Today’s guest is communication and media scholar Erique Zhang, whose work focuses the intersection of beauty, race, and transgender identity. As a PhD candidate in the Media, Technology, and Society program at Northwestern, Erique’s research seeks to interrogate how normative beauty ideals are produced through media representations and how trans women and femmes navigate these norms in their everyday lives.

In our conversation, we discuss their journey and transition as a trans feminine person, the tension between visibility and anonymity, and the things we take for granted in a cis, heteronormative culture.

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