Determining Sexual Identity

With the establishment of these gender identity clinics, and the financial backing of philanthropist Reed Erickson, a transsexual man, the health care needs of transsexual people gained increased attention and support. Despite this new attention, the clinics used Benjamin’s model of “true” transsexuals. This differentiation between “true” transsexuals and other gender variants became a serious and highly important diagnostic decision as gender affirming surgeries were irreversible. This resulted in many transsexual individuals to be denied access to hormones and surgery. Specifically, transsexual men encountered difficulties, as transsexuality was primarily seen as a male-to-female only transition. In fact, during the late 1960s the United States leading UCLA Gender Identity Research Clinic debated whether trans men should be considered transsexuals. Many trans men themselves did not label themselves as transsexuals as they only knew about other transsexual women (Meyerowitz, 2002; Beemyn, 2014).

In “Intro-How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States,” Joanne Meyerowitz writes about the beginnings of transsexuality. She beings the article by defining cross-gender identification, as “the sense of being the other sex, and the desire to live as the other sex” (Meyerowitz 432), while transsexuality, “being the quest to transform the bodily characteristics of sex via hormones and surgery” (Meyerowitz 432). According to Meyerowitz, transsexuality began in the early 20th century. Experiments on changing sex, began in europe on animals. Then in 1920, on humans. Joanne Meyerowitz writes that “the debate on the visibility and mutability of sex” began after Christine Jorgensen, an american who went to Denmark to get a sex change in 1950, became a media sensation in America. While professionals were figuring this out, people “who identified as transsexuals, transvestites, lesbians, and gay men” (Meyerowitz 433) were having the conversation and creating the language within themselves. This conversation on sex change, occurred alongside the sexual revolution in the 60’s, opening “the movement of the organizing of programs, clinics, conferences, and associations to promote study of and treatment for transsexuals” (Meyerowitz 434).

However, even with all of these pieces coming together to create a person’s sexual orientation none of them completely determine a person’s sexual choice.

This paper examines the social aspects of the sexual identity in America, illustrating how sexual identities have progressed, evolved, and transformed. Social categories have been created as a tool used for social divide and control, inadvertently creating stereotypical facts and discriminatory opinions on sexes; while also helping create social and welcoming communities, whose goals are to diminish ideals such as those. Concluding, this paper will have explained the dichotomous categories of different sexualities and the divides within them. The already established sexual divide leaves no room for those stuck in the in between of today's society, especially one as progressive as America’s. Derived from the examples giving, this paper argues

Freedom, opportunities, and information are some features of this modern society. Clearly, humans are now having a very different life compared to the past. Along with this well-developed world, people get more chances to express how they think, do what they want, and love who they love. Especially young people, they become more independent and are capable of living their own lives. However, while society provides people a lot of benefits, it actually makes their lives even more complex at the same time by leaving them pressures and confusions of who they really are. In her essay, “Selections from Hard to Get:Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” Leslie Bell mentions that while in this new-in between developmental period American twenty-something women have more freedom and opportunities about their sexual lives than previous generations, they are struggling with the paradoxes of their relationships and desires. Bell suggests that social expectations and culture guidelines, which are conventions of female sexuality and stereotypes of being a good girl, prevent these young women from pursuing their sexual desires and limiting their relationships with men. However, even these women have chosen the way they live and what kind of sexual life they want in order to be bad girls to break those old rules, they ended with losing their identities. In general, female sexuality is impacted more by establishing a

Medical practitioners have a history of not accurately reflecting the understandings of people who trans gender, dating back to the 1800s when they upheld the sexually dimorphic model that states that everyone has “one true sex” (Enke, lecture 2/18). Even in the early 1900s, medical professionals advised trans people to take hormones more closely aligned with their designated sex at birth, as it would help them “feel better”. However, medical treatment of people who trans has improved dramatically over the years. Now, in the 21st century, there are laws in place to prohibit discrimination against people who trans. In order to get from that point to this point, it took growth in both the trans community and the medical community. Medicine mimics society just as society mimics medicine, and as the trans community grew more forthright and educated from those within its community as well as the medical field, the medical field grew more understanding of people who trans. It is all a cycle.

little literature on bisexual nature, so they were more likely to be “unsure” of their

This paper will be a short summary of the ways in which a Counselor can navigate effectively the growing yet sensitive topic of Sexual Identity; based on Chapter 10 of the Christian Counseling Ethics book by Randolph Sanders, entitled The Sexual Minority Client. This paper will discuss the responsibilities Counselors have in being aware of their own competence levels to counsel efficiently clients who have questions regarding sexual identity. This paper will discuss controversies and issues surrounding homosexuality as well as the steps a Counselor must take to preserve their Integrity while preserving the well-being of the client. In conclusion, this paper

My understanding of sexual orientation identity is that although there are many developments of sexual identities, there is only one that people see it as normal. Which is the development of heterosexual identity. Also, because of that all the other sexual development of orientation identities, such as lesbianism, gay and bisexuals development of sexual orientation identity are being focused more than heterosexual orientation identity. This is very interesting because the author compares the development of sexual orientation identity and the racial identity development.

