It seems that one of today’s trending topics is transgender and sex-change surgeries; with merging stories in the media about parents supporting their transgender kids, famous people revealing their true gender identity (as Bruce Jenner, Laverne Cox, and other celebrities), and also the tragic stories of Walt Heyer and David Reimer (who had had sex-change surgeries, but did not have a happy ending) transgender issues have become forefront in modern times. Society has focused on discussing, defining, and creating movements in support of the growing communities of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. It is recently that transgender people, gender dysphoric, and sex-change surgeries are receiving public attention and it seems that society knows little …show more content…
Alfred Kinsey a biologist and sexologist, known as ‘The Father of the Sexual Revolution’ (van). He believed that all kinds of sex acts were legitimate and experimented with men, women, and children. He is the author of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. His work compelled thousands of interviews, which helped him reach the conclusion that the “American women were either sexually repressed (married) or highly promiscuous” (Knight 1). Dr. Kinsey’s work has been further analyzed by Dr. Judith Reisman and there are imperfection in his findings. She is the Author of Kinsey, Se, and Fraud, a book that critics Kinsey’s findings. His sample and conclusions distorted reality. The interviewed women were single women and the children were the fruit of adulterous unions. There is also proof that the results were manipulated and answers were altered to meet his desired results (Knight 1). He asserted that more than ninety percent of men have committed sexual crimes, therefore, society should redefine what is normal and accepted in …show more content…
Harry Benjamin an endocrinologist and sexologist. He made his contribution to the movement with his book The Transsexual Phenomenon. He is also the pioneer in transsexualism, later known as Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS). Transsexualism is defined as the belief of having born in the wrong body. Dr. Benjamin worked along his friend Dr. Kinsey on one of the first cases of transsexualism. In 1948, they both encountered a case of a feminine boy who saw himself as a woman and wanted to change his physical appearance in order to fulfill his inner desire. In this particular case, there was disagreement among the doctors who worked on the case; however, Dr. Benjamin decided to treat the boy with female hormones. Later, he made arrangements and sent the boy to Germany to get a sex-change surgery, but they lost contact. (Goiar, Pace,
Vern L. Bullough, “Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Report: Historical Overview and Lasting Contributions”, The Journal of Sex Research 35 no. 2 (May 1998):129.
Alfred Kinsey remains the most renowned scientists in the field of sexology. His studies yield important information that helped shape the idea of sex and continues to educate all in the most private aspect of our lives. The Kinsey film is a great depiction of his life, research, and impact on the perspectives of sex as we know it.
The medicalization of transgender tendencies, under what was Gender Identity Disorder, was demoralizing to all transgender people. This resulted in a form of structured and institutionalized inequality that made an entire group of people internalize their problems, making them question not only their own identity, but also their sanity. Therefore, the removal of this disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 2013 and the newest editions was important in that it shows society’s recognition and acceptance of the transgender
“The Myth of Trans Regrets”, covers topics discussed in this piece such as, attitudes of the patients after transforming through, hormone therapy, chest surgery, genital surgery and overall. Colin Close and GATE conducted the study, “Report of the 2011 Transition Survey”, used for the results in the image. (See figure 1)
Alfred Kinsey, as described in the film “Kinsey” by Bill Condon and research articles, was an openness man determined to discover and reveal the truth behind the sexual behaviors of the American population. Moreover, he challenged beliefs regarding human sexuality. Being knowledgeable about sex was viewed as something immoral; a topic only a physician was to talk about simply because they knew body parts. In fact, people had no idea what masturbation meant or what being “normal” during sexual activity was. Even though, Kinsey’s scientific research was conducted within the United States, still his findings became a worldwide source of information. Yet, today many controversies arise as a result of his scientific research.
Furthermore, the article clarifies that many transgender people experience a stage of identity development that aids in helping them better understanding their own self-image reflection, and expression. More specifically, they reach out to professional...
