The Mercury Symbol
My mom’s former boyfriend Rick, now known as Andrea, became a woman over a decade ago. Andrea is a transgender person whom the Mercury symbol represents. For transgender people, the Mercury symbol stands for their personal inner striving to become the gender they feel they were meant to be, equality, and pride. Happily, Andrea and my mom have remained friends since she became a woman. For many people who cross the gender line, acceptance does not always come so easily.
Transgender is defined as appearing, wishing to be considered as, or having undergone surgery to become a member the opposite sex. There are many terms for or associated with transgender people, which people may also link to the Mercury symbol, such as transvestite, transsexual, crossdresser, intersexed (Wellesley College). The symbol is meant to express the balance of feminine and masculine traits within an individual. Some transgender people are open about their feelings while others, for fear of societal rejection, hide their pain for years and sometimes forever.
The Mercury symbol dates back to ancient Greek mythology. Hermes (Mercury) and Aphrodite (Venus) had a child that possessed both male and female sexual organs. They named the child Hermaphroditus, which is where the term hermaphrodite originally came from. The Mercury symbol is made up of three parts: the crescent moon, the cross, and the ring. The crescent moon represents masculinity, while the cross represents the feminine and the ring stands for the individual surrounded by the struggle with gender. (forPLU)
In today’s society, it is not easy to be an openly transgendered person and wear this symbol on your sleeve. Most people fear what is different...
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... strength they show by changing their gender and way of life.
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Maxwell, Simon. "Book Review Symposium." Development Policy Review 26.1 (2008): 113-128. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
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