Personal Narrative: Gender Identity

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.

Topics concerning transgender can be very overwhelming for some. When one thinks of the term transgender, one may think of the process of an individual identifying as the opposite sex. The opposite sex of what he or she was born as. For some, this may involve undergoing surgical procedures or taken hormonal medications to fulfill their desire. However, when thinking of this process, one automatically thinks of transgender adults. This is rarely a topic that one would assume would be racing through the minds of young children, but in fact it is. More children today than ever, are either speaking out about their identity concerns, or displaying it in their lives. In fact, according to Date Line NBC, “The handful of American doctors who specialize

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,

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

Transgender issues cover a a multitude of spheres: discrimination (at school, in the workplace, when looking for housing), violence, suicide, and identification through legal documents to name a few. Transgender individuals deal with greater struggles than that of cisgender individuals, or those who identity as the gender which they were assigned at birth. Perhaps one of the greatest struggles transgender individuals have to deal with is acceptance, whether it be acceptance from others or acceptance of themselves. Cisgender individuals, or those who identify with the gender identity given at birth, do not have to worry that their gender identity will be accepted; society has already dictated it to be ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ (“Definitions of Terms”). Trans individuals are not afforded this luxury.

Identity is a complex ideal that everyone struggles with. Consequently, people often will not act as who they are due to a fear of being ridiculed. To me this is such a ridiculous time waster, instead this time people waste on being someone else could be used for much more meaningful memories. Society makes people feel like they have to fit a mold, yet I personally have learned from my dad that it is a necessity of life to accept who you are.

They called me an apple. Since I was supposedly red on the outside, but white on the inside, I was automatically a walking bullseye. Being one of the many oppressed Aboriginals, I understand their need to hurt someone else in an effort to release some of their internal pain. I understand why so many give up or turn into raging alcoholics in an effort to numb their pain. Coming from a reservation, my greatest challenge was proving to everyone that all the stereotypes about my people were fallacious. However, the need for a government and an education system that won’t keep on failing us repeatedly is imperative. The only way that I can make my voice heard is to break these stereotypes and to reach a higher education; hence my application for

Being transgender greatly involves identity, naïve realism, ethnocentrism, and relativism. This relates to ethnocentrism because one who is not transgender or doesn’t have a clear understanding may feel as though it isn’t necessary. I define ethnocentrism as the belief that one’s own behavior and beliefs are superior to others. In many cases, some people have even acted upon their sense of ethnocentrism committing hate crimes, homicide, or even murder. This is a reflection of their belief that they are superior. This also is a reflection of how societies enforce this concept of gender and feel threated when someone breaks the boundary. As one of my classmates said, looking at gender from a religious aspect, God is a sort of genderless being and when one is struggling with gender identity or transgender, it may appear as though they are making a statement. One that is telling everyone else that they are on the same level as God. Naïve realism relates to what the guest speakers discussed because they explained that there are a lot of people who tend to kind of stop and stare at them simply because they look different; they are foreign to them. To those who don’t understand being transgender, they may not understand how someone could such an identity crisis, as the feeling cannot be perceived by one who has not endured it. I found this to especially relate to identity because among age, language, and various other things, gender is one of the primary characteristics used to define self. If someone is experiencing an identity crisis, to whatever extent, that’s related to gender it directly correlates with the concept of identity we’ve been learning about in class. Understanding the concept of being transgender may require a sense of cultural relativism. I define relativism as the attempt to understand another culture’s way of life from their own perspective. If someone is wanting to

What do you want me to say? (Throws hands up in the air) That I am so excited to be moving to another foster home? That my parents didn’t want me to begin with in the first place? How can “parents” do that to someone? To be excited to be treated the same as I have been in every other home before? No. These people are going to be just like every other set of parents that I’ve always had, not excepting and judgmental. They will be excited at first to meet me, get to know me, and then a few years down the road, they will say that they can’t connect with me, and can’t do this anymore. If you’re wondering if I care, I don’t and I am not excited. (She turns her body to look at Mike) But you know what? All of this won’t even matter in a couple years, I’m going to be eighteen in a few days, I am not a baby

There were several times when act of persuasion seriously affected and deeply changed my life. However, immigrating to United States is on the top of my list that affected not only my life, but also who I am. During my fifth grade year, my uncle’s family called and suggested about participating in a foreign exchange student program. At first, I was not sure if I would be able to take care of myself away from my parents and because of that, I continued to say “no” until in the middle of my sixth grade year. During those one and a half years of hesitation, my uncle had sent me pictures of his house, surroundings, school, etc. Those pictures gave me a whole new perspective about immigrating to United States and helped me build enough

In America today, change is occurring all the time. It seems so simple just to make a change in the world or within ourselves, but in reality, the people of our society are terrified of the idea of change. Change can come in many ways, such as in technology, education, the workforce, etc., but a big change that seems to be an issue in the world today is the idea of change in gender, also known as transgender. Transgender can be defined as, “denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex” (Merriam-Webster). People struggle to wrap their head around those who are transgender because it is not what they were taught growing up. Even though being transgender is becoming more and more familiar today, the concept of changing gender is difficult for people to obtain and is negatively impacting society and the workforce today.

I lived far away from my hometown. At beginning, I concealed my sexual identity. I was living at bottom of society and struggle for survive. I had done a lot of odd jobs. I met some friends at work. In my naivety, I thought I would be accepted by friend as a homosexual. I told one of the co-workers who I believed he was my friend about my being a gay. Somehow all others knew my sexuality. Some co-workers force me to get drunk, then they sexual assaulted me. Every time I tried to protect myself by law, they would tell the police that I had mental disease and they asked policemen take me to the mental hospital. These happened several times, each time I was hurt and was fired. At the end it was miserable, nobody would

Almost literally, I think I need to call Mike Tyson and put a trifecta there.

Everyone has an identity, and it is our identity which defines who we are and our place in society. Our identities help other people to draw conclusions about who we are, as well as, spotlight values and beliefs. Our identities have the power to positively or negatively affect how we live our lives, as well as, have the power to affect how we interact socially. Identities can be shaped and molded by the communities in which we live, the schools we attend, churches where we worship, the sports in which we participate, our race, gender, and physical features. Many of my friends, family, and acquaintances, describe my identity as being strongly influenced by my disability, my family values, and my fiercely independent nature. Prior to writing

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.