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How my gender identity shapes me as an individual
Gender identity in society
How does gender shape one's identity
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Recommended: How my gender identity shapes me as an individual
In today’s modern society people have come to understand the idea of LGBTQ but not everyone understands what gender identity is in depth. The term of gender identity is when individuals view themselves as male or female or what they would pronouns that they would prefer such as he or she and so on. Although this is true, what we as a society have come to understand, slowly but surely is that there are more than two types of gender identification such as the blending of male and female or neither of them. Another factor that people fail to realize is that gender identity can also match the gender that was assigned at the time of their birth. There is nothing that gives an individual a set and stone identity but there are factors that play a …show more content…
Men have penis’s and women have vagina’s but it’s not that simply to those who believe they are truly a different gender than what they were born as. In Namaste’s work Transsexual, transgender, and queer we see the discrimination that transgender people face which I would have to face as well. “..Civil Status clearly stated that a male-to-female transsexual must undergo a vaginoplasty, the construction of a vagina, in order to change her name and sex.” (141) We see how it’s virtually difficult for transgender people to change their gender identities on certificates so even though they identify as male, female, or whatever the case may be, they still have to be seen as something they aren’t. Even the law is unaccepting of what human beings have the given right to do; be themselves. “State coverage paid for testicular implants in the case of a male who has lost his testicles, but did not allow for breast implants in the case of a woman who loses her breast.” (145) . In this quote, we see how transgendered women are seen as second-class citizens alongside women in general aspects. We also see how the LGBTQ community takes a stand for who they are which also shows how it would partially resolve the troubles that I would face. The LGBTQ community would be understanding of my transition from female-to-male and would offer support to me when going …show more content…
Although it will be difficult down the line, yes no doubt, I know that I’ll have people to support my decisions such as the LGBTQ community who will be understanding of what I’m experiencing. Family and friends will not be accepting but in the end, it comes down to what a person believes gender identity is. In reality, it’s solely based off what an individual feels internal about themselves. It’s not a phase as many think it is or a fad that comes and goes, it’s what a person feels natural to them just how drinking water is and eating food. The decision is ultimately up to the individual and what makes them truly
For instance, sociologists would argue that characteristics of the male gender in a given society include independence, and dominance whereas females express more passive behavior. Gender identity, on the other hand is an individual’s sense of their gender or in other words, their sense as to whether they are feminine or masculine. Therefore, transgender is a term related to “people whose gender identity is different from the gender commonly socially assigned to them on the basis of their biological sex” (Morrow & Messinger, 2006, p. 7).“Biological theories assume that gender should be consistent with biological sex and there are only two genders and two sexes” which does not correspond to transgender people. Furthermore, transgender is also used as a general term to include people such as transsexuals and cross-dressers
The great feminist theorist once said “‘Sometimes people try to destroy you, precisely because they don’t see it, but because they see it and don’t want it to exist’” (Mook 195). Support becomes very important for transgender people at the time they transition. Many families support their transgender family members, but society rejects their transition. Many people want transgender people out of their communities. The resource of knowledge seems important to transgenders because it lets them tolerate the ignorance of people. Money plays an important role when the time comes to pay medical bills. In the book Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, She relates the importance of resources. Resources should be important for transgender people because
There is more to gender expression, gender identities and biological sex that can be seen. The reason we do not go out looking for the differences between them is because some individuals are afraid of any difference that breaks their social norm. Each person is unique in their own way by having vast differences and challenges that they may face to become themselves. These differences and challenges is what bring us together and make up the communities we live in. They could be one someones teacher, best friend, sister. or brother, they could even be someones role model. Those “different people,” such as the interssexed, transgendered, or even biological males/females that differ from our social (daily) norms in the end are not that different.
It is a fact that our society faces many issues regarding gender identification today. I believe many of these issues come from the differences in a female brain and a male brain and the standards our society has set for each. The hormones that run through our bodies help shape the gender that we identify with and our society tells us what is “normal or acceptable” for each gender. When the brain and hormones do not match the sex we are assigned at birth chaos arises. No matter how hard our environment tries to enforce the physical gender that our body represents, our mind can reject it, even if we are consciously trying to accept the assigned sex.
When two people are in love and plan on having a family, they look to the future and look at all the wonderful events to come. Yet, they do not think of any negative outcome that may lie in the future. No one likes to think that something different or unexpected can happen to his or her family, but rather image and focus on the great future that is yet to come. However, It seems that people are encountering more conflict with their gender identity and not only the individual but the families as well. This paper will point out how having a child who is gender confused suffers as much as the parents. It is hypothesized that parents who have a transgender child have a hard time accepting the child for who they are because of the negativity that
Imagining if I transformed into the opposite sex for a week, my experiences of truth and reality would be quite different, yet strikingly similar to my life as a woman. Although my peers would accept me the same and know nothing altered, my mindset would have done a complete 180 degree flip. Although it is the expectation that humans identify with a single gender, multitudes of modern Americans refuse to succumb to this idea and prefer to identify with a sense gender fluidity. “The term "gender identity” . . . refers to a person's innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth” (par. 2). Some refuse to accept that gender is as one may say black or white, male or female. However, if I transfigured into a man, I would need to adjust my sense of reality in regards to the new expectations that come with the given gender.
