Mis/recognition of trans motherhood and the reproduction of racial and class inequalities in everyday interactions

Trans people’s experiences vary based not only on legal context but also their everyday interactions with friends, family, and other community members. Current scholarship on “doing transgender” underscores how these everyday interactions reflect and reinforce binary gender norms, providing safety for some and exposing others to violence. To better understand how gender regulation overlaps with racialized and class-based surveillance, I interviewed 54 trans women, both current and prospective mothers. Using the concept of mis/recognition, I find that trans women’s proximity to white, middle-class femininity shapes the way other people recognize them as mothers (or not). For example, some white trans women feel compelled to align with normative femininity to access a range of resources and to protect themselves and their families. Meanwhile, many black trans women practice “cultivated indifference,” choosing to disregard racialized harassment due to their lack of interest or ability to perform white, middle-class motherhood. By studying trans mothers’ experiences, we gain a better understanding of how race, class, and gender accountability systems work together to shape our everyday lives.