Susan O'Neal Stryker (born 1961) is an American professor,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

and

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. She is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, and founder of the Transgender Studies Initiative at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and is currently on leave while holding an appointment as Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women's Leadership at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

. Stryker serves on the Advisory Council of

METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) METI International, known simply as METI, is a non-profit research organization that creates and transmits interstellar messages to attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations. In July 2015, the papers to form METI were filed by ...

and the Advisory Board of the

Digital Transgender Archive The Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is an online resource based at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, in collaboration with more than sixty international colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and private collections. It ...

. A

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

, she is the author of several books about LGBT history and culture.

Education

Stryker received a bachelor's degree in Letters from

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1983. She earned a Ph.D. in

United States History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1992; the doctoral thesis she presented was ''Making Mormonism: A Critical and Historical Analysis of Cultural Formation''.

Career

Stryker is

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Gender and Women's Studies at the

, and is the former director of the university's Institute for LGBT Studies. She has served as a visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

, and

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

. She is an openly lesbian trans woman who has produced a significant body of work about

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

and

queer culture Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual mi ...

. She came out as transgender and began to transition shortly after earning her doctorate. Her scholarly article "My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix", published in 1994, was her first published academic article, and after trail-blazing Australian transgender academic

Roberta Perkins Roberta Perkins (30 April 1940 – 26 June 2018) was an Australian sociologist, writer, and transgender rights and sex worker rights activist. She wrote several books and multiple academic articles on the semi-nomadic lives of transgender s ...

who began publishing her research on female sex workers in the 1980s, one of the first articles ever published in a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

by an openly transgender author. She was later awarded a

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

fellowship in human sexuality studies at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, sponsored by the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...

and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

. From 1999 to 2003, she was the executive director of the

GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In 2004, Stryker was distinguished visiting faculty in the Department of Critical and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. In 2007-8 She held the Ruth Wynn Woodward Endowed Visiting Professorship in Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. In fall 2008 she was distinguished visiting faculty with the Committee on Degrees in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Harvard University, and in Spring 2009 she was Regents' Distinguished Lecturer in Feminist Studies at University of California-Santa Cruz. She was hired with tenure as Associate Professor of Gender Studies at Indiana University in 2009, and left to accept a position as Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Director of the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona in 2011. In 2013, Stryker established the Transgender Studies Initiative at the University of Arizona. She focused on "hiring faculty of color", in her own words. In 2015, Yale University awarded Stryker the James Robert Brudner Class of 1983 Memorial Prize for lifetime accomplishment and scholarly contributions in the field of lesbian and gay studies. In 2007, the Monette-Horowitz Trust honored her for her anti-homophobia activism. Among her other honors are a Community Vanguard Award from the

Transgender Law Center The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest American transgender-led civil rights organization in the United States. They were originally California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fisca ...

, and recognition as a "Local Hero" by San Francisco public television station KQED.

Publications

Books

Stryker's first book, ''Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area'' (

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

1996), coauthored with Jim Van Buskirk, is an illustrated account of the evolution of

LGBT culture LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. This book and its successor, ''Queer Pulp'', were each nominated for a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

. In the

critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

survey ''Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback'' (Chronicle Books 2001), Stryker turned her attention to the

lesbian pulp fiction Lesbian pulp fiction is a genre of lesbian literature that refers to any mid-20th century paperback novel or pulp magazine with overtly lesbian themes and content. Lesbian pulp fiction was published in the 1950s and 60s by many of the same pa ...

and

gay male pulp fiction Gay pulp fiction, or gay pulps, refers to printed works, primarily fiction, that include references to male homosexuality, specifically male gay sex, and that are cheaply produced, typically in paperback books made of wood pulp paper; lesbian pulp ...

published in the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s. With Stephen Whittle she co-edited ''The Transgender Studies Reader'' (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

2006), which was her first work to win a Lambda Literary Award. Her following book, ''

Transgender History Transgender people (including non-binary and third gender individuals) have existed in cultures worldwide since ancient times. The modern terms and meanings of "transgender", "gender", "gender identity", and "gender role" only emerged in the 195 ...

