Marlene Somers Collection

The Marlene Somers Collection (1950-2010) is representative of the publications that were accessible to a person of relative affluence and mobility in the United States from the mid-twentieth century up until the early 2000s. There is very little of Somers herself represented within the collection, save for a few annotations in books and magazines, lipstick prints, and five sheets of personal writing that include a diary entry. The material includes transploitation pornographic magazines and forced feminization serials as well as scientific articles concerning the topic of transsexualism and periodicals generated by and for transgender communities.

Tapestry, Transgender Community News, International Trans Script, UTTS(United Transvestite and Transsexual Publication), Transvestia, TV World Directory, International Way Out World Tranny Guide, and Drag Magazineare examples of publications that were generated by and for transgender communities. The content of these publications ranges from opinion pieces by trans* columnists, resources for changing identity documents, resources for accessing gender affirmation services, listings of transgender organizations, reprints of mainstream reporting on trans*-related issues/events, and personal ads.

While many of the assorted TV (Transvestite) magazines and tabloids such as Shemaleor TV/TS Chronicle, were certainly consumed by transgender people, the target audience of many of these publications was arguably people that fetishize TV and TS (Transsexual) bodies, which is why they have been described as ‘transploitation.’ The pulp novels are geared towards a similar audience.

The pocket-sized Forced Femininity, Exotique, and Thrills and Frills, are fantasy serials dominated by ‘forced feminization’ narratives that frequently involve powerful cisgender women, bondage, and humiliation.

The books in this collection such as Transgender Historyby Susan Stryker and Gender Outlawby Kate Bornstein are representative of a body of literature by trans* people that challenge (among other things) the dominant two-gender system, heteronormativity, and transphobia.