Masters and Johnson were a pioneering team in the field of human sexuality, both in the domains of research and therapy. William Howell Masters, a gynecologist, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915. Virginia Eshelman Johnson, a psychologist, was born in Springfield, Montana in 1925. To fully appreciate their contribution, it is necessary to see their work in historic context. In 1948, Alfred C. Kinsey and his co-workers, responding to a request by female students at Indiana University for more information on human sexual behavior, published the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. They followed this five years later with Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. These books began a revolution in social awareness of and public attention given to human sexuality. At the time, public morality severely restricted open discussion of sexuality as a human characteristic, and specific sexual practices, especially sexual behaviors that did not lead to procreation. Kinsey's books, which among other things reported findings on the frequency of various sexual practices including homosexuality, caused a furor. Some people felt that the study of sexual behavior would undermine the family structure and damage American society. It was in this climate - one of incipient efforts to break through the denial of human sexuality and considerable resistance to these efforts - that Masters and Johnson began their work. Their primary contribution has been to help define sexuality as a healthy human trait and the experience of great pleasure and deep intimacy during sex as socially acceptable goals. As a physician interested in the nature of sexuality and the sexual experience, William Masters wanted to conduct research that would lead to an objective understanding of these topics. In 1957, he hired Virgina Johnson as a research assistant to begin this research issue. Together they developed polygraph-like instruments that were designed to measure human sexual response. Using these tools, Masters and Johnson initiated a project that ultimately included direct laboratory observation and measurement of 700 men and women while they were having intercourse or masturbating. Based on the data collected in this study, they co-authored the book Human Sexual Response in 1966. In this book, they identify and describe four phases in the human sexual response cycle : excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. By this point in time, the generally repressive attitude toward sexuality was beginning to lift and the book found a ready audience.
Living life as a transgendered person is not easy. There are very few times when someone comes out as transgender and their lives are still relatively easy to manage. There are a copious...
I had the opportunity to watch the movie “Kinsey.” In the process of watching this movie, I had different reactions when some scenes were presented. First of all, in the movie it showed that Kinsey’s father who was the preacher of a church was close minded about the topic of sex. However, I felt that this movie generalized that all pastors or preachers are close minded to talk about topics that refer to sex. In my experience, my pastor is very open to talk about sex, he would teach teenagers about what sex is about and he would talk to couple about that topic openly. However, it is true that keeping teenagers from sexual encounters before marriage is one of the goals preachers have.
Currently the citizens living in the United States are imprisoned within the binary of two genders. It is only acceptable for a person to identify as a male or a female. Depending on the gender the person identifies, as there is an expectation of how that person should look and act. The person identifying as the specific gender, must maintain the gender norms that are in place. These gender binaries are so prevalent in our lives; it is to the point where a large group of Americans are being overlooked. This group of Americans identifies as transgender, which means they do not fit society’s expectations of how a specific gender should look and behave. (gaycenter.org, 2012). The trans population does not fit the expected gender molds that are
Government agencies such as the Affordable Care Act law defines no sexual discrimination including gender identity, transgender status prohibits majority of insurance companies and healthcare providers from refusing to cover transition-related treatments or using incorrect pronouns under the law. However, the greatest effect can only occur when we — as an American society — change our paradigm. What we can do to help to contribute the changes of degrading experience for many LGBT people in healthcare setting are educating ourselves and creating more awareness in general public to ensure that everyone needs to be treated equally whoever they are. We should be more open-minded to create a welcoming and acceptable workplace environment inclusive of all trans people, to prevent transgender from getting reluctance to reveal their sexual orientation or gender identity to their health providers by training on the full scope of this minority group health in medical schools, and to keep fighting for the state-laws to ensure equality in for transgender individuals in the public utilities and services since only almost half of U.S. states discriminating against transgenders is considered
Within the recent years, the transgender movement has become more apparent than ever. With television shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “Keeping It Up With Cait” and “I Am Jazz”, the voices of transgender people are more public than ever. Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverene Cox are changing the face of the movement by showing people that it is never too late to be their true selves. American laws acknowledge the rights of transgender people, but not in a positive way. These are just people trying to be their best selves.
Gender reassignment is a very controversial topic. Does it really work, can surgery really change your gender? People will always tell you about all the things that go right with surgery, but does anyone truly pay attention to the significant problems that this surgery can cause? Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) is a surgical procedure by which a person’s physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. It is said that this surgery is used to treat gender identity disorder (GID), which describes the condition in which an individual identifies with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their assigned sex. Having surgery performed can cause both physical and mental tribulations. While death is an unlikely result of complications, things do go wrong, as with all surgeries there are risks. There are also major mental, physiological, social and emotional side effects. Surgery will not fix the underlying psychological problems that cause the request for surgery. Anyone considering surgery needs to proceed with caution, as it can result in irreversible damage.
This story caused a lot of controversy but got people thinking about the transgender community and the importance to