{"id":834,"date":"2026-08-04T17:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lavlang32.ppls.ed.ac.uk\/?post_type=confab_session&p=834"},"modified":"2026-08-04T17:07:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:07:03","slug":"multimodal-constructions-of-transgender-disbelonging-in-an-american-political-talk-show","status":"publish","type":"confab_session","link":"https:\/\/lavlang32.ppls.ed.ac.uk\/?confab_session=multimodal-constructions-of-transgender-disbelonging-in-an-american-political-talk-show","title":{"rendered":"Multimodal constructions of transgender (dis)belonging in an American political talk show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part of: Queer Media<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Abstract:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper explores anti-transgender multimodal discourse in the context of the 2024 American presidential election. On September 20, 2024, the Donald Trump presidential campaign released an anti-transgender attack ad targeting the Kamala Harris campaign for Harris\u2019 previous pro-transgender stances. In the weeks after the airing of this ad, Joe Scarborough, a conservative political commentator on the morning talk show Morning Joe, claimed that the Harris campaign\u2019s lack of response to this ad and Democratic trans-inclusive policy stances would cost the campaign the crucial demographic of multicultural and working-class male voters in swing states. This paper demonstrates that Scarborough utilizes prosodic and gestural linguistic practices within enactments of confused liberal campaign strategists, and trans-inclusive liberals more generally, to frame trans-inclusive policies as beyond common sense, fomenting transgender (dis)belonging within the United States. I show that a growing group of trans-agnostic reactionary liberals (TARLs) (Chu, 2024), described as liberals who disagree with trans-inclusivity in progressive politics, frame anti-transgender messaging through verbal and embodied discursive practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this paper, I perform a multimodal discourse analysis of Scarborough\u2019s discourses from October to November 2024 about the Trump campaign\u2019s anti-trans attack ad against Harris. I demonstrate that Scarborough\u2019s depictions imagine (i) a prototypical multiracial and working-class swing-state male voter who becomes disgusted by Harris\u2019 pro-transgender stances, while enacting (ii) a confused Harris campaign staffer who ignores what Scarborough calls \u201ccommon sense\u201d stances on transgender issues. The data show that anti-transgender enactments incorporate prosodic and gestural stance-making to ridicularize pro-transgender politicians and index transgender inclusivity as beyond common sense. This work builds on linguistic anthropological research on enactments (Hall et al., 2016; Sidnell, 2006; Streeck, 2008) to illuminate these communicative practices and link anti-transgender multimodal discourse to transgender (dis)belonging in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chu, A. L. (2024, March 11). Freedom of sex: The moral case for letting trans kids change their bodies.                 New York Magazine. https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trans-rights-biological-sex-gender-                    judith-butler.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hall, K., Goldstein, D. M., & Ingram, M. B. (2016). The hands of Donald Trump: Entertainment, gesture,                 spectacle. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 6(2), 71\u2013100.                                                                     http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.14318\/hau6.2.009             <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sidnell, J. (2006). Coordinating gesture, talk, and gaze in reenactments. Research on Language and                     Social Interaction, 39(4), 377\u2013409.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streeck, J. (2008). Gesture in political communication: A case study of the Democratic presidential                         candidates during the 2004 primary campaign. Research on Language and Social Interaction,                     41(2), 154\u2013186. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/08351810802028662<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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