Being Transgender Identity Papers

I remember that summer I had been away from home for weeks, but I had been lost for much longer. Day after day I spent by the log fireplace with a blanket, looking at the comforting wooden walls surrounded by a serene silence, my family right beside me. It was agonizing. I longed for a distraction from myself, but in this peaceful place, all I could do was think. At this point of my life, I was enduring the painful process that all people must inevitably endure in their lives, the process of self-discovery. And recently, I had made a breakthrough. I had discovered, some way or another, that I am transgender.

Most don’t explicitly look into the complexity of a transgender person’s life and all the questions or problems one might face: Do I use the men’s or the women’s bathroom? Is it appropriate to use this locker room? Those are only two of the many questions a transgender person might run into on a daily basis because of how others would see the situation, how the people who may have a sneaking suspicion that the woman they saw go into the ladies’ bathroom isn’t actually female by their definition, or how it could also seem strange to see that same person go into the mens’ bathroom. These all lead to dysphoria in any person’s situation in public places due to the fact that many choose to taunt or mock the person; however, with the help of Title IX these questions could start to vanish from the thoughts of many transgender students which Blad exemplifies with a quote in her article:

In a lot of places around the world more and more people are coming out as “Transgender.” The term transgender means that the person’s gender identity does not correspond with the gender they were assigned as having at birth. From personally having a transgender boyfriend I have since realized that these people experience a lot of discrimination in and from society. Many people simply just do not understand what the term transgender means and they see it as someone just “wants to be a man” or “wants to be a woman.” While there may be people who present it this way, it is more so that the individual just “feels” different, and “feels” as if they are “in the wrong body.” Some people experience this feeling at a young age as my boyfriend did in his elementary age. We live in a world who put these people down for being who they truly are, and no human being wants or needs that.

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

The United States is a divided society. We like to categorize ourselves according to political affiliation, race, and religion. We are members of the middle, low-income, or wealthy classes. We choose what seats to sit in during a football game according to the team we are rooting for. It is oddly comforting to know that you belong. All too often, however, transgender youth are denied that sense of ubelonging because they defy society’s categories of male and female. The gender binary divides society into two separate, unequivocal categories that marginalizes transgender youth and directly impacts their emotional health and well-being. Society’s collective response of demeaning, shaming, and violence further increases the divide.

Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to The Intruder by Andre Dubus, Kenneth Girard a

Throughout the past decades sex and gender have remained in major taboos and impacts within the transgender communities. Indeed, after participating in a Transgender Panel Discussion at Fresno State University, reading articles like Meet the Muxes, class discussions and the conclusion for all four sources lead to words like exclusion, discrimination, and oppressions because those define the lives of transgender, Muxes, and that for following their gender identities become the target for judgement and for countless . However, I never imagined that I could put myself in the shoes of these diverse identities until I visualized the challenges that fill their lives everyday for simply

There’s been a lot of debate on the treatment of transgenders, in efforts to better the lives of those who suffer from gender dysphoria, both in a social and medical context. However, there isn’t much scientific understanding of the important ideas and questions that have sparked these debates. For instance, there haven’t been any explanations as to why, even after gender affirming and sex reassignment, transgenders are still at higher risks of mortality and suicidal behaviour than the general population (Dhejne et al. 2011). Despite this lack of understanding physicians and mental health care providers have arrived at a number of methods for treating individuals with gender dysphoria. One such practice is “gender-affirming,” rather than challenging, the therapist accepts

Fifty years ago, nobody could ever have imagined how widely accepted transgender individuals would be in modern times. Countries all around the world had only ever known about the social distinction between men and women, which is known as ‘masculinity vs. Femininity’. However, now it is much more complex than that; as transgender and gender confused individuals are more widely accepted, it has become more of a case of sex vs. gender. “Sex is the biologically based distinction between men and women centring on sexual organs, while gender is the social and cultural rendering of masculinity and femininity.” (Oakley, 1972) And even though transgenders are accepted into society they still face inequalities such as not being accepted into a particular community, ostracised by families and friends,

The transgender community makes up a controversial, growing culture in America. Promoting the idea of tolerance, self-love and acceptance, the Transgender community helps support a community that is statistically not commonly received well by the American people of 2015. Many view this uprising as a positive, revolutionary movement that aims to not only help the minority groups of America but progress mindset of all people from potentially

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been attending most Transmissions meetings. Transmissions is a community-based club for transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people and allies at Rutgers University. In this reflection, I’ll be speaking about the meeting I attended the previous week, where the main discussion revolved around internalize and externalize transphobia and self-care. This was a very sensitive topic for myself as well as most others who attending the meeting.

I couldn't imagine how it would feel to be born a gender that didn’t correlate with who you wanted to be. Growing trans is more than wearing the opposite sex clothes, it's a big step in life that is irreversible.

My client for this week’s assignment is a transgender women named Gwen. Gwen has come to the counseling session because she has agreed to share her story with others in the hope that her story will help and inspire other transgender individual who are struggling with their assigned gender. Before beginning her transition from male to female Gwen describes herself as a very different individual, one who was going through the motions of life, but finding little to no pleasure in her daily activities (Queer Theory in Action, 2011).For example, Gwen daily routine before the transition was work, go home, eat and then bed. She would use sleep as an escape from her unhappiness with her life. Also, before Gwen began the transition she was very depressed

In recent years, our nation has seen an increased number of transgender students demanding to be included in activities and facilities they have been excluded from in the past. This has introduced a growing number of events that contradict the norms and labels our society has in place regarding gender and sex roles. The very definition of what it means to be female or male is being challenged by this small portion of the population. In their fight for gender autonomy and gender equality in the education field, they have made great strides to be acknowledged and treated as the gender they identify with; instead of the gender that our society’s norms place on them because of their birth certificate sex.

The most obvious challenges I have faced living as a transgender male have been physical, but the hardest I have faced have not only been personal, but emotional. I have encountered countless overly personal inquisitions, questioning looks, and awkward introductions. Existing as a biological female for a large portion of my life imbued that period of time with many challenges. As a child, I fought passionately with my parents to shop in the “boys” section of the store, to play hockey and lacrosse, and to never step foot in a dress. I often wondered why other children would point and snicker at my choice of clothing. I even asked my distraught mother why I was “put in the wrong body” at the age of three. I had to grow up and not only learn, but understand and accept that I am not the same as everyone else. I had to come to terms with the fact that most people do not face the challenge of waking up every day and overcoming the feeling that something is fundamentally “off” that cannot truly be “fixed”. “Average” is a description I often longed to be labeled in the past, but over the years I have discovered that striving to be above average is the true key to success.