identity or roles. Gender expression may or may not conform to a person’s gender identity.
What is gender identity?
A person’s deeply felt, inherent sense of being a boy, a man, or male; a girl, a woman, or female; or an alternative gender (e.g., genderqueer, gender conforming, gender neutral) that may or may not correspond to a person’s sex assigned at birth or to a person’s primary or secondary sex characteristics. Since gender identity is internal, a person’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others. “Affirmed gender identity” refers to a person’s gender identity after coming out as TGNC or undergoing a social and/or medical transition process.
What is gender queer?
A term to describe a person whose gender does not align with
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STRUGGLES ON EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE AMONG TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS
There are many issues that arise for transgender individuals, particularly those effecting one’s emotional and psychological state.
i. SOCIAL PREDICAMENT
The main problem of growing up with Gender Dysphoria, aside from the body dysphoria itself is the social predicament. Everyone basically expects the individual to be and act like a boy or girl, when they feel inside to be an opposite gender.
a. EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE
In early childhood, children get cues early on from parents about appropriate behavior, and internalize them. For example MTF (male to female) transgenders have reported getting the message from parents that it wasn’t ok for them to play dolls with their sisters or neighbors, and that they were expected to do “boy” things. Kids of this age start to get the idea that there is a part of themselves that must remain hidden.
b. PUBERTY and the DEVELOPMENT of SECONDARY MALE or FEMALE PHYSICAL
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However, some are not as free to do so, due to family and other obligations, or due to lack of information and access to services.
Later in adulthood, some transgender individuals set aside transitioning until later in life when they feel able to do so. This can be satisfying, but can also have the disadvantage of producing a less convincing outcome. In addition there can be regret about having lived so long in an unwanted gender. Friends and family may have a harder time accepting and understanding the transition since they knew the person for so long in their assigned gender at birth.
In all these stages in life, there can be isolation, hiding and secrets, which may lead to depression and anxiety. Transgender adults are much more likely to have suicidal thoughts, with 50% of adults reporting some suicidal ideation. It has been observed that there are two paths that people take early on: either one tries to hide their inner feeling of being the wrong gender and “passes” for what looks like a boy or girl, or one is incapable of hiding and presents as either a tom-boyish girl or a feminine boy. Either path comes with problems for one’s emotional development. The second scenario is that a person may opt to present as gender non-conforming and is known to elicit harsh responses from society. This is true for non-transgender
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
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
Behaviorists tend to believe that virtually all roles, values, and morals are learned (223). Specifically, gender distinctions arise from operant conditioning and reward behavior that is “gender appropriate” and almost punish behavior that is “inappropriate” (223). According to the theory believed by behaviorists, GD would most likely stem from non-traditional parenting as opposed to traditional parenting. Cognitive theorists believe that gender identity becomes apparent around age 5, and based off of gender schema. Children see the world in simple black and white, male and female. When they see both men and female apply cosmetics, dress in certain ways, they’ll associate it with that gender and believe that “what they see is permanent and irreversible” (224). Humanists stress the hierarchy of needs. They believe that children want to be identified as male or female, “not because they disliked the other sex, but because same-sex groups satisfied their need to belong” (224). Essentially, they stress that young children set their gender identity by conforming to gender
Transgender is defined by Wikipedia as, “the state of one's gender identity (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex.” The article explains how a transgender individual may define themselves as having the characteristics that are normally associated with a particular gender but will choose to identify elsewhere on the gender continuum. It use’s the love story of Rhys Ernst and Zackary Drucker as an example. It took five years for Zackary to transition from male to female and Rhys from female to male. But both truly believe that they were born the wrong gender, and choose to correct this wrong with hormone treatments, surgery and personality changes that to the more tradition eye may seem absurd and abnormal. This is one of the main reason such transgender couples are talking about their transformations. To beach this gap between transgender’s and the rest of the population. It is believed that by educating society, we are more likely to accept something than if we do not fully understand the parameters that surround such an issue.
