Longing to be superman (2014)

This thesis sheds some light on the particular ways masculinity, embodiment and exercise intersect in the lives of transmen, or FTM (female-to-male) transsexuals. In order to assess this, an analysis of trans vlogs has been conducted. Videos uploaded on YouTube by five specific transmasculine vloggers have been analysed according to literature on masculinity and muscularity. The findings that have emerged from this analysis is that exercise is used as a means to carve a muscular body that conforms to hegemonic standards of the male body. Exercise is instrumental in aligning the transmen’s bodies with their core male selves. Thus, this analysis is in line with current conceptualizations of the body; namely, that the body is a vehicle for communicating one’s self-identity.