Through the use of The Gender Book, I decided to focus my attention on if my gender was under the transgender spectrum. Due to being born a female, my transition would be from female to male. While considering how my life would be different, I realized how much my privilege as cisgender showed.
The first thought I had was the fact that when an individual is transgender they usually pick up on this difference in their sex and gender fairly early. I thought about how challenging that alone would be. For an individual to be forced to dress a certain way, play with certain toys and in some cases be judged for playing mainly with the opposite sex while growing up. These thoughts made me think of David from As Nature Made Him, I thought of David
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I would personally probably transition when I was an adult. I don’t think I would be strong enough to handle the backlash and intense bullying while in school or even college. I considered the perks of transitioning at an older age, such as hopefully being able to afford it and possibly forming a better group of supporters at an older age than what I may have had in high school. I did consider the struggles my parents would have with this transition, my mother would be absolutely heartbroken, she would no longer have the daughter she thought she had all along and I know from conversations with my father that he would never be able to understand it and would always think it was a phase. I believe my mother would purchase every parenting book that discussed a child being transgender, just like the many parent guide books we have been assigned to read chapters from throughout this semester along with the pamphlets we had assigned to read such as the APA Transgender pamphlet.
Once I would decide to transition I contemplated all the other struggles that would follow, regardless of age. I thought about how my possible employment would be impacted, from readings and statistics, the class has learned through the U.S. Transgender Survey that trans individuals have a 15% unemployment rate. I thought about how likely I would be to have a job once I transitioned or told my boss I was transgender. I thought about the young woman in the video in the lecture that Joe lead. The woman in the video discussed how her boss let her go because she was “changing before their
After reading Allison Baker's " Better Be Ready 'Bout Half Past Eight" it made me realize that discovering one's self is a situation our world is going through right now. In her short story one of Allison Baker's main characters, Zach tells his best friend of thirty-eight years that he is going to have a sex change. Zach tells Byron that he feels trapped in the wrong body and that he is going to become a woman. Byron is shocked about what he is hearing and can't seem to deal with the news. He's known Zach for some time now and he didn't pick up any of the signs about Zach's sexuality. Through the rest of the story you see Byron coping with the news. He talks to his baby boy about the situation and tells him that he will grow up to a man. He also starts to think about his own sexuality and even goes as far as applying makeup to his face. Byron watches the transformation of his best friend Zach into a woman named Zoe. As the story comes to an end Byron, his wife Emily, and their son Toby are at Zoe's shower. Byron squeezes Zoe's hand and I think, right then and there, he finally comes to terms with Zach's decision and is happy for his friend. As his friend walks away, he says that his son Toby Glass could grow up to be anything.
The definition of gender has become way more revolutionary and expressive compared to the twentieth century. Gender used to be similar to sex where someone would be identified as a male or female based on their biological genitals however, this day in age it is way more complex. Someone can be born a male but mentally they feel like a male. In “Sisterhood is complicated” Ruth Padawer explains the journey of different transgender males and the obstacles they face while attending Wellesley college. Wellesley is a women’s college that has been around for a very long time and is in the process of the battling the conflict of whether they should admit transgender students. Ariel Levy author of “Female Chauvinist Pigs” tackles the stereotypes and
In regards to the development of gender identity, it is a more complex issue to deal with, as one has to be concerned about all aspects of the person life, starting from even before they have been born (Swaab, 2004), to a point in their life where they are settled and satisfied with their identity. The American Psychological Association states that while development is very fluid among young children, it is usually believed to form between ages 3 and 6, however many transgender, individuals are not able to embrace their true gender identity until much later in life, largely due to societal stigma associated with these identities.
