Bodies in relation--bodies in transition: lesbian partners of trans men and body image.

Presenting published narratives of transgender and transsexual men (henceforth "trans men"), along with case study interview narratives from five lesbian-identified partners of trans men, I consider how body image issues may surface both individually and interpersonally in relation to the body dysphoria of a trans partner. In addition to self-reports of negatively shifting body image among some interviewees, I also discuss how negative body image may adversely affect these relationships in terms of sexual and non-sexual intimacy, bodily self-expression, and self-confidence. I term these processes and effects relational body image in order to trouble dominant conceptualizations of negative body image as primarily an individual issue arising from external, macro-sociological forces and pressures. I present these cases as a starting point for future sociological theorizing and empirical work with this under-studied population.