'' ( Seal Press 2008), covers

transvestism Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

, transgender people, and

transsexualism Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignmen ...

in the United States from the conclusion of World War II to the 2000s. Stryker is now working on a new book project, ''Cross-Dressing for Empire: Gender and Performance at the Bohemian Grove''. The

Bohemian Grove Bohemian Grove is a restricted 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, United States, belonging to a private San Francisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, ...

is a campground in Northern California, and the summer meeting-place of the Bohemian Club, a private organization of American men with considerable political and economic power or cultural influence.Parry, 2005
pp. 218–219.
/ref>

Film and video

Stryker received a San Francisco / Northern California Emmy Award for her directorial work on ''Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria'' (2005), a documentary film about the Gene Compton's Cafeteria riot of 1966; the film was co-written, -directed, and -produced by Victor Silverman. With director Michelle Lawler and executive producer Kim Klausner she subsequently co-produced ''Forever's Gonna Start Tonight'' (2009), a documentary film about Vicki Marlane, an

HIV-positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the ...

, transgender performer at nightclubs and lounges. Stryker's most recent documentary is ''Christine in the Cutting Room'' (2013), an

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

about

Christine Jorgensen Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a career as a successful actress, singer and re ...

Monika Treut Monika Treut (born April 6, 1954, in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German filmmaker. She made her feature film debut with Seduction: The Cruel Woman (co-directed by Elfi Mikesch), a film that explores sadomasochistic se ...

filmed and interviewed Stryker for the 1999 documentary film '' Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities''. She was also interviewed for a 2002 episode of the long-running television documentary series ''

SexTV ''SexTV'' is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 which aired on Citytv and channels owned by CHUM Limited, and spun off a television channel called '' SexTV: The Cha ...

'', and for two episodes of '' Sex: The Revolution'' (2008). She is featured in the documentary film '' Reel in the Closet'' (2015), directed by Stu Maddux. In 2021, Stryker appeared and served as a consulting producer on '' The Lady and the Dale'', an

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

documentary series revolving around Elizabeth Carmichael, the founder of

Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation The Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation was an American automobile company started by Geraldine Elizabeth "Liz" Carmichael, in 1974, incorporated in Nevada. The company's flagship vehicle was the Dale, a prototype three-wheeled two-seater ...

. She also appeared as herself in ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'' a 6-part documentary series focusing on LGBT history decade-by-decade, for FX.

Articles, essays, and scholarly papers

Stryker and Paisley Currah co-edit '' TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly'', the first non-medical

devoted to transgender issues. The journal premiered in 2014. Stryker's scholarly papers have been published in '' GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies'', '' WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly'', ''

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

'', ''

Radical History Review ''Radical History Review'' is a scholarly journal published by Duke University Press. The journal describes its position as "at the point where rigorous historical scholarship and active political engagement converge".

'', and other

s. In 2008, she was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

for her

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

article "Why the T in LGBT is Here to Stay", a response to

John Aravosis John Aravosis (born November 27, 1963) is an American Democratic political consultant, journalist, civil rights advocate, and blogger. Aravosis, an attorney who lives in Washington D.C., is the founder and executive editor of AMERICAblog. Ea ...

' 2007 article "How did the T get in LGBT?". In one paper, "Transgender Studies: Queer Theory's Evil Twin" (2004), Stryker describes how transgender people are often marginalized within the queer community, and how the academic discipline of Queer Studies privileges specific narratives of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

over

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

Bibliography

* ''Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area'' (1996),

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

, * ''Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback'' (2001), Chronicle, * ''The Transgender Studies Reader'' (2006),

, * ''

'' (2008), Seal Press, * ''The Transgender Studies Reader 2'' (2013), Routledge,

Filmography

* ''Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria'' (June 18, 2005) * ''Forever's Gonna Start Tonight'' (2009) * ''Christine in the Cutting Room'' (2013) * '' Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen'' (2020) * ''

No Ordinary Man ''No Ordinary Man'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Tracy Byrd. It features the singles "The First Step", "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous", "Watermelon Crawl", and "The Keeper of the Stars", all of which reac ...

'' (2020) * '' The Lady and the Dale'' (2021) * ''

'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Susan Stryker
a

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stryker, Susan Living people American documentary film directors American documentary film producers American experimental filmmakers American film producers 21st-century American historians American women historians LGBT anthropologists Emmy Award winners Film producers from California Historians of LGBT topics Lambda Literary Award winners LGBT film directors LGBT historians LGBT people from Arizona LGBT studies academics Postmodern feminists Transgender women Transgender writers University of Arizona faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area American women documentary filmmakers Women experimental filmmakers 1961 births Transgender academics Transgender studies academics 21st-century American women Lesbian academics American lesbian writers LGBT producers LGBT educators