The Relationship Between Non-Conformity And Mental Health

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

The stereotypical labeling of genders can determine one person’s outlook on life. The judgment can make one feel like there is a set rubric to follow in order to remain in the lines regarding which gender they belong to. Such influences from peers or partners can alter

There is insurmountable evidence that points to the idea that gender stereotypes is largely accomplished through social factors. Scholars in both sociological and psychological fields believe that gender is constructed through the modeling of appropriate behaviors and the use of systematic rewards and punishments. Evidence also shows that many aspects of gender are not innate, as evidenced by children who do not exhibit a gender specific preference in friends, clothing or toys when placed in gender neutral settings. Only after negative reactions from parents, teachers, or friends do many children begin to take on the gender roles society comes to see as appropriate for them.

Devor starts by be explaining how gender identity starts between eighteen months and two years. Children then start to understand which specific group the fall into when it comes to gender. Culture also plays a large role in this because different cultures have different thoughts as to how gender is perceived. Masculine and feminine characteristics are usually believed to be opposites of each other. Masculine attributes consist of being competitive, aggressive, and territorial. On the other hand, females are maternal, caring, and sensitive. Gender identity can also be seen through the way individuals speak, their body posture, and personal goals. Society plays a big role in the definitions of masculinity and femininity since children learn values based on the settings around them.I agree with Devor when it comes to the belief that society shapes how individuals understand gender.Gender role characteristics reflect the conceptions that our society sees

Gender and gender roles are a somewhat complicated idea to understand. Contrary to popular belief, gender and sex are two different things in that “gender is not inherently nor solely connected to one’s physical anatomy” (“Understanding Gender”). When parents automatically assign their child a gender based on their sex organs, it leaves very little room for change later in the child’s life, because children born with female sex organs are not necessarily girls, just as children born with male sex organs are not necessarily boys. Rather, gender is based on mindset, personal identity, outward presentations, and behavior of the individual. Binary genders, or the broadly

This article will immensely add to my paragraph on childhood gender roles. "Children 's Gender Identity Development: The Dynamic Negotiation Process Between Conformity and Authenticity” provides evidence that child are indeed aware of the stereotypes that come with gender, and allow that knowledge to effect their everyday lives.

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?

The behaviors and societal norms we associate with male and female are socially constructed. As Dr. Thompson states in the film “boys and girls are far more human and far more the same than they are different.” However,

Conry-Murray, Clare, and Elliot Turiel. "Jimmy's Baby Doll And Jenny's Truck: Young Children's Reasoning About Gender Norms." Child Development 83.1 (2012): 146-158. Education Research Complete. Web. 5 Oct. 2015. Clare Conry-Murray and Elliot Turiel write in this article about the reasoning behind gender, and whether or not it’s a fixed or changeable concept. Children ages 4 through 8 years of age were asked questions about gender norms, and most of the participants believed that non-traditional gender norms would be acceptable in a different cultural context. They also said they believed that gender norms should be a personal choice, and they didn’t believe that forcing gender norms on children in school should be allowed. Children

In the United States Transgender women (individuals who are sex-assigned male at birth but identify as female) experience high rates of severe depression due to pervasive discrimination that they face in society. According to Hoffman (2014), when compared to the general population, Transgender individuals experience much higher rates of depression with estimates as high as 62% (as cited in Clements-Noel, Marx, Guzman, and Katz, 2001). Due to these high rates of depression, Transgender women are at increased risk for overall negative health outcomes, which severely limits them from living happy, healthy, and productive lives. According to studies by Nemoto, Operario, Keatley, Nguyen, and Sugano, (2005) there is a growing understanding of the

Gender stereotyping and gender preferences have been a problem in society for many years. Modern day society has only just emerged from the ideology and mind-set that males are the dominant gender. However, some of this still lingers within the educational system. Hatton (1998) states that boys have been the preference over girls in the classroom as boys are more lively and interesting. Teachers rely on the good behaviour of the girls, which makes them ‘less interesting’, so that the time can be spent with the boys (Hatton, 1998). Gender is the distinguishing biological aspects of a person that considers them to be a male or a female (Davies, 1998). However, in this modern society we live in, ‘gender’ cannot so easily be labelled this black and white. In Australian schools today, the schools experience transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) young people (Ullman, 2015). This is to say that there are some young people who do not conform to what society biologically says they are. A metaphorical theory that Ferfolja, Diaz and Ullman (2015) discuss called the ‘unseen half’ perfectly places this social unjust issue of gender inequality. This theory states that diversity, individual or communities, within the educational system often undervalued or found difficult to understand are rendered ‘invisible’ in day-to-day practices (Ferfolja, Diaz, & Ullman, 2015). As recent as 1979, women were

A cultural population that is possibly the most marginalized and misrepresented in health care, is the transgender and gender-nonconforming community (TGNC). Sex and gender are two different concepts. A person’s sex refers to their biological status as either male or female, or the assigned sex at birth (Bradford, 2016). Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture claims as masculine/male or feminine/woman (Nobelius, 2004). Gender identity is the feeling a person has of being male or female or a combination of both. It is how the person see’s themself. TGNC people connect with a different gender than their birth gender (Dickey, Budge, Katz-Wise & Garza, 2016), in other words, their gender identities do not match with the sex or the gender role expected by society.

Transsexuals rank lowest in overall wellbeing (Gates). SIRS researcher writes, “The American Psychiatric Association uses the term ‘gender dysphonia’ as the medical diagnosis for people who feel their birth-assigned sex and their gender identity do not match.” Civilians need a better understanding that transgender people need better protection. People against transsexuals believe that transgender are “ghastly” and are having an “identity crisis.” Transsexuals need protection in the workplace, public facilities, and in athletics/sports.

The purpose of this paper and the research therein is to explore the concepts of discrimination towards a particular group of individuals-transgender individuals. The reasoning associated with this is due to the increasing rates of discrimination and the multiple facets thereof associated with this particular group of people. The articles being used (five in total) provide an introspective point considering the negative impact associated with discrimination against transgender individuals and the resulting effects towards not only themselves, but also their relationships, their mental health; and their

The search for sex and gender differences has had a long history in mainstream psychology. Sex refers to a person’s biological background which is typically categorised as male, female or intersex based on sex chromosomes, hormones and anatomy. In contrast, gender is termed as a psychological state which involves attitudes, feelings and behaviours associated to a person’s biological sex (APA, 2011). However, it must be noted that individuals can have a gender identity which may not be congruent to their biological sex i.e. transgender identity. Moreover, societies have specific social-historical gender-normative expectations of males and females which include behaviours and traits assigned to the gender role (Helgeson, 2011). Chrisler & Nobel (2002) argue that people rely on gender role and expectations to understand others behaviours, actions and abilities. Psychology has tended to use the terms sex and gender interchangeably to investigate differences between men and women. Despite research finding no psychological differences over 100 years ago (Thorndike, 1914), psychology has continued to search for gender/sex differences. The limited studies which have found relatively small differences between females and males vastly dominates the media and public understandings highlighted by ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ (Gray, 1992). In