In the present study, intersectionality theory is applied to understand the overlapping levels of stigma and privilege associated with gender and sexual identities among transgender individuals.
Two broader themes of codes were identified, including conflation encounters and reactions to a stigmatization of transgender individuals based on the confounding of sexual orientation and gender identity. The second theme included inter-dependence experiences and identify changes associated with the intersecting relationship of gender and sexuality among transgender individuals. Participants included 45 individuals who identified as transgender and gender non-conforming. Gender and sexuality intersect in different ways for transgender and gender non-conforming
Theoretical Approach The conflict perspective is one way to analyze why health care disparities occur in a nation as wealthy as the United States. Johnson and Rhodes discuss how this perspective looks at who holds the power in society and how this affects distribution of scarce resources (2015). In addition, this perspective shifts the focus from the individual’s responsibility to how social institutions disperse resources. The conflict perspective highlights the United States fee-for-service model and how this commodifies healthcare.
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.
A REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION SURVEY” which is a comprehensive survey taken by over 7,500 respondents a part of the LGBT community to discuss their experiences of discrimination that will further encourage the implementation of better protection towards gender variants. Authors concluded the:
Transphobia and trans prejudice manifest in the objectification, misunderstanding, and pathologizing of a transgender’s physical appearance.
Oppression is prolonged unjust and cruel treatment. The LGBT community has faced oppression for a very long time. Transgender individuals face oppression in a different way and are often overlooked by LGBT groups because they are finding themselves in a different way. Transgender people are treated cruel and even murdered because of their choices and decisions. These individuals are facing oppression based on themselves but also in ways such as poverty. With discrimination comes the difficulty to keep a job and a safe work environment. This group is one of the main groups forgotten about and misunderstood. Instead of facing oppression for one reason these individuals face cruel treatment just walking down the street. It is impossible
Consider the frustrations of bisexual and/or transgender individuals when the LGBTQ community’s experiences are defined largely by the experiences of gay and lesbian individuals (LGBT Advisory Committee, 2011). Self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBTQ community in the U.S. (Egan, Edelman, & Sherrill, 2008; Herbenick et al., 2010; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005). However, both research on the LGBTQ community and funding for LGBTQ organizations tend to focus exclusively on gay and lesbian individuals, rendering bisexual individuals invisible and sidelining or eclipsing their particular needs (Miller, André, Ebin, & Bessonova, 2007). This invisibility has serious consequences for bisexual individuals’ sense of belonging within the LGBTQ community (LGBT Advisory Committee,
When we think of a family, we envision a heterosexual household. In this “traditional” family, we have a happily married man and woman who live together with their young children. The father works outside the home and the mother stays home caring for the children and the household; together the family live very happily, sharing families responsibilities in equal terms. Yet as social scientists Stephanie Coontz and Particle Hills explain, families are far more complex. In this essay, we’ll be using the theory of intersectionality to examine how diverse families are in all aspects of society. More specifically, we want to discuss how contemporary families exemplify the six principles of intersectionality. While critically analyzing both Collins
The term intersectionality is a very complex word with room for an open range for multiple definitions. Intersectionality is used to understand numerous types of oppressions and discriminations against people. Although, intersectionality wasn't used as a term until the 1980’s by Kimberle Crenshaw, an american civil rights activist and feminist, as a label for the types of oppressions women of color experienced. This is crucial for our understanding of US womxy’s history. The term reflects to the reality that we all have multiple identities that intersect to make us who we are.
The purpose of this study was to prove how minority stress correlates with mental health within the transgender community. As defined by Meriam-Webster Dictionary, transgender “is 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” (Merriam-Webster, 2016). For example, male to female, or female to male. However, researchers in this study used the minority stress model, which suggested that the stress associated with stigma, prejudice, and discrimination will increase rates of psychological distress in the transgender population (Bockting, Miner…& Coleman, 2013). As evident from past research, physical violence, verbal harassment and employment discriminations were some of the many types of societal prejudices. In fact, as seen in the article, these stresses create depression, anxiety, and other types of mental illness within the transgender community. However, researcher’s goals were to see exactly how these different variables increased levels of stress. For example, was there negative types of stigma that were less or more server, and what could help to alleviate stress?
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.
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.
The idea of intersectionality is that all of our identities overlap and are also constantly affecting our privileges and oppressions. People do not always think about their interactions despite them playing a pivotal role in our human experience. This is what causes some writers to feel the need to put them into words so that maybe more people will look at themselves and do some thinking about their own intersections. Some of the authors that I believe have done this well are Patricia Collins in her work titled Black Feminist Thought. Another work that discussed intersectionality well is titled “A Black Feminist Statement” which is powerful in the way it discusses how race interacts with womanhood. The final piece I feel as though needs discussed is Women, Race, and Class which is a piece written by Angela Davis that discusses the intersections that can be seen in
Elderly transgender individuals have their own assortment of psychosocial and relational concerns that are associated with their identified community. They must contend with identity conflict, discrimination, policies and services that may not meet their basic needs. Furthermore, they are increasingly distressed by inflated financial concerns due to discrimination. Transgender adults face increased workplace discrimination compounded with ageism in acquiring new jobs. Increased interpersonal violence and harassment besiege transgender elders. Additionally, they must cope with the same challenges that their non-LGBTQIA colleagues encounter, such as long term care, chronic debilitating physical health and mental health
Kimberlé Crenshaw is an esteemed civil rights advocate and law professor. Crenshaw introduced the concept of “intersectionality” to the acclaimed feminist theory close to 30 years ago in a paper written for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, describing the “intersectional experience” as something “greater than the sum of racism and sexism. (Crenshaw)” She wrote in terms of intersectional feminism, which examines the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that women face, based not just on gender but on ethnicity, sexuality, economic background and a number of other axes. She speaks on it in a sense that the term intersectionality provides us with a way to see issue that arise from discrimination or disempowerment often being more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion because of the protected clauses they may possess. Crenshaw speaks on the “urgency of intersectionality” in her Ted talk. This as well as her spreading awareness for the #SayHerName campaign drives a tie between the necessity for intersectionality advocaism and the the occurrences of neglect and violence present in societal happenings today. The question that stands in the forefront of her work is how can we effectively apply an intersectional methodology to analysis of violence and other acts against people who are often being neglected of any sort of recognition in social issues today? Intersectionality is one of the better known concepts within the
The “Intersectionality in Feminism” event was a workshop by the Feminist Club about intersectional feminism, which is essentially about the diversity of women and inclusivity of all identities, especially in the feminist movement. It is about understanding how women’s identities, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and religion, overlap and all impact the way that women experience oppression and discrimination. For example, I am a mixed race gay woman and as a result, I face racism, sexism, and homophobia. However, I do not personally experience the same type of discrimination as a disabled woman or a transgender woman. Before the event, I knew a great deal about intersectionality. I enjoy spending a lot of my spare