Screen-births: Exploring the transformative potential in trans video blogs on YouTube

The article takes its point of departure in Tobias Raun’s PhD research, exploring the numerous amounts of video blogs (vlogs) on YouTube where trans people (using hormones and/or surgery to alter their body) document and discuss their gender transition. The article offers a characterisation of the vlog medium as it is being put to use by the trans people, arguing that the vlog operates as both a diary, an autobiography, and as a vehicle of communication and social connection. Furthermore, Tobias Raun raises questions like: What kind of possibilities do a new media like vlogs enable in connection to represent and negotiate the meaning of trans identity? Can the trans vlogs enable a sense of empowerment and help create political visibility and political action?