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More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on gender identity
Transgender discrimination in society
The concept of Gender identity
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Completely understanding the transgender community can be difficult if one is not part of, or know someone within, the community. Today 's society and mainstream media has very little to no accurate representation of the transgender community for those unaware of its existence. This oversight is mainly due to years of systemic discrimination, erasure, and oppression by both society and its governing bodies. Although there has been a dramatic upswing in support for the transgender community and a call for more education on the matter in recent years, there are still many instances of discrimination people within the community face that prevent them from being completely equal to those outside of the community. But to fully understand the transgender community, what it means to be transgender, and the amount of discrimination they face, one must first learn the terms and definitions associated with, and used by, the community. The most important being the difference between a person 's gender and a person 's sex, since the two are not interchangeable. …show more content…
A person transitioning, the process of changing their outer appearance to better fit their true innate gender expression, from appearing male-bodied and living male-bodied to appearing and living as female-bodied is MTF. They are transgender women. A person transitioning from appearing and living as female-bodied to male-bodied are FTM and are transgender men. Genderqueer is a person identifying as a gender not traditionally found on the male and female binary. This includes various gender identities such as agender, Two Spirit, pangender, bigender, and genderfluid. The concept of more than two possible gender identities and using gender labels outside of the gender binary is gaining more and more popularity among transgender youth and will rarely be seen or used by older generations of the
What does it mean to be classified as “transgender?” When an individual feels his or her biological gender does not match his or her gender identity, he or she may be considered transgender. This feeling of confusion may lead to frustration as well as more complicated issues related to mental health like depression. Some individuals may make the decision to medically change their biological gender to match their gender identity. One such individual, Caitlyn Jenner, made this transition and prompted additional discussion and promoted acceptance of transgender individuals.
Caitlyn Jenner was born as William Bruce Jenner on October 28, 1949 and was born to William Hugh and Esther R. Jenner. William and Esther also had three other children Pam, Lisa and Burt.
Imagine going through life believing that you were born into the wrong body. This is how a transgender feels as they go through life. A transgender is a person who whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to male or female sex. This topic is very controversial due to many arguments about the differences between the male and female physique. The natural biological differences between males and a females play a huge role in this controversy.
To conclude, I chose this article as I found the discussion point interesting and wanted to bring to more people’s attention some of the underlying discrimination that is embedded in U.S. culture. Although transgender people are in the minority, they are no less than myself. I believe strongly that they deserve the same rights and opportunities that are presented to me daily. This article is relevant to the issues of Cultural Anthropology as it addresses questions surrounding gender stereotypes, gender discrimination, gender performance as well as relationship ties and kinship.
Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human Rights Campaign has been started to achieve equal rights for all Americans including the LGBQ community. A serious injustice is in the world of sports. Professional sports are one of societies major traditions totally based on rules and regulations that are meant to preserve the integrality of the games, but may not be inclusive to all its players.
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning an individual’s gender-identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Although transgender is a protected class in eighteen states, these individuals still face discrimination within the country and around the world (“Non-Discrimination Laws”). Transgender is not a lifestyle, no one chooses to live their life constantly being discriminated against. Transgender issues should be more educated on and their lives should be more protected.
The eye opening article utilized for this analysis is titled, “Trans Women at Smith: The Complexities of Checking ‘Female’” ,written by contributing writer, Sarah Fraas on August 24, 2014 (pg 683-685). Fraas starts off by introducing the audience with a school that accepts trans women, Mills College, and talks about how glorious this decision is. The author then begins to talk about other schools not as accepting as Mills, especially Smiths College. She spews many facts and analysis on the issues trans women face today throughout the article including how transgender women are not gaining enough support to succeed, most transgendered women are neglected in school, and the fact that many have been accused of being a woman for the “wrong” reason. She also mindfully includes the image of a woman of color holding up a sign saying, “Support your sisters, not just your CIS-ters!”. The author utilizes this image to show people that we are all one whether we
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
Injustice at Every Turn: A Report from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Rep. National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 2011. Web. The Web. The Web.
Transsexuals, defined simply is a person who from the very core of there being feels like they are in the wrong orientation and transgenderism is that state of being when one's gender doesn't match those feelings. In the case of transgender children they usually feel like god made a mistake and in some case scenarios boys particularly try to alleviate the situation themsel...
There are many issues that arise for transgender individuals, particularly those effecting one’s emotional and psychological state.
Gender is seen as a spectrum, and one can fall anywhere on this spectrum. Again, according to Sam Killerman, being transgendered means living "as a member of a gender other than that expected based on sex assigned at birth." Just because a person is born with male genitalia does not mean they have to be male.
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
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.
It’s upsetting to know that there are so many trans-phobic people out there who believe gender is natural and bash people of trans simply because they do not conform to society’s gender expectations. It’s important to realize that transgender people are no different from you and I they are humans just like the rest of society. It is also interesting to note a lot of people get uptight and uncomfortable when the topic of transgender comes up .Our society is so ignorant when it comes to the topic of sexuality and