Mental health professional have tried to correct their ‘‘gender identity disorder’’ with brutal aversion therapies. Tran’s youth who came out often faced crises throughout their family and social systems. Once out, developing a sense of realness about their new gender became extremely important. An urgent need develops ‘‘to match one’s exterior with one’s interior’’ In ad...
The most common issue transgender individuals face every day is bathroom use. When a transgender person uses the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, it boosts well-being. It is legal to for transgender individuals to use whichever bathroom
A good portion of society is unknowingly misinformed about these kinds of people. When an individual identifies themselves as transgender, it means that they feel that their biological gender does not match their psychological gender. To put that into a simple man’s term, the individual feels they “were born in the wrong body”. For example, a man feels that he was meant to be born a woman and vice versa. It does sound rather unusual, but why does that matter?
Lev, A. I. (2013). Gender Dysphoria: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. Clinical Social Work Journal, 41(3), 288-296.
It meets the guideline with its’ attention to assert a concern on gender identities and our scientific understanding of them. The writer essentially focused on scientific theories by Dr. Kranz and Dr. Cecelia Dhejne that the foundations of sex-reassignments are based upon a mismatch between gender-specific brain developments and how they are “scientifically” formed and the high suicide effects of it subsequently. Using important information such as transgendered people with brain structural differences reports relevant information in relation to the controversial idea of how changeable is gender and how it affects lives to this day.
In today's world there are many different sexual identities a person can adhere to, instead of just being heterosexual or homosexual. What a sexual identity is, is how one refers to think of oneself in terms of whom one is romantically or sexually attracted to. A type of sexual identity is when a person both male or female feel like they are inside the wrong body and they wish to have a sex change. Individuals who identify themselves as transgender aren’t usually adults, in some cases it is children who go through the stages of feeling out of place with there bodies and wish to change it. Some people in today's society would find it very odd that children would wish to be in a different body, in order to understand why this is happening you would have to know what exactly is transgender and transsexual, what causes transgenderism, and the early signs of transgenderism. This phenomenon has been around for a very long time and due to the fact that there is a large misunderstanding there is much confusion when faced with it. In order for one to understand how children become transgender or transsexual one must know what transgender and transsexual mean, what causes transgenderism, and the early signs of it and be mentally prepared for what is to come. Most of the responsibility in understanding transgender children falls on the parents of transgender children.
... meet criteria from group A for GD but must also meet group B which specifies that the incongruence experienced surrounding issues of gender, identity, sex, and orientation is a “clinically significant distress” and impairs several areas of important functioning such as school and education, career and occupation, and social or relational (APA, 2013). Children, adolescents and adults may be specified further under GD with a disorder of sexual development and adults may also have a specification of post transition or having undergone some legal, permanent, or lifestyle change to their desired gender and sex (APA, 2013). The DSM-V also recognized two categories, other specified gender dysphoria which meets criteria B and only some of the symptoms under criteria A, and unspecified gender dysphoria, used when there is insufficient evidence of a GD diagnosis (APA, 2013).
There are many barriers that trans-people face daily such as discrimination, whether it is in the workplace, school, or just in public. Trans-people are denied when they try to serve in the military. There is a lot of debate whether or not trans-people are allowed to participle on sports teams, and which restroom/locker rooms to use. Trans-people have unequal access to health care, and the media shows a poor representation of them. People claim that being “transgender” is a “mental disorder” (GID). Forty-one percent of trans-people have reported that they have attempted suicide throughout their lives, compared to less than two percent of the general population (Cronn-Mills 52). How other people treat them, can greatly influence trans-individuals throughout
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".
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s sex and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision whether accidental or genetic can effect that child’s life style views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors.
Transgender is when the body you are born into does not match the biological sex you are born with. The cause of being transgender is still unknown, but biologically it has been proven that there are differences between transgender people and those whose gender identity match their biological sex. In the first eight weeks of pregnancy all fetuses look the same until testosterone surges come along. It is possible that this surge of testosterone, or the lack thereof, could play a role in gender identity (Goldberg and Adriano.) The lack of public knowledge leads to confusion and insensitivity towards the transgender community. This grey area is apparent in the business world, the legal system, and everyday lives have an impact of the experience