Research Paper On Society Vs Transgenderism

Majority of transgender people will face some sort of discrimination in their lifetime whether it is through being rejected by their families, denied housing or finding employment. “Employment discrimination forces many to become involved in the street economy and in survival crime. Widespread bias and ignorance among law enforcement and other officials mean that transgender people are disproportionately subjected to arrest and, in turn, imprisonment.” (al, 2011)

Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human

With the establishment of these gender identity clinics, and the financial backing of philanthropist Reed Erickson, a transsexual man, the health care needs of transsexual people gained increased attention and support. Despite this new attention, the clinics used Benjamin’s model of “true” transsexuals. This differentiation between “true” transsexuals and other gender variants became a serious and highly important diagnostic decision as gender affirming surgeries were irreversible. This resulted in many transsexual individuals to be denied access to hormones and surgery. Specifically, transsexual men encountered difficulties, as transsexuality was primarily seen as a male-to-female only transition. In fact, during the late 1960s the United States leading UCLA Gender Identity Research Clinic debated whether trans men should be considered transsexuals. Many trans men themselves did not label themselves as transsexuals as they only knew about other transsexual women (Meyerowitz, 2002; Beemyn, 2014).

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).

The hate crime of Brandon brought national attention to the ideal and possibility that someone would want to change their gender. For many people, this was their first time even hearing about trans people and the violence against trans people. After his death, his identity was challenged and argued even though there are quotes from him saying he felt like a man trapped inside a woman's body. As Karina Eileraas puts it “Transgender violence targets both men and women, but Brandon Teena's case highlights its particularly brutal effects on FTM transgender individuals. Boys Don't Cry provides a clear political incentive to integrate feminist, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender concerns in the analysis of violence against women...Serious risks accompany any attempt to invest the body with particular 'truths' about gender and sexuality”. Brandon was not fully accepted in life or given the support he needed but he is remembered in death and his story continues to inspire many people whether trans or not.

Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with

In addition to social persecution, people who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum are at a higher risk of experiencing violence In 2010, the FBI reported in a hate crime statistics report that 19.3% of hate crimes in that year were motivated by a sexual orientation bias. Based on national statistics, more than 50% of transgendered youth will attempt suicide at least once by the age of 20 “Statistics About Youth Suicide”. These numbers are shocking, and it’s baffling that these youth have to live under the pressure of violence and mental illness all while being barred from the rights they

“There is an undeniable epidemic of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-confirming women, specifically transgender women of color in the United States…” The topic of transgender women of color becoming countless victims in our country is a travesty. Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in general are at high risk for violent acts to befall them. The information that follows will be specifically focusing on transgender women of color in the United States.

Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People, Version 7. (2011). International Journal of Transgenderism, 13:165–232. Routledge. ISSN: 1553-2739 print / 1434-4599 online DOI: 10.1080/15532739.2011.700873

Prior to the 1950s, the term “transexualism” was well documented in the Western European medical literature (Reicherzer 2008). Reicherzer describes the first genital reassignment surgery in the context of an account of two males identifying as female in London. Experiments in sexual reassignment surgery took place in the 1920s and 30s in Germany, and by 1947, there was increasing medical attention along with the utilization of provide hormone treatments in 1949.

I think it is a very relevant social and legal dilemma. This type of criminalization prevents transgender people from getting married, finding jobs, having correct gender identification for records, health benefits, and even prohibits them from using the bathroom that is correlated to their gender identity. Before I discuss the criminalization of the transgender community, I should describe what constitutes as a transgender person. A transgender person is someone who was born into a male or female sex, but identifies psychologically as the other sex. The transgender population is quite larger than one might think, it is estimated that between two and five percent of the world population identifies as transgender (Trotter,

June 2016 represents a historical Throughout history, there are thousands of people that suffered from their physical appearance and their gender identity but the medicine could not help them. In today’s society thanks to the medical process, individuals can now experience the surgical sex surgery and be who they really dress to be. Gender identity disorder started around the 1920’s throughout 2000’s in the U.S. transsexuals were individuals who had a form of gender dysphoria, and they started making themselves known in America. Gender dysphoria has been around for centuries it goes all the way back to the Greeks and has been recognized throughout Europe, Asia, and America. Research shows that “ The ancient mythology was replete with stories

The social issue that I chose which affects society today is transgender inequality. These issues are more recently gaining attention and becoming a prevalent topic of inequality within our country. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. As more and more transgender people share their stories in the media, the social problems that arise from these stories are discrimination within their everyday lives. They suffer from scrutiny and judgment from their peers, and thus many hide their gender identity from family and society. This social injustice can be as simple as a glance or staring, or offensive comments and questions to violent hate crimes. Transgender people are prone to violence and harassment, and often not feeling safe in any aspect of society. They are fired from jobs, denied medical insurance, and being murdered left and right solely for being transgender. “A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who lost a job due to bias (55%), were harassed/bullied in school (51%), had low household income, or were the victim of physical assault (61%) or sexual assault (64%)” (National Center for Transgender Equality). The structure of this paper will consist of adding all the research that was gathered over the semester, news articles and peer

Transgender inequality has gone on for a lot of years, causing commotion, suicides, and more. Due to the lack of respect to transgender people, some feel like they don’t belong here, because of all the hate they get from others and end their life which should never happen. In 1952 “Christine Jorgenson became the first American to have a sex change” (The New York Times). The first transition from male to female sex was starting the new transgender phenomenon. One person started something and now a bunch of people do it. If someone else isn’t comfortable as who they are why would another make fun of them, when they know they are already nervous in their own skin. Transgender is a category that more people should take a stand on and protect: “That’s why we defend free speech and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender” Mr. Obama said (The New York Times).On New York Times it states, “It is always a tragedy when anybody takes their own life, doubly so when they are so young.”This week Leelah Alcorn took her own life. In her

Transgender people are discriminated on an almost daily basis. They are discriminated in the workplace, as shown in a study commisioned by the Equalities Review. In a group of transgender people who have jobs and are prone to workplace-enviroment effects and opinions, “many respondents experienced harassment from co-workers and employers.” Nearly 29% of the group experience verbal abuse and harassment in the workplace enviroment, and about 4% received physical abuse. About 7% experienced threats, and about 27% experienced some sort of different treatment due to their gender non-conforming ways.(Whittle 38-39). In another study, it was found that being mistreated in the school years would have a negative effect on future outcomes relating to employment. “Those who were physically attacked in school were considerably more likely to stay in a job (64%) compared to those who were not (42%) (Grant 50).” They are also discriminated in public as well, adding on to the distress that many transgender people suffer from regularly, making it seem as if all transgender people are crazy. Transgender people are just more likely to be diagnosed as someone with a mental disorder because its helpful to see that those who have been diagnosed are “hurting and something needs to be done to help (Kreitler 1).” In