Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Communication
Major Professor
Keith Berry, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Aubrey Huber, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ambar Basu, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Tony Adams, Ph.D.
Keywords
autoethnography, gender, microaggressions, relational communication, TGNC
Abstract
This dissertation explores how trans and cisgender partners negotiate gender identity, care, and relational well-being through an autoethnographic examination of everyday communication. The study draws from eighteen personal narratives across family, academic, and romantic contexts to trace how gender-based microaggressions and cisnormative expectations become embedded in ordinary talk, gestures, and silences, shaping identity development and relational stability. At its core, this work argues that relationality emerges as a pervasive and constitutive condition that shapes how affirmation, misrecognition, and belonging are experienced within trans/cis relationships and across time. Through examining moments of misunderstanding, minimization, and avoidance, the study reveals how microaggressions function not as isolated incidents, but as patterned performances that sustain cisnormativity through care, correction, or silence, while also opening space for growth and recognition. Across my narratives, the dissertation identifies three communicative performances that may contribute to relational repair: visibility and representation, multifaceted care, and communal belonging. These performances illustrate how trans/cis couples can co-create ways of relating that affirm fluidity, agency, and interdependence while resisting cultural pressures that constrain or erase gender diversity. Ultimately, my research demonstrates that well-being for trans/cis relational partners depends not on the absence of conflict, but on the capacity to stay present within it, to listen, reimagine, and remain accountable to one another. Trans life and love are not fragile or exceptional, but vital, sustaining, and deeply human.
Scholar Commons Citation
Russell, Maddison L., "An Autoethnographic and Relational Exploration of Identity Negotiation within Romantic Relationships between Nonbinary Partners and Cisgender Women" (2026). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11406