If my gender identity did not match my group’s expected roles and behavior, my lie would be completely different my culture wouldn’t take my sexual orientation kindly, most Haitians have strong ties to a religion or denomination that views homosexuality and cross-dressing negatively, LGBT people are often concerned immoral and those who suppose it are seen to be opposing the way God “has created us to be”, it become worst after the earthquake when gays and others were to be blamed for the countries sin and the LGBT country was to blamed. Culturally I would have to hide my sexual orientation, I would become more of victim to the cruel ideas of oppression and more a victim to society, and I wouldn’t be treated fairly by government officials

What was unique about this specific case were the speaker was actually attracted to women however they wanted to change and become women. I guess Ive always figured that the reason someone becomes a transgender is because they are homosexual as well. However I guess that is not always the case. What fascinates me is the science and technology behind the transformation. Although I wonder why someone goes through these changes with the risk of untreatable harm

What would you think if you knew that throughout your whole life, an untrue assumption had been made about you? How would you feel about total strangers believing that the assumption was reality, the media advertising products and marketing movies to you based on this assumption, and even your family supporting it? If the assumption was about a personal issue, this would be hurtful, confusing, and maybe even psychologically damaging. This hypothetical situation comes alive when examining the problem of heteronormativity: defined as believing that everyone is heterosexual, thus ignoring the LGBT population. To someone who is heterosexual, it might not seem like a big deal for straightness to be the “norm.” However, the more than 8 million LGBT people in America are affected by heteronormativity everywhere they turn. It is true that civil rights for LGBT people have progressed enormously. As of January 2, 2015, 35 states have legalized same-sex marriage, 18 states have workplace discrimination laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity, and the majority of public schools must have bullying policies that protect LGBT students. Despite how far we have come, there is still a lot of work to do in the area of acceptance. The only way homophobia will be diminished on a large scale is through education. This education can be spurred by eradicating heteronormative standards in the media, in the sales market, and most importantly in institutional settings, namely,

Rachel Riskind, Samantha L. Tornello, Brendan C. Younger and Charlotte J. Patterson, the authors of the article “Sexual Identity, Partner Gender, and Sexual Health Among Adolescent Girls in the United States” seek to establish a relation between adolescent girls’ sexual identity and the gender(s) which whom they reported having sexual intercourses (2011, p. 1957). Their study also aims to find a pattern between sexual identity and gender partners and their level of sexual risk and reproductive outcomes (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p. 1957). The authors’ hypotheses are that sexual minority will have higher sexual risk but lower reproductive outcome than heterosexual adolescent, and that partner gender will have a bigger influence

When asked to write a candid and self-revealing journal about my experiences, thoughts, feelings and beliefs related to human sexuality, I became intrigued. Throughout my early life, my own sexuality has been something of considerable focus because I knew that I was different than the average boy. Later, I discovered this difference was called being gay, homosexual, a faggot, or queer. I remember these names stinging just a bit because I did not want to be different than other boys, I just wanted to be accepted and close to other boys. Consequently, my identity orbited around numerous fears, thoughts, and reactions by others and me to how I subsisted as a person because of what I discovered about myself during my journey through childhood,

In the early hours on June 28, 1969, police stormed into the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar and refuge. The police began to batter the people inside the bar and arrested thirteen others. As the violence escalated, bottles, coins, and stones were thrown at the police. Activist Sylvia Rivera was one of the first to throw a bottle into the ranks of police officers; she exclaimed, “It’s the Revolution!” Those bottles thrown in retaliation to discrimination and assault marked the beginning of a movement to bring about rights and acceptance for the LGBT community. My metaphorical bottles were thrown timidly under the table at first, but now, they sail across the sky in a perfect arc and crash against the constrictions placed around the rights of LGBT Americans, the constrictions once placed around me. The journey I’ve been undergoing since discovering my sexuality has been one similar to a labyrinth with all of its dead ends and confusion. My journey has undergone an immense amount of evolution that has transformed me into the person I am today.