Reflection About Transsexualism

She takes pride in her well maintained home and cooking expertise. Her schedule is full of running her husband’s errands throughout the day and having the breakfast, lunch and dinner completed that he requests. She finished two years of college courses at a local community college and would love to finish gaining her degree in nursing. The client would love to finish school, but her husband tells her that a degree is unnecessary since she should only be relying on him. Her husband’s attitude makes her feel insufficient and does not feel like a positive role model for her daughters to look up to. The client’s self-esteem is very low and the only time she feels pretty or worthy is when her daughters tell her they love her. She is at a point in her life where her self-worth is nearly destroyed, a place she never would have imagined before marrying her husband.

Over the past years there has been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered especially those of color. Transgender women of color have higher rates of murder and homelessness. Several states don’t even offer no legal protection in employment, health care, housing and other areas where these people face discrimination. We must realize the current phase which is equal rights, and we need to address the views of the public and make a change. Several people look at transgenders differently especially in cultures. Different individuals have a broad range of different beliefs about gender, not to mention that different cultures have their own way of defining feminine and masculine. Whether we view someone as transgender it really just depends

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).

Before high school, I didn't know what transgender, asexual, or gender-fluid was and now I can educate others on the subject.My best friends are the most diverse group I have: Avalon who I call my sister is white chubby and asexual, Max is white transgender and very skinny, Sophie is overweight, white and bisexual, Sliver is black and bisexual, Michell is Hispanic and homosexual and more. Most of my friends come from households with one parent or have step parents; none of my friends have lived perfectly happy lives we all have baggage and we accepted one another not based on the color of our skin or who we love, but because of who we

Kailey, M. (2005). Just Add Hormones: An insider’s guide to the transsexual experience. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

I remember the first transsexual couple I met (both were trans) were the “odd” kids in school. They were often made fun of and told to go back to their genders. Though I may have never made fun of them, I also couldn’t understand them. They seemed to just be making their lives more difficult in my eyes. Once I got to college I remember sitting in on a seminar that a student put on about biological intersex and the impact it had on people. It was the first time I started to look at life as less black and white, less holy and sinner when it came to genders and started to accept that people are different and with people come the

As we know transgenderism has been around for quite some time now. Tracking back to way before 1998 when the transgender day was established. This day is on November 20th and it was established in order to have a day of remembrance for those people of the gay, lesbian, and straight community who have suffered from either physical abuse, assault, or both. Researchers of psychological advancements have discovered many new things about this rising issue or as a psychologist would call it a “disorder” with in the specific community in this case the LGBT community. However during the research many questions were asked by the American Psychology Association. Questions such as how the transgender community

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.

Sex and gender make up one of the most basic functions in our society. Gender helps delineate tasks and how we refer to people, and is reinforced for us throughout our lives (Lorber 2006). Gender interacts with sex in varying ways (Disch 2006). Those who are not strictly heterosexual male or female are not readily accepted and face adversity as they bend gender and defy sex.

In the book, The Transgender Phenomenon, a study was conducted of ‘gender blenders’, by Ekins and King in 2006. This combined the ethnomethodological understanding of gender and also the norm of (binary) sex. They demonstrated how medicine has been fundamental for how the sex of individuals is defined.

I wanted to get multiple perspectives and a diversity of representation in my piece. I also wanted to take a look at the difference of how cishets talk about and describe being transgender compared to a trans person because it is a part of their own experience. I feel like that the interviews went pretty much as expected when I interviewed trans people and other members of the LGBTQ+ community. I was surprised with the responses I received from some of my cishet interviewees because quite a few lacked knowledge about what transgender means and the experience of identifying as a trans person. I feel like that even those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community that do not identify as trans are still considerably knowledgeable about what it’s like to be trans. I think the reason for this is that a lot of queer people usually know or spend a lot of time with other queer people. I feel that the same goes for cishets. The divide between these two populations is the reason for the lack of knowledge and

Davy is interested about how we see transsexuals because transsexuals are not born transsexual but are cross-gender because of childhood experiences of masculinity and femininity. As a result the brain keeps both experiences and then has mental “gendermap” of the body. Davy states that the brain has a mental picture of what the body parts are supposed to look like yet transsexuals have a different point of view on what it’s supposed to be so they get their body parts surgically removed so that it fits the body image that they want and feel comfortable with.

In my opinion, I don’t think a new legislation is needed to determine the place of the LGBTQ+ community. Who am I to tell a person where they belong in society because of their sexuality or gender identity? That’s like telling people where they’re allowed to sit on a bus because of their skin color. For so long, our society seems to have a problem with embracing each others differences. We need to open up our eyes and see each other as equals rather than seeing the differences in who we are as an individual. Every single person on this planet is unique. Each of us come in many different sizes, shapes, colors and even identities (gender identity and sexual orientation). The thing is, not everyone will have the same appearance or interests as

The Trans gender lecture was of great interest today. I am thankful that Chris could share her story with the group. Although I can empathize with the troubles and turmoil in which growing up were difficult moving to a new country and not fully understanding what was happening. I cannot image what she was going through personally knowing that somehow she was different and did not quite fit in with society. I have great inspiration for her to take the steps to find happiness and well being in her life.*

Being myself around others is easy, but becoming myself is what has truly defined me. I had to discover my authentic self, despite the overwhelming input and expectations of everyone and everything around me. Genetically, I was born into the world female, but inherently, I knew I was transgender before even learning that “gender” was a word. I used to believe that someone had “made a mistake”, because I was arbitrarily born in a girl’s body. But now I know, that was exactly where I was supposed to be. It would have been easier if I was just born genetically male, but I know my time spent living as a female and my time spent living as a transgender male has enabled me to accept, appreciate, and have the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life. The limitations, unwanted attention, and stereotypes that accompany being transgender could have easily broken me, but instead I have geared my experiences towards forming myself into the confident, fearless person I am today.