Being Transgender Research Paper

If you took a look around an average American high school, how many of the students would be

assumed to be part of the LGBT+ community? The answer tends to be a higher number than most would assume. This is commonly because people are uninformed and ignorant to the topic. The LGBT+ community is growing steadily, and yet the only words in many students’ vocabularies are “gay, lesbian” and maybe “bisexual”. There are an incredible amount of terms and ideas in the LGBT+ community that should be understood, such as the gender spectrum and gender binary, cisnormativity, cisgenderism, transgenderism, nonbinarism, gender neutrality, pronoun importance, and gender fluidity.

It should first be understood that gender is not strictly male and female. “Historically, the terms "sex" and

"gender" have been used interchangeably, but, in modern society, their meanings are becoming increasingly distinct” (Newman). While sex is the biological term used to describe the combination of chromosomes, genitalia, gonads, and hormones a person has, the word “gender” is a psychological term used to describe the internal feelings of a person. Between the lines of male and female, there

exists an unlimited amount of possible genders that only cannot be defined currently because of the lack of language fitting for it. The idea of a gender spectrum, which fluidly moves from male to female, instead of a binary, which is solidly only male or female, is one that most people place themselves on, but not all. The idea that people are only male or female that those two genders are the only ones available, or the idea that gender and sex are the same, is called “cisnormativity”. Cisnormativity is taken from the word cisgender, meaning that a person’s biological sex and gender align correctly. It means that, by adhering to cisnormativity, a person is going against the idea that other genders exist and that they assume everyone they meet is either strictly male or female. Sam Killermann defines it as, “the assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is cisgender, and that cisgender identities are superior.”
While there isn’t a lot of words that can be used to describe people outside of the male or female range
of gender, there are some.

One such word is transgender. While there are other gender identities that may fall under the general idea of being transgender, the main idea is that a person’s gender identity is opposite or not matching to their sex assigned at birth. Commonly, the word transgender (or the common abbreviation of trans) is used alongside the standard male or female. This means that a trans guy/man/boy is someone who was assigned female sex at birth, but that their gender identity is male. A trans woman/girl is someone who was assigned male sex at birth, but identifies as female. It is important to understand that not all transgender people go through the process of physical transition (such as hormones, genital surgery, etc.), and that a person’s transition is only what they make it to

be.
Another word which is used to describe someone who is not completely male or female is nonbinary.
Similar to nonbinary is agender or gender neutral, meaning that the person does not adhere to gender at all and is just a person. Nonbinary individuals may be closer to one side of the spectrum or the other, and may use terms such as “masculine aligned” and “feminine aligned” to show this. Similar to a transgender person, a nonbinary person does not have to physically transition or look any certain way to be nonbinary. Even if someone presents themselves masculinely or femininely, if they say that they are nonbinary, then they are nonbinary. An incredibly important idea to understand is pronouns when it comes to nonbinarism (and transgenderism) is that pronouns should always be respected, no matter what. While he/him/his and she/her/hers are the most common pronouns, they/them/theirs is a completely valid singular pronoun. Some people even choose to use multiple parts or sets of pronouns, and some people use their own individual pronouns entirely. When someone tells their pronouns, use them. Mistakes happen, but it is easier for all parties involved to just apologize and move on.
Lastly, there is fluidity when it comes to topics such as gender and sexuality. There is even a gender
identity many use to describe this called genderfluid. Genderfluid means that the person may feel like one gender at one point in time, and another gender at another point in time (such as being a girl one day, and being nonbinary the next day.) Overall, though, people change over time. Someone who may have been a trans girl at one point may decide they no longer feel like that is the right label or set of pronouns to accurately describe them, and they may instead begin to label themselves feminine-aligned nonbinary. Do not assume that the person’s time as one gender was only a phase, and always be considerate of changes in labels or pronouns. When someone fits outside of the cisgender binary, it can be hard to find the right words to describe and label themselves, and sometimes it takes a few sets of trial and error to find the right ones.
Overall, remember that there’s more than just male and female, and that gender is not the same thing as
sex. Transgender, nonbinary, agender, and genderfluid people all exist, and they should be respected to label themselves how they see fit. Never assume someone is one gender or another, and if you’re ever unsure, just ask. Gender fluidity exists, people change over time, and labels can be hard to determine. Next time you meet someone outside the gender binary, try to understand them and respect their identity!