Dalton Stiles 4/23/15 The Sociological phenomenon of Transgenderism In today 's society, we are seeing a certain group flourish with newly acquired visibility. Time magazine has recently featured a woman named Lavern Cox on the cover along with the feature article titled "The Transgendered Tipping Point". Which discusses the new "civil rights frontier" that Lavern Cox has played a huge part towards. She was on Time magazines 2015 list of 100 Most Influential People, as well as being the first transgendered person to be nominated for an Emmy award. In 2014 she was named Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine, and was included in People magazines Worlds Most Beautiful Women list. Even though transgendered people are being represented in the …show more content…
By having multiple stories about transgendered lives, such as Lavern Cox and Bruce Jenner. It allows the full scope of transgendered stories, not just one single story that the media would tend to push. People were surprised at the fact that Bruce Jenner, someone who the media held so highly as a man of power, could possible identify as a woman. He states clearly in the article 'You know what... it 's going to be tough. I 've been thinking about this day forever and what I should do with my life. How do I tell my story, how do I tell people what I 've been through?...". Thankfully he has told his story, and added onto the list of many other transgendered celebrities making their names known in society. The benefit of having multiple stories about this, is that it lets those who are struggling with the same issues identify with those whose story has impacted them the most. Representation is very important. We have many transgendered celebrities, now all different ages, sharing their story and making their struggles known. Instead of the media only selling transgendered people as only one thing, we now see transgendered people as who they are no matter what age or race, it shows them as people. For research to be done correctly about sociology, these stories or narratives of people 's lives are very important. So whether it is Laverne Cox and her successful pioneering of trans rights, or Bruce Jenner and his story being told after 65
Over the past few years, the issues faced by people who identify as transgender (gender dysphoric) have gained momentum in the media. From Caitlyn Jenner to which bathroom to use, transgender people have made a lot of progress in addressing
I consider magazines, television shows, films, news media, gossip media, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other Internet sources to be the number one target for negative gender discrimination, stereotypes, inequality, and hatred. For example, Playboy featured its first transgender playmate on a magazine cover which is a positive change in gender role today. However, for some individuals, there was mixed reactions and emotions about a transgender featured on the Playboy cover. To the point where Ms. Ines was receiving negative comments on social media, but she said stated in a recent New York Times Interview, “I would have never thought about people being so transphobic. I knew we still had a lot of work to do to get to a point where people see trans women as women, but I would have never thought of
In the late 1950’s to mid-1960’s, the transgender community faced discrimination such as physical and verbal harassment, denial of social spaces, and alienation in the media. This matters to us today because transgender individuals are still existing and are a part of our human population today. The community is also still struggling to find their representation in the media and in society. The transgender community is still facing a wide array of types of discrimination, from nasty looks to denied access of education. Gender identity should not be taken into consideration when determining another person’s worthiness of respect.
The article starts off defining the term transgender, and different circumstances where others attempted to ‘normalize’ the homosexual and transgender movements. The article states that transgender people “are deeply troubled individuals who need professional help, not societal approval or affirmation.” (Traditional Values Coalition 1). The article continues, showing instances where the transgender movement won “major political victor[ies]” (Traditional Values Coalition 2), such as California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 which protected transgender children at public schools. The coalition states that the media is helping the transgender movement by portraying transgender people as “misunderstood and persecuted” (Traditional
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
that would soon become a movement. Incited by a Black trans woman, Marsha P. Johnson, and a
In the hit show Orange is the new black there are lots of sexual tensions. For example one of the oscar nominated characters in the show is Laverne cox. Cox plays as an inmate in jail and she is her truth on the show which is transgender, and she is a phenomenal actress. Cox took a lot of negative talk when she first started on the show, but the show has multiple lesbian and transgender characters. Laverne Cox is an advocate speaker and goes on tours to speak to gay and transgender people. This is a positive thing to do to help some of these kids and adults realize it 's okay to be different, nothing is more important than living as your true self. Cox said in an interview, “ to love a transgender, is revolutionary.” “With more than 50% of transgender teens commit suicide before they even turn 20 it is clear that the societal inclination to generalize gender identity based on physical attributes present at birth results not only in the denial of basic human rights, but appears to be the impetus for this startling epidemic of suicide,” according to
Everyday Transgender Women of color are mistreated and repressed by society, they face constant ridicule and mistreatment. They face a constant issue of society judging them and putting them under a microscope. Societal repression is a constant issue these women face just because of their gender identity. Transgender Women of Color are one of the most least mentioned groups in society. This under shadowed group of women is struggling. They face constant abuse and repression, society is destroying these women. These women who are just like everyone else are one of the most mistreated societal groups around. They face things like mistreatment in the health field that should be helping them through one of the biggest transitions of their life.
