Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers

What does it mean to be called a “deceiver” — and what happens when that accusation becomes a justification for violence?

In this episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier explore Talia Mae Bettcher’s groundbreaking 2007 essay, “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers: On Transphobic Violence and the Politics of Illusion.” With clips from philosophers Alex Adamson and Ding, they dig into gender presentation, “reality enforcement,” and the assumptions that constructs trans people as deceiving others about their bodies and identities.

The episode moves from the murder of Gwen Araujo and the trans panic defense to clothing, sexuality, the heterosexual matrix, compulsory heterosexuality, double binds, and the politics of who gets to define what counts as “real.” With our contributors we ask, Where is the deception? And who gets to decide what is true?

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

Content note: This episode discusses transphobic violence, including sexual assault and murder.

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Keywords: feminist philosophy, trans philosophy, trans feminist philosophy, transgender studies, Talia Mae Bettcher, transphobia, transphobic violence, gender identity, reality enforcement, trans panic, trans panic defense, Gwen Araujo, gender norms, compulsory heterosexuality, heterosexual matrix, Judith Butler, José Muñoz, María Lugones, embodiment, trans rights, feminist theory, queer theory, social construction of gender, trans liberation,

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