Plausible Deniability: Audio Presentation
Comics, Embodiment Fantasies and the Rhetorical Fetishization of Transness
Foreword: This in an audiorecording of a presentation, which was delivered on 3/5/26 at the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication. The transcript and visuals for this talk can be found here.
Content Warning: This article discusses kink and sex frankly, but in an entirely non-explicit way.

Afterword: Stained Glass Woman will be going back on break for a while after this article. Gotta finish up revisions on my scholarly book! For updates about when I’ll be back, check my Bluesky, @impossiblephd.bsky.social, or Mastodon, @Impossible_PhD.hachyderm.io!
Works Cited
Ahmed, S (2006). Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. Duke UP.
Bragman, W. (2026). Experts Warn U.S. in Early Stages of Genocide Against Trans Americans. The Lemkin Institute.
Cox, M. B. (2019). Working Closets: Mapping Queer Professional Discourses and Why Professional Communication Studies Need Queer Rhetorics. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 33(1), 1–25.
Gill-Peterson, J. (2024). A Short History of Trans Misogyny.. Verso.
Holmes, Andrew Gary Darwin. “Researcher Positionality - A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research - A New Researcher Guide.” Shanlax International Journal of Education, vol. 8, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1-10.
Jones, N. N. (2016). The Technical Communicator as Advocate: Integrating a Social Justice Approach in Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 46(3), 342-361.
Phipps, K (2023). Plight of the Transbian. Medium.
Reed, N (2012). The Null HypotheCis. Freethoughtblogs.
Serano, J. (2020). Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative ‘embodiment fantasies’ model. The Sociological Review, 68(4), 763–778
Sparby, D (2023). Memetic Rhetorics. University of Michigan Press.


It's so nice to finally hear your lovely voice, my friend.
I read the transcript already, but there's so much that is gained from and so much to appreciate in listening to you actually speak it.
This is passion. This is truth and emotion all wrapped up into wisdom.
Thank you! 🩷