Beyond skin deep: An Exploration of female-to-male transgender embodiment and exploring Vancouver's queer and transgender youth organizations

Essay 1: Beyond Skin Deep explores a specific subculture of female-to-male (FTM) transgender individuals who use tattoos as a method of expressing identity. By accessing this contemporary subculture of FTMs from a combination of autobiographic self-reflections and an analysis of the XXBoys photography project, this paper demonstrates how a subculture of tattooed FTM bodies challenge particular assumptions about the body that have been understood in previous representations of the transsexual body. Essay 2: Youth Organizations evaluates the current resources for queer and trans (QT) youth in Vancouver. By engaging in a close textual analysis of the commitments and services provided online by two main organizations within Vancouver, I argue that programs for QT supportive organizations are not being implemented to their full potential. The paper builds this argument on the basis of interviews with volunteers of these programs, as well as QT youth who have use the services in Vancouver.