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impact of gender roles on identity
Transgender history essay
impact of gender roles on identity
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In How Sex Changed by Joanne Meyerowitz, the author tell us about the medical, social and cultural history of transsexuality in the United States. The author explores different stories about people who had a deep desired to change or transform their body sex. Meyerowitz gives a chronological expiation of the public opinion and how transsexuality grew more accepted. She also explained the relationship between sex, gender, sexuality and the law. In there the author also address the importance of the creation of new identities as well as how medication constrain how we think of our self. The author also explain how technological progress dissolve the idea of gender as well as how the study of genetics and eugenics impacts in the ideas about gender/sexuality and identity. But more importantly how technology has change the idea of biological sex as unchangeable.
Joanne Meyerowitz follows the changes among medical professionals and how a new establishment of a different diagnostic category. It started in the 20th century as the medical community was speculating that sex was far more com...
The definition of gender has become way more revolutionary and expressive compared to the twentieth century. Gender used to be similar to sex where someone would be identified as a male or female based on their biological genitals however, this day in age it is way more complex. Someone can be born a male but mentally they feel like a male. In “Sisterhood is complicated” Ruth Padawer explains the journey of different transgender males and the obstacles they face while attending Wellesley college. Wellesley is a women’s college that has been around for a very long time and is in the process of the battling the conflict of whether they should admit transgender students. Ariel Levy author of “Female Chauvinist Pigs” tackles the stereotypes and
When it comes to the idea of sex and gender, and how with the age of modern medicine, people around the world may change their own lives for the better as they change their sex to the gender they associate with. Finally feeling the freedom of being in the body that they wished for, yet this a decision that should be taken by the participating, rather than the doctor making the procedure. Judith Butler’s writing, “Undoing Gender”, there is a story of a person whom goes through their life trying to figure out what they have become. Feeling that they are one thing and being told they are another when in reality, it’s the one being accused of being wrong is right. The story goes as David, being born a boy, is accidently given the circumstances
Butler’s essay derives her question and ethic from the singular intricacies of the John/Joan cases study wherein a baby born with XY chromosomes suffered an act of accidental genital mutilation such that it was professionally advised to “complete” the gender reassignment and raise the baby as a girl though, much later on, the same child desired to be re-re-assigned as a “man”. Already this case study is rich with complexity and nuance in relation to the efficacy of labels and the formation of a personal gender identity. In her analysis, Butler starts “from a question of power” and defines this notion of power as something that derives itself from “a certain regulatory regime” and that both “informs” and “exceeds” the law (Butler 621). She positions this argument from this orientation to signal that the development of such identities does not occur in a vacuum and is in direct confrontation and relation with systems of power. Furthermore, she acknowledges that to be identified by someone outside yourself is inherent in
Fresh from the womb we enter the world as tiny, blank slates with an eagerness to learn and blossom. Oblivious to the dark influences of culture, pre-adult life is filled with a misconception about freedom of choice. The most primitive and predominant concept that suppresses this idea of free choice involve sex and gender; specifically, the correlation between internal and external sex anatomy with gender identity. Meaning, those with male organs possess masculine identities, which involve personality traits, behavior, etcetera, and the opposite for females. Manipulating individuals to adopt and conform to gender identities, and those respective roles, has a damaging, life-long, effect on their development and reflection of self through prolonged suppression. This essay will attempt to exploit the problems associated with forced gender conformity through an exploration of personal experiences.
In 2006, an unidentified individual who had a disorder of sexual development underwent sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) to go from male genitalia to female genitalia. Initially the individual was described as having a large penis and elevated testosterone levels, he was also labeled as having confusing genitalia—the individual was intersex. There was a vaginal opening and ovarian tissue, which is why the doctors and parents took four months to do the surgery and the individual was 16 months old when the surgery happened. Similar to David, this person also identified as male despite being raised female for five and a half years. Also similar to David, this person expressed differentiating behaviors from their assigned SRS; however, in contrast this person came out earlier, at the age of seven. The unidentified person’s parents sued the medical facility that carried out the SRS for malpractice. That year there were 139 clitoral reduction surgeries and in 2009 there were 156 (Greenfield, 2014). It is still debated what the moral or correct course of action is for intersex
Over the course of this paper, we will take a comprehensive look at information regarding the transgender community issue in reference to four key sociology concepts. First, we will review information highlighting how transgender people come to the forefront of the public eye as well as the bathroom uproar continuously sweeping the nation. Next, we will examine the facts showcasing how transgender people go against the social norm of associating gender with a person’s given birth sex. Thirdly, we will review information showcasing the cultural inconsistencies throughout the nation when it comes to the acceptance of transgender people. Fourthly, the material will showcase the actions transgender people must face in several states throughout
“The Myth of Trans Regrets”, covers topics discussed in this piece such as, attitudes of the patients after transforming through, hormone therapy, chest surgery, genital surgery and overall. Colin Close and GATE conducted the study, “Report of the 2011 Transition Survey”, used for the results in the image. (See figure 1)
Nowadays, there are lot of unexpected changes are coming in our lives every day which are challenging to our society. Gender issue is one of the hot topics among new changes. Transsexuality is a critical part of this gender issue. After reading the article “Night to his day” by Judith Lorber, I found a clarification regarding the social construction of gender. While looking for some facts about transgender, I have also found a lot of articles with different point of views from researchers, scientists and individuals who has transformed from their origin to transgender men/women. Now I am going to describe why some men and women want to change their gender, what are the impacts on individuals and in the society?