With so little transgender celebrities and almost no representation of transgender in the media, it is no wonder that you hear of so many trans youth killing themselves. The most famous representation of the transgender community is Sophie in Orange is the New Black, who was thrown into prison for credit card fraud to afford her transition. There is also Adam on Degrassi, a female to male transgender whose mom did not fully accept him until he was dying. Degrassi is my favorite representation of transgender youth because when people of the school found out about Adam, the jocks of the school started to tease him and pick on him, even throwing him into a window. This accurately showed what it is like to be living as a transgender person in a bigoted society where you don’t feel like you belong. One celebrity that comes to mind when some hear the term ‘transgender’ would be Caitlyn Jenner. Born Bruce Jenner and being a famous Olympian, she proudly came out as Caitlyn and made the brave decision to publically transition. But yet, people of the world did not want to accept her as Caitlyn. People even made pictures and posts saying “Bruce is not brave, our soldiers are brave,” and comments out loud saying “Gender identity is something Bruce Jenner is struggling with.” Although there was a number of support, trans youth cannot be expected to fully come out and love themselves if they have very little representation and
Caitlyn Jenner was given the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards (ESPY) Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Twice an Olympic triathlon athlete, she blazed new trails. Long before her transformation, Jenner lived a life that her family and society expected of her: a loyal, loving son and father and an outstanding sportsman. Her newest role was as an advocate for the transgender community, which may become one of her greatest roles. Presently, Caitlyn Jenner’s purpose was to promote sexual diversity, accepting differences, and respect for all human beings. As I watched Jenner accept her award, I reflected back on my understanding of transgender orientation.
Stories involving transgender people have been in newspapers, magazines, and tabloids for over fifty five years. These stories have captivated and intrigued American culture from the start, but not always in the most positive light. It began in 1955 when Christine Jorgensen, born George, publicly announced her gender confirming surgery and began life as a legally recognized woman. There was a media frenzy with headlines such as “Bronx GI Becomes a Woman!” and “Bronx ‘Boy’ Is Now A Girl”. But instead of “withdraw[ing] from public attention [Christine] turned the notoriety to her advantage with a series of lucrative tours on the lecture and nightclub circuit” (McQuiston 1989). “By cultivating the demeanor of a lady and refusing to call herself
The transgender community makes up a controversial, growing culture in America. Promoting the idea of tolerance, self-love and acceptance, the Transgender community helps support a community that is statistically not commonly received well by the American people of 2015. Many view this uprising as a positive, revolutionary movement that aims to not only help the minority groups of America but progress mindset of all people from potentially
The use of new media has transformed the way in which we receive the latest news content, but, despite this new form of media, we still do not receive every breaking news that occurs in the U.S. The article “Rise in Number of Transgender People Murdered” by Keira Andrews and Jeff Simmons, highlights the ongoing issue of transgender murders, specifically black trans women in the United States. The authors discuss the rates of murders in the U.S within the general population and compare it to those rates of black trans women, which surpass the general population rate. It is also important to consider the fact that these statistics are not completely accurate, mainly due to the fact that the death of transgender individuals are undercounted, thus
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