Puberty is often a period of difficult developmental changes. LGBTQ* youth experience these challenges, as well as additional stigmas and disparities in society. Specifically, transgender and gender dysphoric youth – when one’s biological assigned sex and one’s personal sense of gender identity do not align – have a unique pubertal understandings and awareness in regards to mental, physical, medical, and social factors. Because a majority of preadolescent and pubertal sexual activity takes place as self-exploration (Graber & Archibald, 2011), coming out or self-identifying one’s gender identity does not usually occur until after puberty or during adulthood. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the varying factors of puberty that affect …show more content…
While there are opportunities and experiences that were not possible for previous generations (Institute of Medicine, 2011), such as being accepted by family, peers, and society whilst “coming out”, there are also, however, continual risks and disadvantages in the school and family environments. The contrasting distinctions compared to their cisgender peers may become distinct as gender dysphoric youth enter puberty, especially in a “cisnormative” and transphobic society (Horowitz & Itzkowitz, 2011). For example, there are significantly fewer transgender or gender non-conforming role models in the media and in real life than cisgender mentors. Moreover, as physical pubertal changes become noticeable to others, a majority of homophobic and transphobic bullying occurs in early in middle school and onwards to high school (Taylor et al., 2011). Youth who are targets of this harassment generally tend to have lower grades than their peers, as well as having high rates of depression and suicidal thoughts and actions. Additionally, puberty may result in changed in parent-child relationships (Graber & Archibald, 2011). While increased conflict affects a multitude of the teenaged population during puberty, transgender and gender variant youth may be absent of parental support (Graber & Archibald, 2011), possibly due to old-fashioned perspectives and a lack of understanding. It is significant to …show more content…
Firstly, there is very little empirical research and longitudinal studies on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer youth, and the amount of research is much lesser for transgender and gender dysphoric youth (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Probable causes of the lack of research include “societal taboos… homophobia [and transphobia], adult discomfort with issues of youth sexuality, and fear of backlash from conservative community stakeholders” (Horowitz & Itzkowitz, 2011, p. 33). Additionally, research gaps may stem from researchers one or too few questions in regards to the participants’ identities; many individuals who have not self-identified or “come out”, especially during youth, do not have a clear response to how they identify. As well, it if often difficult to have a large and meaningful group of individuals who are willing to disclose their gender identity in research studies, especially at such a young age during puberty when many are not certain of their identity. Furthermore, there is a distinct lack of research on the physical health of transgender youth in relation to hormone administration and use, as no comparable data on this subject has been researched in humans (Institute of Medicine,
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
7). During puberty, adolescents will begin to have an increase in sex drive and sexual activity. They will begin to look at the opposite sex differently. Unfortunately most adolescents are not ready to deal with feelings of sexual interest, so they will react in awkward ways. Adolescents will tease one another about the opposite sex or make up stories about the opposite sex. Until they can understand and be comfortable with these new found feelings, they may have a difficult time talking to the opposite sex. Puberty also causes changes the adolescent’s self-image which will affect how the adolescent behaves. Self-image is dependent upon what changes may take place. Some adolescents begin to feel more mature and will seek out more independence. The final change during puberty is in the adolescents’ appearance which can change how others react to the teenager. An adolescent with acne, a high voice, or breast formation will appear different from their peers. This difference may lead to being made fun of, being ignored, or getting extra
The perspectives from transgender youth is critically missing in many discussion, research, intervention and implementation strategies. Transgender youth, are misunderstood, misrepresented and excluded from conversations, decision making, and policy execution when in actuality they should be involved. Shelton & Bond (2017) elucidates that although there is a growing body of research that examines LGBTQ youth homelessness, gaps in knowledge about the specific experiences of transgender and gender-expansive homeless youth remain. Studies focus largely on transgender youth in the context of the methods and measures in studies. Hence, including transgender youth within research on sexual minorities, rather than allowing them a distinct category of inquiry, can replicate the common misreading of transgender people as
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
transgender youth, the conflict tends to be over their sexual orientation or gender identity, and
Nevertheless, what is it that drives these numbers to be so high and how can it be prevented? This is caused by individuals being bullied for being different and becoming the outcast in society. Grossman did an experiment Transgender Youth and Life-Threatening Behaviors this experiment was based off of a four questions (1) what is the history of life-threatening behaviors among transgender youth? (2) Do parental reactions to the youths’ gender nonconformity and transgender identity relate to youths’ life- threatening behaviors? (3) Do youths’ feelings about the appearance of their bodies, or body esteem, relate to life-threatening behavior? (4) What are the differences between the transgender youth who had engaged in life-threatening behaviors? This experiment showed that parents indeed did have a big part in the child’s life. They wanted acceptance from their parents with caused an internal conflict if they individual should keep on going with a lie or what he or she felt they were meant to be. These questions were not easy to answer but showed how this lead to being bullied, harassed, depression that was followed by pill and in some cases suicide. This study showed that almost half of transgender youth though about taking their lives at one point (Grossman, 2007). Also when looking for that person for comfort weather it was a parent or teacher there were less thoughts and actions of suicide compared to the ones who did not have support and were abused emotionally of physically. Other studies show that when an adolescent experiences some sort of homophobic teasing, they began to question who they were leading them to feel confused about themselves and resulting in high depression and suicidal rates (Ruehl,
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
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.
