April 3, 2023 On Campus
Brace Student Fellow Presentation
The American Wild West exists as a sensationalized period of history, appearing frequently in popular media as a time full of cowboys and outlaws. This paints a rugged and hypermasculine portrait of the western frontier and an image of maleness seen as inescapable for those born into it—and impossible for those who were not. This conventional image of the American West, however, conceals the true history of experimentation and subversion in an era of unique opportunities for transmasculine people.
Through his research, Graham Burtle ’24 explores this obscured history. Focusing on the range of ideas about gender circulating in the Wild West, he dissects how frontier conceptions of “man” and “woman” differ from those of today—and how those differences enabled many individuals designated “female” at birth to experiment with their gender identities and presentations in remarkable ways.
Open to the PA community; dinner will be served.
Faculty Advisor: Erica Nork, Fellow in History and Social Science
School Room, Abbot HallI Have Met with Noble Men: Surveying Transmasculine Experiences Throughout the Wild West
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., School Room, Abbot HallBrace Student Fellow Presentation
The American Wild West exists as a sensationalized period of history, appearing frequently in popular media as a time full of cowboys and outlaws. This paints a rugged and hypermasculine portrait of the western frontier and an image of maleness seen as inescapable for those born into it—and impossible for those who were not. This conventional image of the American West, however, conceals the true history of experimentation and subversion in an era of unique opportunities for transmasculine people.
Through his research, Graham Burtle ’24 explores this obscured history. Focusing on the range of ideas about gender circulating in the Wild West, he dissects how frontier conceptions of “man” and “woman” differ from those of today—and how those differences enabled many individuals designated “female” at birth to experiment with their gender identities and presentations in remarkable ways.
Open to the PA community; dinner will be served.
Faculty Advisor: Erica Nork, Fellow in History and Social Science