Many transgender people lived in dysfunctional families when they were young. The support becomes vital for the wellbeing of kids. In her book Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, recaps the importance of support from Michelle his cousin, who kept in secrets of gender dysphoria of Charles (Keisha) by saying “‘Pinkie –swear you won’t tell your mom’…She’d keep the secret my secret because I was her favorite cousin” (Mook 76). Michelle, kept Keisha’s secret by allowing her to use her swimming clothes. Michelle shows the importance of support from relatives. This is a fundamental factor that might help with the development of her gender identity. Many transgender people may feel a relief at the time to disclose their identity. When transition is in progress the support from friends and families becomes important because, many transgender people might suffer if they lack support. Many transgender people seem depressed because they are rejected by society. Janet Mock, relates how Wendi, support Charles, by making him feel comfortable, saying “Wendi and I grew inseparable trough middle school, a bond that would link us for the rest of our lives. Through association, my class –mates learned that I was like Wendi-who hadn’t yet adopted any labels to describe her shifting self” (Mook 107). In most cases transgender people’s acquaintances can be referred as transgender people just by friendship. The association makes transgender people to gain confidence about their gender identity. The support from groups or friends makes transgender people feel that they are accepted and not alone. Support from friends might urge transgender people to come out the “closet” and reveal their gender identity to gain respect among society. The support from friends is important, but family support seems to be the most important. When families do not support transgender people it causes a hostile environment that may suppress
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...
For most people, the idea of Transgenders is new and complicated. Because the idea is so fresh, many adults struggle with how to address this topic to the children because they lack knowledge
Puberty is a difficult time for any child, but for transgender teens, it can be the difference between becoming who they want to be or remaining in the wrong body. In June of this year, PBS Frontline released a documentary, entitled Growing Up Trans, which chronicled the lives of eight transgender and nonbinary children, from the ages of 9 to 19, as they navigated through the process of transitioning to their prefered genders. Some of the kids took hormone blockers to slow down their puberty, others were going through puberty at the time and wanted to transition before it was complete, and one had already gone through puberty and was still taking hormones to transition. The controversy revolving around the documentary focused on whether or
Walking down the street, Skylar seems like an ordinary man going about his daily business, but looks can be deceiving. Skylar was originally born as a female, and feeling he was supposed to be a male, started transitioning to male at the age of 16. “He’d just been burdened with a body that needed medical and surgical adjustments so that it could reflect the gender he knew himself to be,” writes Margaret Talbot (2013). Skylar’s family was very accepting, as they had already expected this from the time he was quite young. They gave Skylar time to think over whether he really wanted to transition or not, and when he decided he did, they were extremely happy for him and helped him through the transition. Skylar’s testimony shows the positive influence that having a transsexual family member can have on a family. Having a transsexual person in a family will positively influence that family and educate them on more conservative issues dealing with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.
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...
However, they want to be referred to only as a man or woman. But what if our gender identity, our sense of being a boy or being a girl, does not match our physical body? From a very early age, we will start to feel increasingly uncomfortable. For some this is a mild discomfort, for others it is so traumatic they would rather die than continue to live in the wrong body. Unfortunately, as transsexual people are a small minority of the population, the condition has been labeled by Psychiatrists as "Gender Identity Disorder".
Imagine that you had a job where you had to dress, look, and act a certain way but you didn 't like it and had no choice but to remain that way or your boss would get mad and fire you. It is obvious that one would not be happy being like this because it is not who one is but one is scared to go against it because one is afraid to face the consequences. This is about the same thing that transgender individual 's experience where they have not been allowed to become like the opposite sex because society does not allow it. Every individual is different and therefore not everyone will want to accept the sex that they were born with primarily because they feel that it is not the real them. These individuals cannot burst their bubble and demonstrate who they truly are because society is watching their every move and just waiting for the perfect opportunity to come out and punish them. This is supposed to be a free country and because it is the twenty-first century, people should to learn to live with change. I have learned that gender identity is the
Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.
Another view in contrast to ours would be the concern about the permanency of the treatment. However, hormone therapy has no permanent, negative health effects should the child choose to stop treatment. Additionally, psychotherapy does not aim to change the child’s gender identity, or scare them away from receiving treatment, but to make sure that the child really feels that they are transgender, and to
The relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
Before the sex change, these people are unhappy, uncomfortable in their own skin, prone to suicide. These transgendered people are the ones who cannot or do not have a say in their choices about their bodies because someone else is making that decision for them. And their mini-solutions can barely get them through the day, let alone get through the day without being bullied. These transgendered people are just like you and me.