When one does gender, one’s behavior, language, and mannerisms are perceived by others as indicators of the specific gender that the person identifies with. If one acts effeminately, that individual is regarded as a female and vice versa for males, irrespective of genital markers. The authors claimed that gender is something one does, not necessarily something that one is biologically. As an example, West and Zimmerman looked at Harold Garfinkel’s case study of an individual who was born male but completed sex reassignment to become a female. West and Zimmerman used this individual, named Agnes, to explain how she passed as a woman even though at one point he had male genitalia and would always have XY chromosomes. They explained that because Agnes had figured out how to act in social settings based off of general “conceptions of femininity” (West, Zimmerman 1987 p.131), she was perceived as a woman by society. Agnes proves West and Zimmerman’s theory, that doing gender reflects either feminine or masculine natures which, creates the gender that the individual identifies
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.
For most people, the terms “gender” and “sex” are synonymous. These terms, however, are not interchangeable; and using them as such is harmful to those whose sex and gender are different. When considering sex and gender, it is also thought that there are only two possible outcomes – in reality sex and gender occur on a spectrum, not in a binary system. Many times when an individual’s sex and gender do not agree, a mental illness occurs (most commonly gender dysphoria). To progress as a society, it is imperative to understand these differences, and the harm trivializing those causes.
Sterling analyzes and criticizes the way society handles the meaning of different when it comes to sexuality and gender. The medicalization and misjudgment of intersex and other sexual ambiguities is heavily derived from our long standing belief in two genders and the appropriate roles they are assigned in playing 'house'. Consequently, a cycle of discrimination against the 'abnormal' rose and seeks to use medicine and higher knowledge to change the unknown based not based on medicine, but our own biases.
By definition, gender binary is a concept that portrays only two anatomical options for humans-male or female. This concept of gender binary is an important angle in this paper. In most western cultures, only two genders are acceptable, ruling out all other gender possibilities. If society has adapted in a way that discards all other gender possibilities other than male or female, a much greater issue is at stake. Allowing only two gender leads to a gender identity crisis within individuals which can lead to emotional and physical damage (Transgender Guidelines,
Gender Theory in Everyday Life”, the various definitions of “trans” depict that it is not possible to place one’s gender into only two categories. In the definitions of “trans”, transformation or transitioning is a common theme. Transforming into their true self or transitioning from one gender to the other. In the third definition, transgendered individuals are seen as transcending gender, thus making gender non-existent; not only to them, but when they view other individuals (Kessler and McKenna 1-2). The individuals in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, had to create a safe space, and find allies that would provide them with resources to help them in their progression as a trans individual. Trans people truly want to be integrated into society, but they are cognisant of the social standards in place that make them othered (Quart 49-50). In the instance of the varied definition of trans and the experiences of people in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, they are all going against the social norms and actively fighting to create a seat at the table. They refuse to to fit in the status quo of accepting that there are only two genders, and one must stay in either category. Instead, they challenge that thinking by being themself, thus having a hand in creating the new norm. These individuals are not passively combating the misconceptions, miseducation, and misinformation. They are actively creating a space for others and themself to grow in self and in
Gender and Sex are both terms used in our society frequently, however, misunderstood the most. Sex is typically characterized by the anatomical perspective while gender is characterized by behaviors. As this may be the general understanding of sex and gender as definitions, it is not the real deal. The real deal is that sex and gender go much farther than men, women, and hermaphrodites. The primary sex categories as of now are female, male, and thirty-three varieties of intersex. For gender, there are over 100 genders that are recognized today. (Powerpoint 1) In this essay I will be addressing different theories revolved around gender and sex and how they affect people in our society more negatively than positively.