Ragnar

Providence, RI

Brown University student (’14) concentrating in Modern Culture and Media (focus on gender/sexuality), with interests in politics, media, theory, and publications. I am androgynous-identified, male-bodied, pansexual (though often gay-identified), queer (in multiple ways), white, Icelandic-American, son of 1st generation immigrants, atheist, vegetarian, a philosopher, poet, and relative social democrat: though do not essentialize me or stereotype me into some coherent “figure” based on any of these categories of identity.

Recently started blogging at http://einarragnarjonsson.tumblr.com/

Opinions Editor & Editorial Consultant of Brown’s sole feminist publication, Bluestockings Magazine. http://bluestockingsmag.com/

Check out my article for its inaugural edition, “Why Feminism Needs to Be Trans-Inclusive, or the Bodily Consequences of Cisnormativity.” http://bluestockingsmag.com/2013/02/07/why-feminism-needs-to-be-trans-inclusive-or-the-bodily-consequences-of-cisnormativity/

I research trans representation and theory, intersectionality, theories of mediation and stigma. I received a grant for my project on trans representation, “Trans-lating Gender: The Bodily Consequences of Cisnormativity.” Received another grant to co-develop a syllabus with two case studies, one on anti-trans violence, the other on bullying in the U.S.

I am an activist for many causes, but especially-
*trans, queer, and genderqueer identities
*intersectional feminisms
*voluntary sex workers’ rights
*equal opportunity and treatment for people with mental health concerns
*poc empowerment
*undocumented immigrants’ rights
*substance user’s rights
*animal rights
*religious rights
*body positivity

Theory interests:
*trans and queer theory
*intersectionality theory + analyses
*the question of transraciality and the return to transgenderism
*comparative methodologies to the concept of stigma

For those who wish to understand more fully the definition of cisnormativity: “Cisnormativity describes the expectation that all people are cissexual, that those assigned male at birth always grow up to be men and those assigned female at birth always grow up to be women. This assumption is so pervasive that it otherwise has not yet been named. Cisnormative assumptions are so prevalent that they are difficult at first to even recognize. Cisnormativity shapes social activity such as child rearing, the policies and practices of individuals and institutions, and the organization of the broader social world through the ways in which people are counted and health care is organized. Cisnormativity disallows the possibility of trans existence or trans visibility. As such, the existence of an actual trans person within systems such as health care is too often unanticipated and produces a social emergency of sorts because both staff and systems are unprepared for this reality.” This excerpt comes from ‘ “I Don’t Think This Is Theoretical; This Is Our Lives”: How Erasure Impacts Health Care for Transgender People.’

If you love or hate what I say, talk to me about it. I love discussion, strong arguments and radical new ways of thinking.