The Shame of Being Trans: Transgender Patients and Cisgender Doctors on U.S. Medical Dramas

Traci Abbott

doi:0278-9671

The Shame of Being Trans: Transgender Patients and Cisgender Doctors on U.S. Medical Dramas

Traci Abbott

English and Media Studies

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Abstract

This essay asserts that the medical drama’s depiction of transgender patients is problematic due to its reliance on shame as a framework for the relationship between the medical personnel and the patient. These series do so by presenting the distinction between the sex (as assigned at birth) and gender identity of trans guest characters as so significant that attempts to prioritize the latter over the former or hide its existence are characterized as shameful, thereby contributing to current transphobic debates across the United States.

Original language	English
Journal	Literature and Medicine
Volume	25
DOIs	https://doi.org/0278-9671
State	Accepted/In press - 1964

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0278-9671

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AB - This essay asserts that the medical drama’s depiction of transgender patients is problematic due to its reliance on shame as a framework for the relationship between the medical personnel and the patient. These series do so by presenting the distinction between the sex (as assigned at birth) and gender identity of trans guest characters as so significant that attempts to prioritize the latter over the former or hide its existence are characterized as shameful, thereby contributing to current transphobic debates across the United States.

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ER -

The Shame of Being Trans: Transgender Patients and Cisgender Doctors on U.S. Medical Dramas

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