COMING OUT AND CROSSING-OVER - IDENTITY FORMATION AND PROCLAMATION INA TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

Drawing on data from interviews with 65 masculine-to-feminine transgen derists, the authors examine the canting-out experiences of transgende red individuals. Drawing on the literature that shows gender to be an inherent component of the social infrastructure that at an individual level is accompanied in interaction with others, they demonstrate that interactional challenges to gender are insufficient to challenge the system of gender. Whereas many transgenderists believe that their acti ons and identifies are radical challenges to the binary system of gend er; in fact, the majority of such individuals reinforce and reify the system they hope to change.