Gender Embodiment of Non-Cisgender Muslims in a Catholic Space

Abstract

Religion, social institutions, and policy scaffolding arbitrate how people understand and express gender. this combination of factors creates the rich diversity we see in modern societies which build most of its multiplicity and intersectional components. However, discussions surrounding these intersections are often absent of the personal embodiment that exists as one of the denominators that define the prospective conditions of these social dimensions. This applies both to the religious history of certain institutions and the cultural norms tied to ethnic practices that influence the gender embodiment of people. ideological remnants that set colonial standards to still persist in how we define gender, legitimized by institutions of formal education. This opens more opportunities for discussions in identifying alternative standards for evaluating efficacy in policy, engagements, and teaching methods of institutional gender sensitivity given that the study uses the assessment of its respondents as the main tool for discovery. By examining these intersections, on how institutions reflect history of religious influence to describing the experiences and perceptions of individuals that differ from the binary convention of gender, we are able to garner valuable insights in understanding how individuals interpret institutional operations on a catholic higher education level; and their perceived conclusions of its influence towards their gender embodiment process. This paper explores both of these things grounded on the experiences of non-cisgender muslims who have multiple intersecting traits: as individuals who do not identify with cisgenderism , from an islamic background, in a catholic religious community.