Gender Identity Transition Essay

Internal conflict is something that the transgender community knows all too well. Feeling as though you are living in the wrong body can do serious damage to the way that someone sees themselves. One of the hardest time for transgender teens is puberty. Researchers have said that “This is a particularly hard age, since the body begins to change and adapt gender specific features (breasts, changes in genitals, menses, etc..). Transgender individuals have reported “I was disgusted by (hair, breasts…etc)” (Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). It already puts a child or teen under great stress to see themselves living life as a gender they feel is completely wrong, but, as puberty begins to hit and they see this body changing it only increases that self-hatred that slowly builds. Even though transitioning can be the best decision a transgender person might make, it can still be just as difficult to finalize this. Many transgender youth have said that they have “Fears about finding a partner, feelings about having to experience surgeries, hormones, (and for MTF transsexuals) facial hair removal and voice changes, and fears about violence and prejudice when one is read transgender”(Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). Even when the option to transition arises, doubt may still linger. Some transgender youth that have gone through with transitioning face many issues emotionally such as “Disappointment that transitioning didn’t solve all problems, level of satisfaction with appearance, level of satisfaction

Attempting suicide is an epidemic in the United States; especially when 41% of transgender individuals have attempted suicide compared 1.6% of the general population (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Due to this, the question of whether or not transgender youth have a harder, more straining adolescence than their cisgender counterparts rises. Although adolescence can be hard on everyone, experiences such as a school environment, puberty, laws that guarantee protection, family and social acceptance of transgender youth are harder than those of their cisgender counterparts (harder does not necessarily mean correlate with strenuous, the use of harder is aiming more towards different, costly, and possibly more confusing). The revolution for transgender lives is just beginning, change is happening. But in order for change to occur, adequate information on the material needs to be discussed and terminology must be defined and questions must be answered. Questions such as: what do the terms transgender and cisgender actually mean? Why is it important to know the difference between the two terms? What is the difference between transsexual and transgender?

There has been much discussion about transgender adults in recent years but lately there has been a shift to the discussion of transgender children. Growing Up Coy (2016) is a documentary about a 6-year-old transgender. The documentary follows Coy and her family through a time where Coy’s parents fight for her rights as a transgender individual. This film discusses childhood gender-variant behavior, discrimination and prejudice, and proposes many questions about one’s opinions of being transgender, gender identity, etc.

What if you had a child who was experiencing gender dysphoria? A child who didn’t feel that they were comfortable being the gender that they were born into? What would you do if your child wanted to become the opposite gender? In the documentary “Growing up Trans” (TV Episode 2015) Children who are experiencing gender dysphoria tell their stories about what it’s like growing up transgender. The documentary offers insight on the issues and complications the children and their parents face while transitioning.

Transgender teens should not be able to get gender reassignment surgery in adolescence because their brains are still in the development stage and not grown up yet. Adolescence is one of the critical stages of human life in which physical and mental changes occur. Teenage brains are different than adults not because what they think, receive and interact with ideas but because the way of how they perspective and analyze ideas and communicate according to that. Teenager's brains are like a sponge sucks up so much information and react in inefficient ways due to lack of experience in life. For instance, many adolescents today have problems and are getting into trouble inside and outside the schools. After all, there are a lot of pressures for teenagers to deal with friends and family as poverty, violence, parental problems, gangs, religion, gender roles, or ethnicity.

“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” this quote written by Aldous Huxley accurately describes the impact parents have on their children. When parents aid their transgender children in transitioning into the opposite sex they are committing child abuse; changing sex is unsafe, indecent, and permanent. Over the course of a month, I have been a slave to the library. I have read over 30 articles on transgenderism; The basis of my opinion comes from well-sifted through research. The definition of child abuse is the mistreatment of a child by physical, sexual, or emotional ill-treatment or neglect, especially by those responsible for his or her welfare. Parents of transgender kids are neglecting what they need

Scholars have been critical of the medical establishment’s and state’s involvement in constructing and policing of transgender identity. These kinds of pressing issues have occupied the small existing literature. There is not much information and studying what is being done on transgender in traditional areas, family studies research, such as their dating behavior and formation of intimate relationships in adulthood. There is little research on the issues around being parents, their children’s experiences with having transgendered parents, as well as relationships in the family as a whole, and relationships in work and school.

Many people have strong opinions pertaining to transgender folk and their rights. It’s becoming more and more of a political issue, especially since North Carolina’s proposal of the “bathroom bill” which declares people should be required by law to use restrooms matching with the sex on their birth certificate. Transgenders have been in a controversial spotlight for just about a decade now, and many people are perplexed. An even more controversial topic is transgender youth. Should transgender teens be allowed to go undergo hormone therapy before adulthood? Transitioning genders is a very long, very complex process. Usually, if a child or young teen wants to transition to the opposite gender, they are given “hormone blockers,” which are agents used to suppress sex hormones and prevent puberty. Hormone blockers make it easier and more effective to achieve the desired physical appearance in gender transition. They also help with gender dysphoria. When transgender people are ready to start the transition, they are given hormones which cause their bodies to develop into the desired form. Gender transition is a very complex process that works differently for everyone, and it definitely makes sense how many people disagree with minors going through such a complicated physical change.

Did you know that more than 50% of transgender minors have admitted to attempting suicide? How about that 82% of transgender youth feel unsafe or scared at school? These statistics are high, too high. Transgender is defined as of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. Years ago it was considered bad to be transgender, but our society has become more open-minded, leading to the coming outs of many more transgender minors. However, while it seems as though we are more open-minded, transgender youth are still being mistreated, to a point where suicide sometimes seems like the only good

Transgender youth are children and adolescents who consider themselves transgender or transsexual. Transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs. Transgender youth face different challenges compared to adults and other hetereosexual youth. Transgender issues can arise at different times in life and be experienced differently for each individuals. Many of these children experience rejection as a result of their differences and quickly attempt to repress them creating self hate and isolation. People may see these children regularly and be unaware that they are unhappy as members of their assigned gender by birth.

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

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.

Many parents voice a fear about their child learning about gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. They think that hearing, seeing, or learning these things will influence their child. According to research, however, no matter how often children are exposed to these topics they still will make their own decisions later on in life on the matter. Often parents are upset when they hear their children are learning about these terms because they do not know the dictionaries definitions for these words are. According to webster; gender is the state of being male or female, the word typically used to reference social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. Gender identity is a person’s perception of having a particular gender that may not correspond with the sex they were given at birth. Sexual orientation is a person’s sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted. Many times a person’s sexual orientation can be labeled as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Diversity is an important lesson to teach children especially at a young age. To understand how to best teach diversity about gender in a classroom background information, teaching strategies, and student’s understanding of diversity is important.

Living a life feeling out of place, with the wrong feelings, and in the wrong body, for a person with Gender Identity Disorder, this is how they feel day to day. According to the DSM-IV-TR, Gender Identity Disorder is characterized by a strong, persistent cross-gender identification, persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in their gender role of that sex. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), children, adolescents and adults who exhibit a preoccupation with getting rid of or losing their primary and secondary sex characteristics, associated with different mannerisms and actions of the opposite sex; while holding a belief that he or she was born the wrong sex are believed to be classified

Society should be more open minded with the topic of gender identity. Our society does not like rapid changes when they are publicly made; there is always a dispute or an opposition against those unexpected changes. The LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community is the “rapid change” that society finds difficult to deal with. Although, this community has always existed, but it has never been publicly recognized like it is today. Gender Identity is a very complicated topic to talk about because it has so many concepts that only those who find themselves as part of the LGBTQIA+ community can fully understand.