Abstract
Around the world, incarcerated trans women experience substantial victimisation and mistreatment equating to increased risk of suffering and self-harm compared to the general incarcerated population. This case study shares the story of Natasha Keating, a trans woman incarcerated in two male settings in Australia between 2000 and 2007. We examine 121 letters of complaint and self-advocacy authored by Natasha and provide an analysis of the discursive strategies Natasha employed to construct an affirming self-identity, and effect social change within a system designed to curtail self-determination. Through an impassioned letter-writing approach leveraging military metaphors, evidence of Natasha’s cognitive transformation is found. The letters showcase the significant implications Natasha’s activism, self-agentism, and self-determination had in naming and seeking to dismantle the systems of oppression that incarcerated trans women experience.
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Notes
- 1.
There is significant debate within the medical field as to the desirability and utility of the hegemonic military metaphor in relation to life-threatening conditions such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. Violence metaphors such as “battling” and “fighting” the “enemy” are dominant within oncology and HIV management (Miller, 2010; Penson et al., 2004; Reisfield & Wilson, 2004; Semino et al., 2018; Sontag, 1979). Framed as a universal call to action, military metaphor has prompted “whole societies to mobilize, human, economic and social resources for health care and medical research” (Nie et al., 2016, p. 3). Tate and Pearlman (2016) note that the use of military metaphor within oncology treatment regimens can empower patients; the cognitive transformation process involved in personifying the illness as the enemy, the patient as the besieged and the treatment as weaponry/arsenal, evokes resilience, determination and inner strength. However, as Shapiro (2018) argues, where patients internalise the war and come to embody the battle ground itself, this can lead to depression as they courageously fight down feelings of distress and despair, rather than finding acceptance of their circumstances and reaching out for support. Fuks (2010) and Hendricks et al. (2018) have also criticised the use of military metaphor within the medical field, arguing that the absolutism of “winning” or “losing” a war can negate anything short of an outright victory. For patients in remission from cancer or living with chronic or progressive diseases such as HIV/AIDS, “the battlefield remains occupied and the patient’s suffering remains unknown to all but the patient” (Fuks, 2010, p. 62). Fuks (2010, p. 57) proposes a “natural” metaphor as an alternative to military lexicon, using terms such as “renewal”, “blooms” and “springtime” to frame health and well-being in terms of season. Similarly, Hendricks et al. (2018) suggest “journeys” as a metaphor for the cancer experience, arguing that “there is no winning or losing on a journey. The emphasis is instead on a larger process, since life itself is often compared to a journey” (Hendricks et al., 2018, p. 269). The polemic framing of suffering via military metaphor contrasts with the obscurantic, gentler metaphors advanced by its detractors. While there is a growing body of clinicians and academics who advocate for the retirement of the military metaphor within medicine (see Fuks, 2010; Hendricks et al., 2018; Mutch, 2006; Nie et al., 2016; Shapiro, 2018; Tate & Pearlman, 2016), the emergence of COVID-19 as a global threat has rather reinforced the supremacy of military metaphor in how the medical profession, communities and governments reference and respond to universal health threats (Gillis, 2020).
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the feedback of Gina Mather, past President, and Kristine Johnson, past Secretary, of the Australian Transgender Support Association of Queensland Inc. (ATSAQ) and Peggy Keating, Natasha’s mother, for reviewing and endorsing the manuscript.
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The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Centre for Health, Informatics, and Economic Research Internal Funding Bid (2019) at the University of Southern Queensland with the last author (AB) as the lead investigator. This work was also supported by the University of Southern Queensland through an Internal Research Capacity Grant with the last author (AB) as the lead investigator [Project ID 1007573, 2020].
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Halliwell, S. et al. (2023). “Never Let Anyone Say That a Good Fight for the Fight for Good Wasn’t a Good Fight Indeed”: The Enactment of Agency Through Military Metaphor by One Australian Incarcerated Trans Woman. In: Panter, H., Dwyer, A. (eds) Transgender People and Criminal Justice. Critical Criminological Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29893-6_8
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