Mariette Pathy Allen - The Gender Frontier

2003, English, German, Mariette Pathy Allen,

Full title: "The Gender Frontier" by Mariette Pathy Allen. The book was published both in English and German.

"Mariette Pathy Allen documents the lives of extraordinary individuals, their partners, families and friends. Through photographs and short texts, the reader is offered an intimate connection to the book’s subjects and -insight into how their own lives are affected by gender.

As Allen says: "Trans-gendered people offer the rest of us a potentially exhilarating -vision of fluidity, freed from traditional roles or definitions. They make vivid the questions: What is the essence of humanness beyond masculinity or femininity?" Framed by the emerging transgender political movement, The Gender Frontier is one of the first book to include both female-to-males and male-to-females, as well as queer youth. One of her subjects, Robert Eads, a female-to-male who died of ovarian cancer, was also prominently featured in the award-winning film Southern Comfort."

According to Mariette's website, Mariette Pathy Allen has been photographing the transgender community for over 40 years. Through her artistic practice, she has been a pioneering force in gender consciousness, contributing to numerous cultural and academic publications about gender variance and lecturing throughout the globe.

Her first book "Transformations: Crossdressers and Those Who Love Them" was groundbreaking in its investigation of a misunderstood community. Her second book "The Gender Frontier" is a collection of photographs, interviews, and essays covering political activism, youth, and the range of people that identify as transgender in mainland USA. It won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award in the Transgender/Genderqueer category. Daylight Books has published Mariette’s books, “TransCuba” in 2014, and her new book "Transcendents: Spirit Mediums in Burma and Thailand" in 2017. They are both available on Amazon or Daylight.

In 2023, I interviewed Mariette and asked her about the photos in the book: "Monika: The next decade witnessed a profound social change that is also captured in your photos included in "The Gender Frontier" (2003). We are no longer shy, intimidated, living in a hidden world treated as social outcasts. We want to be visible and demand our rights. Is this how you chose the photos for the book? Mariette: I got very involved in political activism for trans rights. I traveled all over the country with groups of activists, both transmen and transwomen. We made people aware of all sorts of injustices against gender-expansive people, including the many murders. It was an exciting time because we could see changes taking place. It was a big deal when President Obama used the word “transgender” in a speech."

"Monika: At that time, your photos are also different. They are more intense and ‘direct’. We do not see as many family photos as before. Instead, you show us surgeries and nudity, the emergence of young people, and many political events. Mariette: I believe that my early work is very political It took a lot of courage for people to participate in radio and television programs, and to be photographed. It was a much riskier time to “out” oneself. Around the ‘90s and onward, some people within LGBTI circles started to come together to work for common causes. There were plenty of disagreements but also forward movement. Queer and genderfluid young people started to emerge and academics wrote books. As I mentioned, there were endless rallies, marches, demonstrations, leafleting, and trips to some relatively remote places."

Available via Amazon

and mariettepathyallen.com

Heroines of My Life

Photo via Heroines of My Life