ISU Janet C. Anderson Center to host an article discussion Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History b

Released by Idaho State University October 22, 2010



Contact: Dr. Rebecca Morrow, Anderson Center Director at (208) 282-2805 or gndrctr@isu.edu



ISU Janet C. Anderson Center to host an article discussion Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History by Dr. Peter Boag – October 28, 2010



ISU Janet C. Anderson Center to host Speaker Dr. Peter Boag – November 4, 2010



POCATELLO – The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center will host an article discussion of Dr. Peter Boag’s Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, October 28 in the Heritage Room of the Pond Student Union Building on the ISU campus. This article discussion will take place in preparation for the much anticipated event to be held on Thursday, November 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Salmon River Suite of the Pond Student Union Building wherein the Anderson Center is hosting Dr. Peter Boag as an honored speaker. The article discussion and speaker event, in honor of National Transgender Day of Remembrance, are free and open to the public.



The discussion of Dr. Peter Boag’s award-winning article, Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History will address the historical omission, by both feminist scholars and popular feminist writers, of the possibility of transgenderism among female-to-male cross-dressers of the American Old West. Particular consideration will be spent delving into an extensive exploration of why this neglect of Trans history has occurred, including the role that the Western Myth and the Frontier Thesis have had in tainting such evidence. Asserting that, indeed, transgenderism existed beyond the simple claims of female-to-male cross-dressing or lesbian tendency, as is declared by most feminist scholars, Boag’s article normalizes the concept of Trans identity throughout the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century West.
Transgenderism, involving all its contemporary complexities of acceptance and integration, is not an issue only surfacing in the early 21st century. As Dr. Peter Boag illustrates through impressive historical and contextual research, transgenderism has existed throughout many centuries and the cultural eras that defined them. Through a more careful and critical reading of sources, paying close attention to the specificity of regional forces and their ensuing narratives, Dr. Boag demonstrates that the existence of Trans people in western gender history has been documented all along. In thorough re-evaluation of historical sources, Dr. Peter Boag offers the insightful message of humanities research: History facilitates contemporary perspective; through history one may come to better comprehend the current societal issues facing Trans people.
On November 4, Dr. Peter Boag will further discuss an in-process book project entitled, Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past. After providing a brief synopsis of the book and why he has decided to write it, Dr. Boag will then share some of his most interesting stories of the Trans people of whom he is writing.
The Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center is hosting the article discussion in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an internationally observed memorial of those who have lost their lives due to anti-trans hatred, prejudice, and violence. First observed in 1998, the mission of Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to raise awareness of transgender issues and to mourn those who might otherwise be forgotten.



The Anderson Center at Idaho State University serves as the focal point on campus for the consideration of gender issues and is especially guided by the ideal of diversity which allows us to envision a future free of the limitations imposed by our culture’s standard definitions of gender and other categories of difference.



For more information, contact the Anderson Center at (208)-282-2805.



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For the Media: If you would like more information about Transgender Day of Remembrance or the Anderson Center, please contact Dr. Rebecca Morrow at (208)-282-2805 or gndrctr@isu.edu.