Nomi Marks: A Trangender Woman

It's so important that CAITLYN is standing for the trans community right now. Trans teens and adults are constantly berated, treated terribly, and sometimes KILLED around the world just because they're born within the wrong body. It's so important that such a huge figure in media transitioned because it has the possibility of opening a safer, welcoming environment for those who face the same issues with gender identity and their body.

In Susan Stryker’s book “Transgender History” she states in today’s society the word “’transgender’ is a term that has come into widespread use only in the past couple of decades, its meanings are still under construction” (pg. 9), where when you look up the word “transgender” in the Merriam Webster dictionary it says “of, relating to, or being a person (as a transsexual or transvestite) who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth”, and states that this particular use of the word was first used in the year 1979. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is attempting to educate and provide the public with a range of resources in order to educate them on issues that transgender and gender nonconforming people face in the form of workplace discrimination, to securing identity documents, to finding socially knowledgeable healthcare, to family and parenting issues, and most importantly to advocate for full enclosure in and with equality.

The film represents the main protagonist Nola all the way down to her three lovers, with each representing a different personality trait that is not necessarily race identifiable. Lee develops a new form of cinema by creating a new aesthetic. Lee details the double standard that exists for Nola by showing her deviating from social norms. She refuses to live by anyone else’s rules and resists conventional ideals such as marriage and monogamy. This film portrays a possible explanation of racial dynamics within gender and sexuality. If roles were shifted for men and women through various aspects focusing on mise-en-scene, editing and narrative conventions.

Transsexual Phenomenon, and within months Johns Hopkins University opened the first gender identity clinic in the United States to diagnose and treat transsexual individuals and to conduct research related to sexuality. Within ten years, more than forty university affiliated gender clinics existed throughout the United States including programs at the University of Minnesota, Stanford University and Case Western University (Stryker, 2008).

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).

His mother looks confused, and Capheus remembers that he didn’t explain that Nomi is transgender. He knows that his mother was likely taught that people like Nomi are repugnant, but he knows his mother well enough to also know that she will not care. “Nomi was named Michael when she was born. Her mother doesn’t accept that she is truly a girl.”

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”, says Aaron Devor. Women and men have always been seen as totally different people, but is it right to say that women are different from men. Many research findings support these gender differences. The range of critical response to the topic of the gender is clearly discussed in the reviews written by Aaron Devor “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,” Deborah Blum “The Gender Blur,” and Mariah Burton Nelson in “I Won. I’m Sorry”. Marian Burton Nelson, a former Stanford University and professional basketball player and author of sit book on gender identity. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize Winning professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Aaron Derov, a sociology professor at University of Victoria. All three articles have similar and different opinions, but they are all about gender differences. While Devor and Blum talk about the origin of gender differences in men and women, Nelson focuses more on strong women; all three articles focus their discussions on aggressiveness, gender behaviors, and male domination.

Gender is defined as being male or female as defined by roles, social status, and attitude. The perception of oneself and what characterizes gender identity. Included in gender identity is hormone and behavior interaction, along with the examination of psychological, biological, and environmental influences on sexual separation.

A few weeks ago I was required to read Feminist Intersections in Science: Race, Gender and Sexuality Through the Microscope by Lisa H. Weasel and the article opened an avenue for me to explore new ideas. Weasel’s paper works to investigate the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality with science. She supports her argument with a story about Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who had cells stolen from her body. After violating the simple rules of consent, the scientists then proceeded to suggest that her cells represent a separate, inferior race. Some people even linked the HeLa cells to HPV and implied that Ms. Lacks “slept around”. Reading about this particular form of exploitation made me quite uneasy. Contrastly, reading Lisa Weasel’s work

Gender reveal parties have become a way to celebrate the arrival of a new child for parents. Guests adorned in pink or blue attire await as the excited parents reveal what the child is going to “be”. Depending on the color inside the cake or balloon, the child’s life is predetermined based on gender normative stereotypes. These will dictate on his or her name, the activities that he or she is allowed to partake in, and the opportunities available to the child. This socialization of gender expression has led to a dominant culture or public of cisnormativity. Warner talks about publics not in general like the concept of “the public”, but they are a multitude of publics that can only be reached through rhetorical texts (). This means that if

Hue is a fourteen year old African-American and Asian transgender female to male, self-referred to the agency for depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideations on transgender suicide in the media. Hue is a 9th grader in high school, and he describes satisfactory academic progress. He lives with his mother, and visits his father in the summer in Michigan. Hue reports three friends he is close with and one being his best friend for eight years. Hue’s mother does not approve of his friendship with his best friend due to the verbal abuse in the past, but Hue reports that the disagreement was in the past and they have rebuilt their relationship.

REPORTER: The reporter/niece (Terita) called to report neglect for the victim, Mattie. Mattie’s is blind, and needs assistance with her ADL’s. The reporter stated that Netasha (daughter) and Rick (boyfriend) are neglecting the victim. According to the reporter, Mattie ahs been blind for 5 or 6 years, and the home has been in horrible conditions for a while. The reporter said her brother (unknown) spoke with Natasha, a year ago, about her mother’s living conditions. The reporter said the house has cob webs, spider webs, and animals (unknown type) inside. The reporter said the ceiling is caving in near the back of the home. The tub is not being used, and the victim is not bathing. “You can see the dirt on her/victim”. The kitchen is in horrible

Bug has not seen Nomi since she started her transition so he is surprised when he sees her and his first reaction is to sexualize her. When Amanita steps in he asks Nomi, who she is. Upon learning that they are in a relationship he makes a surprised face, but one can also see in it that he thinks that lesbians are attractive. He is not directly told that what he said was offensive, Nomi however makes it clear with her tone that she thinks that is inappropriate to talk about them in that way. Not only do men often fetishize and sexualize women, as shown here when Bug finds out that Nomi is a woman, but they often do it even heavier with lesbians as they are often degraded to mere sexual objects to please the desires of men who think that two women having sex is even more attractive.

What is gender nonconforming? Is it the same thing as being transgender? The answer is no. According to GLAAD (2017), gender nonconforming and transgender are umbrella terms, therefore, gender nonconforming people do not always identify themselves as transgender and not all transgender people are gender nonconforming. Gender nonconforming is a term used to describe people whose behavior and/or appearance is different from prevailing expectations of masculinity and femininity (GLAAD, 2017). Transgender is a term for people whose gender expression and gender identity are different than the gender they were assigned at birth (GLAAD, 2017).

Throughout today’s society, there are multiple views and opinions on whether or not there are more than two genders or if gender is even just a social construct. Each person has their own individual preference on how they express their gender. Therefore, we can no longer assume what someone identifies as just by looking at them. Over the years I have learned more about gender expression and gender identity as I gained friends who were homosexual as well as transgender. I feel as if I was introduced to all of these ways of life at a young age, therefore I can, in some ways, teach those who are uneducated and do not know what to think. I have personally never really thought about the different gender identities I could label myself as but as of right now I identify as a cisgender female