Tobias Raun - Out Online: Trans Self-Representation and Community Building on YouTube

First published 2016

by Routledge

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2016 Tobias Raun

The right of Tobias Raun to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Raun, Tobias, author.

Title: Out online : trans self-representation and community building on

Youtube / by Tobias Raun.

Description: Farnham, Surrey, UK ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, [2016] |

Series: Gender, bodies and transformation | Includes bibliographical

references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015034250| ISBN 9781472466761 (hardback : alk.

paper) | ISBN 9781472466778 (ebook) | ISBN 9781472466785 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Transgender peopleIdentity. | Video blogsSocial

aspects. | Coming out (Sexual orientation) | Online identities.

Classification: LCC HQ77.9 .R38 2016 | DDC 306.76/8dc23

ISBN: 9781472466761 (hbk)

ISBN: 9781315599229 (ebk)

ISBN: 9781317084679 (ebk-PDF)

ISBN: 9781317084662 (ebk-ePUB)

ISBN: 9781317084655 (Mobipocket/Kindle)

Typeset in Bembo

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

This book is the product of a personal and professional journey that has been as inspiring as it has been turbulent. The research was initially funded by Roskilde University, Denmark, and unfolded as a three-year PhD project. Back then, I enjoyed the daily encouragement and inspiration from my colleagues at Cultural Encounters at the Department of Culture and Identity. I am now in yet another stimulating and nourishing work environment at Communication Studies at the Department of Communication Arts.

This research has enabled me to travel abroad, and I have embraced that opportunity by participating in several conferences where I have met great scholars from all over the world. Most memorable was my stay as a visiting scholar at the Berkeley Center for New Media, University of California at Berkeley, in the US. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the special vibe of San Francisco and to meet so many interesting people. The research has also enabled me to get in contact with a lot of trans people, not least the trans vloggers that I write about here. I want to thank them for generously sharing their valuable insights with me.

I am blessed with a great number of very dear friends, many of whom work within related research areas. I want to thank all of them for offering me constant intellectual stimulation and for keeping me on my toes, as well as for giving me valuable feedback along the way. I also want to thank all the friends who help me unwind and remind me of all the other things that life has to offer. With time, I have experienced the increasing importanceyet increasing difficultyof being non-productive and non-optimizing. Together, we must counteract the self-disciplining behaviors to which we are encouraged by neo-liberal discourses to subject ourselves.

The death of my mother and grandfather heavily marked the process of writing this book. In particular, the illness and death of my mother at far too young an age has brought me off balance and taught me that some feelings are just unspeakable and impossible to grasp with language. I want to thank her for always encouraging me to seek knowledge and teaching me what it really means to treat people with respect and an open mind.

Most of all, my thanks go to my wife, Benedicte Ohrt Fehler, who taught me to aim for the stars in my personal and professional life. You are the love of my life. I know it sounds corny, but it is nevertheless true. Without you, none of this would have been possible. You have kicked me in the ass when I needed it and you have lifted me up when I have fallen to the ground. For this, I am eternally grateful and feel blessed; and, to be honest, I am not sure how I will manage yet another ball of love once our child enters the world.

Tobias Raun