ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of how anthropology—as a broad discipline—has approached trans studies. Specifically, I frame trans studies as being defined by the study of experiences, identities, and practices of transgender, transsexual, trans, or gender-non-binary communities of practice. Historically, anthropologists who have conducted research or examined gender practices that do not fit within a traditional Western sex-gender binary have done so outside of the context of North Atlantic populations, with the exception of indigenous communities. Importantly, older scholarship on gender transgression did not necessarily reflect the words or experiences of those being researched but rather relied on and reflected the markedly eurocentric and ethnocentric approach from the researchers. As such, much of modern trans-specific research conducted in anthropology relies heavily on interdisciplinary texts for both historical and theoretical orientations.
