ABSTRACT
Trans temporalities are usually embedded within a linear progressive force that is directed from the past to the future. Whether embracing a narrative of an “extreme” transformation from one gender to another, or by reimagining the past and claiming that the aspired gender was “always there,” these temporalities “jump” over the present without addressing it. This chapter aims to illustrate alternative trans temporalities through the notion of “taking time.” Starting with my own autobiographical narrative as a transwoman taking her time with her transition, the chapter discusses the affective, social, and political meanings of doing a “delayed” transition. Following that, the perspective is broadened to more generalized meanings of “taking time,” analyzed through sociological readings of several trans cultural pieces: Imogen Binnie’s novel Nevada, John Greyson’s web-series Murder in Passing, and the films Jupiter Ascending (Lana and Lily Wachowski) and Tangerine (Sean S. Baker). These analyses will demonstrate the ways in which “taking time” is embedded within the present, a process that incorporates both dangers and hopes for trans lives.
