Gender as trauma

In this talk, I will highlight how rigid gender binaries are part of the legacy of settler-colonialism and cishetero patriarchal norms that systemically impact all bodies, albeit in a range of different ways. I will address how the ways in which our bodies are gendered intersect with the ways in which we are racialized, normed and read in dominant culture and how these intersections of identities and experiences impact our mental health. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own experiences and on what their role might be within the context of healing from (cis)gendered trauma. Examples from both clinical practice and lived experiences will be provided to illustrate the points made in this talk. By the end of the session, participants will be more aware of how pervasive cisgenderism is, how it impacts their personal and professional lives, and how they might choose to
engage with healing gendered trauma in their practices and everyday life.

Biography 

Dr Alex Iantaffi, PhD, MS, SEP, CST, LMFT is a family therapist, certified sex therapist, Somatic ExperiencingⓇ practitioner, clinical
supervisor, writer and independent scholar. They are adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and at Antioch University. Alexis currently Chair of the Trans and Queer interest network of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and at-large board member and chair of the social justice committee for the
Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. They were the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy for
eleven years and have researched, presented and published extensively on gender, disability, sexuality, relationships, and HIV.

Alex is passionate about training providers, healing justice and community-based and engaged scholarship. They are a transmasculine, nonbinary, bi queer, disabled, Italian immigrant who has been living on Dakota and Anishinaabe territories, currently known as Minneapolis, MN (US) since 2008. Alex is the author of “Gender Trauma: healing cultural, social, and historical gendered trauma” and co-author of the books “How to understand your Gender: a practical guide for exploring who you are”,  “Life Isn’t Binary”, and “Hell Yeah Self-Care: a Trauma-Informed Workbook” with Meg-John Barker (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). They also host the podcast Gender Stories. You can find
out more about them at www.alexiantaffi.com or follow them on Twitter @xtaffi

Also, in case these are helpful, here are some endorsements for my book Gender Trauma: “As a thought-provoking critical text, Gender Trauma speaks to the
need to see gender as a category complicit with, and indeed formed by, practices of colonisation. Iantaffi calls our attention to the multiple, intersecting ways in which gender shapes relationships, institutions, and individual practices. In so doing, Iantaffi creates a space for new ways of thinking about and relating to gender as a category.” — Professor Damien W. Riggs, Flinders University, Australia

“Everything I ever wanted to read about gender all in one book: Gender as part of settler colonialism. Gender as intersectional. Gender trauma as intergenerational, trans generational, and relational. Ending on dismantling the binary and healing from gender trauma. A brilliant ride!” — Professor Paz Galupo, Towson University, USA.

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