Analysis reveals frictional space between trans and feminist narratives in the 1977 issue of Chrysalis, emphasizing inclusivity.
This article examines a 1977 issue of Chrysalis: A Magazine of Women's Culture, exploring the publication of two pieces on the subject of trans people and their relationship to feminism: one piece is a lengthy essay written by Janice Raymond; the other is a photo essay by Jilly Lauren, whose "Transsexual Collage" offers a more empathetic treatment of trans individuals. Yet, the photo essay misidentifies an intersex person as trans—a mistake identified in a letter to the editor penned by the intersex individual whose image appeared in the journal. These two essays, and reader responses to them, represent a site of frictional space, a term that describes how magazines create an environment through which different discourses come into conversation or even conflict with each other, rubbing up against each other in ways that create both dialogue and points of contention. By reading Raymond's essay against the grain, the article also examines how allied feminists attempted to cultivate greater understanding and inclusivity of, and empathy for, trans individuals. Overall, the article uses this issue of Chrysalis to explore the intersections between trans, intersex, and feminist histories.
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Elizabeth Groeneveld (2025) studied this question.
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