Metaphor and Trans Lived Experiences : An Investigation into the Metaphors Used to Talk About Gender Dysphoria on Reddit

Field, Eleanor and Semino, Elena (2026) Metaphor and Trans Lived Experiences : An Investigation into the Metaphors Used to Talk About Gender Dysphoria on Reddit. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

In a socio-political climate marked by rising hostility towards transgender people, including increasing restrictions on trans women’s access to women-only spaces and growing movements to remove education on gender identity from school curricula, developing an accurate contemporary understanding of gender dysphoria from the perspective of those with lived experience is both urgent and necessary. This thesis investigates how transgender people use metaphor to talk about their experiences of gender dysphoria and considers how these metaphors are evaluated by other members of the trans community. The dataset comprises twenty Reddit threads totalling approximately 38,000 words from the ten most popular transgender subreddits. The study focuses on ‘naturally elicited’ metaphors occurring in discussions in which users explicitly ask for metaphors for gender dysphoria or propose their own metaphors and invite evaluation from others. These metalinguistic discussions demonstrate a high degree of awareness regarding the important role metaphor plays in the communication of difficult personal experiences. This thesis presents the source domains used to describe gender dysphoria, considers their framing effects, and explores the forms of evaluation they receive. The source domains identified are often creative, embodied, and construct gender dysphoria in terms of a binary contrast between a right versus a wrong option. They capture both bodily and social dysphoria, expanding current clinical definitions. The existing frameworks for metaphor evaluation are developed, and new categories of metaphor endorsement and resistance are identified. This thesis contributes to research on metaphorical embodiment, metaphor evaluation, and metaphorical creativity in naturally occurring online discourse in addition to understandings of trans lived experiences more generally. The findings of this research have significant implications for clinical communication, education, and public awareness. This research aims to facilitate more empathetic, informed and accurate understandings of gender diversity.