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Essays transgender in sports
Essays transgender in sports
The negative impact of gender inequality on athletes
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Transgender issues have long been an area of controversy in sports. “A transgender is someone whose sense of personal identify and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.” In today’s society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try to understand, this is why participation of transgender in sport is a controversial issue and raises concerns such as hormone levels particularly higher testosterone levels. However can beta-blockers (any of a class of drugs which prevent the stimulation of the adrenergic receptors) prevent the onset of puberty in children long enough to ensure an even playing field at younger levels. Elite levels of physical activities now have new restrictions in place …show more content…
Children who prefer to identify as males may begin to develop breasts, or those who identify as female may begin to grow facial hair. Prepubescent children may not be as heavily effected by this however after the onset of puberty confusion and depression often follow. “Almost half of transgender youth have attempted suicide at least once before their 20th birthday.” Although each transgender child’s development is unique, there are medical interventions that can help with the transition to adulthood. This involves taking beta-blockers leading to hormone therapy that postpones puberty. The ‘pause’ button on puberty can be hit said Dr. Johanna Olson, director of the centre for trans youth health and development. This pause, which is reversible, can offer many advantages from the child perspective including the ability for them to compete and participate in the sporting activities and gender teams of their choice. This is important for gender variant people as they must be included in physical activity along with social activity to help build their confidence. Everyone should feel comfortable in their decided gender so why should it be any different for young boys wanting to compete in the female competition. Over 62% of participants in the survey said that they would feel comfortable playing alongside a transgender in team sport. (see appendix 1)This supports the idea that making the decision to identify as a different gender is a personal decision and is supported by the majority around them when it comes to the participation in physical
First, what exactly is the process of transitioning for a minor? One of the more recent medical developments is the use of puberty blockers to treat children who are transgender. The medications, suppress the body’s production of estrogen or
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.
Her ideas challenged my previous opinion in that I believed that in order for a transgender athlete to play for their non-biological sex was solely to undergo a complete sex. Prior to researching this topic, I was unaware of other methods such as hormone therapy that were available to transgender athletes. Through Castillo’s informative article, I was able to understand that other options are available in order to maintain the fairness and equality throughout athletics. While Castillo argues that transgender athletes must complete at least one year of hormone therapy, Canadian Blogger, Keph Senett, argues otherwise. In her essay, “Where Do Transgender Athletes Fit Into Sports?” which was published in newsletter Matador Network, Senett argues that transgender athletes must complete a full sex change before even considering competing for the opposite sex. Senett’s article did not add much more to my original opinion, nor did it challenge it in any
Gender Dysphoria was previously referred to as Gender Identity Disorder or transsexuals and is characterized by “a marked incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender as a male or female” (Sue, Sue, Sue and Sue, 2014, p. 363). Using an article written for the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing (2012), “Gender Dysphoria in Children: Let’s Think This Through” written by Hein and Kathrene Berger, and our text, “Invitation to the Lifespan (2014)” by Kathleen Stassen Berger, we will expand upon the effects of what was proposed in the article and it would affect a child. Although highly controversial, Hein and Berger argue against diagnosing a child with GD providing several key points, while
Football has always been defined by the men who play the game and their masculinity and strength utilized on the field to defeat their opponent. A player’s sexual orientation should not be a weighing factor when determining how valuable an athlete is on the field. NFL players are typically defined by their masculinity and manly strength showcased on the field, making it a challenge for homosexual players to be open about their sexual preference out of fear of being ridiculed or being deemed a sub-par player. Michael Sam was the first openly homosexual player to be drafted to the league. Is it morally right to judge one’s ability because of their sexuality?
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.
Seventy-three transgender children who were allowed to express their gender identity freely, forty-nine of their siblings and seventy-three non-transgender children were involved in the study. None of the transgender children had taken hormone, but they lived freely to express their gender identity. The study measured anxiety and depression levels. For depression levels all the numbers were almost all the same. Anxiety levels for all the children varied. Transgender children had higher levels of depression and anxiety than the siblings or non-transgender children, but the variables were only one or two numbers more. These transgender children were relatively happy with their lives as they were able to live with the gender identity they wanted. Letting transgender live the identity they feel comfortable can improve their mental health in the long run. (“Transgender
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
People do not seem to raise as much attention to transgender males playing sports because the transgender males are the ones with the disadvantage. They might have lower testosterone levels than the other males competing. Transgender women competing in sports is a completely different story. Transgender women might have higher testosterone levels than the other women competing. There is medication for transgenders to take which makes their testosterone levels match the average level for the
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.
According to the DSM-5, gender dysphoria is “the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender” (American Psychological Association, 2013). Even though studies have shown that not every individual suffers from distress, it is still possible that an individual might suffers from distress due to the hormonal treatment or surgical procedure(s). In the past, gender dysphoria has been referred to as “gender identity”. However, gender identity, by the DSM-IV definition is “a category of social identity and refers to an individual’s identification as male, female, or occasionally, some category other than male or female” (American Psychological Association, 2000). Individuals that identify themselves with another gender tend to change their sex, which has been proven to be a hard and long process.
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.
Anti-Sport Discrimination with Female Athletes Female athletes are discriminated against when performing in the male-dominated athletic world and receive unequal benefits due to their gender. Title IX, founded in 1972, has increased educational athletic opportunities for female athletes by enforcing the law that all educational programs funded by the federal government must provide gender equality (Issitt 1). Although female athletes often receive lower sponsorships and audiences than male athletes, they deserve equal opportunities through programming, scholarships, and participation at the collegiate level.
In today’s society we as humans are aware and accepting of more identities than we ever have been before. Civil rights movements all over the world are advocating for everything from marriage equality, to laws protecting gender-queer people. However, it isn’t perfect. Just as there will always be racists and homophobes, there will always be people who say gender identity is a choice. Well, a study done earlier this year proves those people wrong.
In the United States, more than 700,000 people have identified themselves as transgender. These statistics include people of all ages from the children to the elderly. In several surveys conducted in U.S. schools, several children were identified as transgender. For instance, in a 2015 survey in Dane County, 1.5% of the students were transgender (Hoffman). With the revelation, there is a call for unisex bathrooms to accommodate all these students. For example, a nine-year-old student was denied access to the female bathroom in Queensland (Hosking and Sun). This shows that transgender people sometimes go through a hard time; especially in societies where being a transgender has not been accepted. Statistics show that transgender people often become victims of bullying. For instance, 22 women were murdered in 2015 due to being transgender (Goodyear). Additionally, a report by The National Transgender Discrimination Survey shows that more than 40% of transgender people have attempted suicide because of the lack of acceptance in the society (Grant, Mottet, and Tanis 2). Although unisex bathrooms will not eliminate transphobia, it will be a start to ensuring their acceptance in the future. Stereotypes associated with transgender people will be crushed at an early age, giving an opportunity for their acceptance in the