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.
Currently in today’s society, coming out as gay is easier than admitting to a serious mental problem. This effect puts a burden on teens who suffer from problems and don’t know where to go; which led to the increase of teen suicides as seen in the media. In the average classroom size, about three of the twenty-four students have depression; not mentioning other common disorders such as bipolar disorder, panic disorder, ADHD, conduct disorder, and eating disorders. Without better programs in schools to prevent and inform about mental disorders, the current taboo on them, the bullying of students suffering, and the romanticization of diseases will continue to increase the negative effect mental disorders have on teens.
Adolescence is a transition which has no fixed time limits. However, the changes that occur at this time are so significant that it is useful to talk about adolescence as a distinct period of human life cycle. This period ranges from biological changes to changes in behavior and social status, thus making it difficult to specify its limits exactly (Damon, 2008). Adolescence begins with puberty, i.e. a series of physiological changes that lead to full development of the sexual organs and the ability to breed and sex. The time interval that elapses begins at 11 to 12 years and extends to 18 to 20. However we cannot associate to a 13 with one 18 years. Let us talk about early adolescence between 11 to 14 years, which coincides with puberty, and after a second period of youth, or late adolescence between 15-20 years. Its extension to adulthood depends on social, cultural, environmental as well as personal adaptation.
There are several theorists that have presented models on sexual identity development. Many of the models have stages of sexual identity development suggesting that certain characteristics are present during a specific period. However, Anthony D’Augelli presents a model that suggests processes rather than stages. These processes take place over the span of one’s life and not necessarily in any specific order or fashion. D’Augelli’s (1994a) life span model of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) identity development takes into account “the complex factors that influence the development of people in context over historical time” (Evans et al, 2010). According to D’Augelli’s (1994) theory, identity formation includes three sets of interrelated variables that are involved in identity formation: personal actions and subjectivities, interactive intimacies, and sociohistorical connections. Personal subjectivities and actions include individuals’ perceptions and feelings about their sexual identities as well as actual sexual behaviors and the meanings attached to them. Interactive intimacies include the influences of family, peer group, and intimate partnerships and the meanings attached to experiences with significant others. Sociohistorical connections are defined as the social norms, policies and laws found in various geographical locations and cultures, as well as the values existing during particular historical periods (Evans et al, 2010).
Heather A. Priess, a Professor of psychology with a focus on developmental psychology, writes in her article Adolescent Gender-Role Identity and Mental Health: Gender Intensification Revisited, "Parents were more likely to encourage independence, achievement, self-confidence, and competitiveness in sons than daughters, and more expressivity, warmth, and courtesy for others in daughters compared with sons." This speaks to the effect of someone's upbringing; furthermore, this is a crucial part of developing gender, and a parent will have a large role in developing a child's own identity. Not only this, but more and more children are beginning to question their identity. Robin Henig, an accomplished freelance writer with multiple science publications in various magazines, wrote in her article "How Science is Helping Us Understand Gender", "She’s questioning her gender identity, rather than just accepting her hobbies and wardrobe choices as those of a tomboy, because we’re talking so much about transgender issues these days." The fact that these issues are brought up more openly allow children to express how they're actually feeling rather than conform to gender roles within society. This does not only affect the children, but parents as well since they can be more accepting of child's choice of gender identity. The topic is not only limited to male and female genders but
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
Williams, T., Connolly, J., Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (2003). Questioning and sexual minority adolescents: High school experiences of bullying, sexual harassment and physical abuse. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health. Special Issue: Disrupting Normalcy: Lesbian, Gay, Queer Issues and Mental Health, 22 (2), 47-58.