of body
adaptation for identity assumption in a trans woman resident in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico in the period
2019-2022. With an interpretive paradigm approach using methods such as: genealogy and ethnography.
Analyzing discourse from observation categories derived from queer theory. Preservation of autonomy,
protection of identity and confidentiality by informed consent. Results: The production of the self is conditioned
by violence and biotechnology investment. The lack of compatibility between the body and social imaginary
generates physical dissatisfaction, another form of exposure to emotional violence. The technologies of the
self are executed according to the availability, the corporal value is subject to the sum of these, highlighting
hormone treatment and make-up the face. Restrictive feeding, not eating, eating less or fasting is related to
the caregiver’s rejection and rupture of the family bond.