ABSTRACT

Synthetic testosterone, is an object born of heteronormative sexual anxiety, invented for use by cisgender men. Today, synthetic testosterone functions, as an element of gender-affirming healthcare for specific segments of the trans population. We approach testosterone, throughout this paper, as a technical object and as such a raw material of gender in South Africa. Providing a close reading of South African Medical Journal (SAMJ), we trace the emergence, production, and linguistic life of this technical object as a site of heteronormative anxiety and consider the absent-presence of trans masculinity and trans men in relation to this. Drawing on images created by three South African trans men on Instagram, we explore the technical object’s representations/absences as a material of gendered joy in South Africa. We suggest that the self-representation of the technical object by trans men on Instagram makes it a happy object, one whose consumption is deeply intertwined with joy.

摘要

合成睾酮，是一种由异性恋性焦虑产生的对象，发明供顺性别男性使用。今天，合成睾酮作为跨性别人群特定群体的性别确认医疗保健的一个元素。在整篇论文中，我们将睾酮视为技术对象和南非性别的原材料。通过仔细阅读《南非医学杂志》（SAMJ），我们追溯了这个技术对象的出现、生产和语言生活，作为异性恋焦虑的场所，并考虑了与此相关的跨性别男性气质和跨性别男人的缺席。我们利用三位南非跨性别男人在 Instagram 上创建的图像，探索技术对象的表现/缺席作为南非性别快乐的材料。