Merging Trans Language and Identity

Transferring Trans-Gender’s Dilemma into Language

Abstract

The current study aims to explore the dilemma of transgender associating it to the derogatory language society use for them and their own feminine identity. It explores the phenomenon that how language and identity play their role in marginalization and degradation of a community in a society. The researchers have used qualitative approach to collect the data from online documentaries and semi-structured interviews (taken from trans-females residing in Islamabad). The data was analyzed through the lens of Bourdieu who relates social power to the language. The study reveals that the language used for and by transgender is powerless, full of derogatory and unsophisticated utterances which result in their powerless and marginalized status in society. The study also sheds light on the fact that in a patriarchal society the adaptation of feminine identity by transgender also results in their marginalization.