An individual should be able to make his or her own decisions about how they live their life. Unfortunately though, not everyone feels the same way about this. That is how the controversy is created. This is why transgender rights should be strengthened in America not only because it is morally correct, but also because it would ease the lives of the people within this group, reduce the discrimination and harassment rates of transgender individuals, and help establish awareness. Living life as a transgender person is not easy.
Sex and gender do not always align. Cis-gender describes people whose biological body they were born into matches their personal gender identity. This experience is distinct from being transgender, which is where one’s biological sex does not align with their gender identity. Transgender people will undergo a gender transition that may involve changing their dress and self-presentation (such as a name change). Transgender people may undergo hormone therapy to facilitate this process, but not all transgender people will undertake surgery. Intersexuality describes variations on sex definitions related to ambiguous genitalia, gonads, sex organs, chromosomes or hormones. Transgender and intersexuality are gender categories, not sexualities. Transgender
Significance: The significance associated with these claims take on the vast amount of oppression transgender and intersex individuals deal with. In “Cisgender Privilege”, Evin Taylor compiles a subversive list of struggles transgendered individuals face daily that cisgender people are unaware of and take for granted. To illustrate, some examples of these privileges cisgender people acquire include using a public restroom without worry and not having to prove one’s gender. To expand additionally on the transgender bathroom conflict, the reading entitled “Bodies and Bathrooms” explores the story of transgendered girl named Coy. Her elementary school told Coy and her family about how she was no longer permitted to use the girl’s restroom, but rather a unisex one instead. Listed here are only a fraction of the struggles that occur towards transgender people. For intersex individuals, we learn about various medical
According to Stryker, sex is considered biological; in contrast, gender is generally considered to be cultural, sexual, and biological (22). It is important to know which gender people aim to because gender “refers to social expectations of proper behavior and activities for a member of a particular gender” (Stryker 23). People who acknowledge this fact and have encouragement to be themselves should be respected, but, in somewhere, sometimes, that is hard to be accepted by society. Being themselves is a journey for transgender people, they have to ignore the injustices and discrimination, some people who lack of knowledge and understanding make them feel like they are breaking the norm of social construction. In other words, closed minded people think humans should
Identity is a key factor of an individual in the society. Identity often is skewed despite the rhetorical statement: “You are who you are.” However, many times a society unconsciously attempts to mold the identities of individuals into homogenous products. The important thing is not to let yourself prejudge individuals or acts of people because this creates an assumption that brings a stigma against the individual. Transgender people face the difficult challenge of being accepted into society because they either do not fit a traditional gender assignment to their sex, or they are not willing to specify a particular gender recognized by society. The court case that I will use to explore transgender identity is Doe v. Yunits. The case of Pat Doe v. John Yunits involves a young, transgender student disciplined by school authorities. The school deems to be an authority on a person’s dress attire while attending school. The court goes through a series of deductions testing the freedom of expression, liberty in appearance, and the application of sex-class discrimination.
Language is a key component of the expression and construction of both group and individual identity. Differences in gender identity has resulted in the parallel development of genderlects and gender roles within society. Gender stereotypes and societal pressures of conformity heavily influences linguistic behaviour of different genders; leading to the generalisation where ‘women like silent men. They think they’re listening’ (Michael Achard). The further division between language choices between genders is stylised by the variation in their perceived functions for language. However, depending on the contexts of the linguistic exchange, other sociolinguistic factors (eg. Age, occupation, ethnicity etc…) may have a more profound effect on language variation. Without a doubt, gender is a prominent influence in the variation of linguistic choice, but under certain conditions gender will not be the largest influence.
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.
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
In order to discuss the biology of gender identity and sexual orientation, it is necessary to first examine the differences between multiple definitions that are often mistakenly interchanged: sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Sexual orientation is defined by LeVay (2011) as “the trait that predisposes us to experience sexual attraction to people of the same sex as ourselves, to persons of the other sex, or to both sexes” (p. 1). The typical categories of sexual orientation are homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Vrangalova and Savin-Williams (2012) found that most people identify as heterosexual, but there are also groups of people that identify as mostly heterosexual and mostly gay within the three traditional categories (p. 89). This is to say that there are not three concrete groups, but sexual orientation is a continuum and one can even fluctuate on it over time. LeVay (2011) also defines gender as “the ...