Transgender Thesis Statement

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.

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,

American society today is not any different from the past, except today people are apt to discuss everything publicly on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a few. Transgender persons happen to be one of those subjects that have become the hot topic of the new normal. Nowadays there are blogs, tweets, and pictures posted online of people’s transition “coming out.” Like the past, society is still tough when it comes to judging each other. Although transgender might not have had a recognized community in the past, it is prevalent that society is becoming more accepting of their community, and aware of issues their community faces. In this essay the names, nouns, or pronouns used will be in accordance to the individual’s preference.

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

The United States is a divided society. We like to categorize ourselves according to political affiliation, race, and religion. We are members of the middle, low-income, or wealthy classes. We choose what seats to sit in during a football game according to the team we are rooting for. It is oddly comforting to know that you belong. All too often, however, transgender youth are denied that sense of ubelonging because they defy society’s categories of male and female. The gender binary divides society into two separate, unequivocal categories that marginalizes transgender youth and directly impacts their emotional health and well-being. Society’s collective response of demeaning, shaming, and violence further increases the divide.

In the media today, we hear of football players, celebrities and even pupils who are divulging that they are either homosexual or bisexual. In the TV show, House, one of the main characters, “Thirteen”, is a bisexual woman and nobody in the show treats her differently. However, there is one member group of the LGBT is still being represented poorly by the media. According to GLAAD, they are being depicted as villains, sex workers, and are still victims of offensive jokes. A friend I interviewed even claimed that people like her are the most looked down-trodden affiliates of the LGBT! This group is called transgendered. They are one of the most misunderstood and least respected groups in America today.

There is a rising population of transgender and homosexual people in our society. A transgender is a person who insists that they were born into the wrong body. While they have the body of one gender, transgender people have the conscience of the opposite gender. A homosexual is someone who is emotionally and physically attracted to the same sex or gender. According to www.statista.com: “2.2% of adult men identify as being gay in the U.S. and 1.1% of

Throughout the past decades sex and gender have remained in major taboos and impacts within the transgender communities. Indeed, after participating in a Transgender Panel Discussion at Fresno State University, reading articles like Meet the Muxes, class discussions and the conclusion for all four sources lead to words like exclusion, discrimination, and oppressions because those define the lives of transgender, Muxes, and that for following their gender identities become the target for judgement and for countless . However, I never imagined that I could put myself in the shoes of these diverse identities until I visualized the challenges that fill their lives everyday for simply

Generations ago, the United States was a country of the male wardrobe. Today's movements for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are leveraging the existence of more globalized and open systems. Besides, the promotion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population have been acknowledged through smart partnerships within conventional, political and economic scene, while the males and heterosexuals are still pervasive.

In society, social categories are based on “real or assumed physical, biological, or genetic differences” (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 2013, p. 12) to create privilege, a desired cultural currency, for particular groups (Taylor, 2013). Hence, gender and sexual orientation are two of these social categories (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 2013), and transgender people, “whose gender expression, gender identity, and/or sex identity does not match the expectations of the dominant norm of society” (Catalano, McCarthy, & Shlasko, 2007, p. 219), are placed in the subordinate groups of these social categories (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey, 2013). Hence, the subordination of transgender people is based on the misguided premise of the sex/gender binary, which states there are only

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.

Being accepted as a transgender in today's society is not only a continued struggle but it has also become another defining statistic that continue to raise hate crime rates nationwide. The excitement and bold move granted by the government to pass a law that allowed individuals of the same sex to be married appeared to break through needed to secure gay and lesbians place in the world. With this life changing event, the hinges on the revolving door appeared to strong enough for the LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) to conquer another hidden secret; life as a transgender.

Within the past couple of years, LGBT issues have been showing up more in our daily lives than ever before. Taking a closer look at the T in LGBT, there have been stories and articles about transgender individuals and this has triggered a large variety of emotions and opinions from people all over the world. Someone who is transgender is an individual who identifies as a gender that does not match the gender that is assigned to him or her at birth. One of the biggest stories that brought transgender individuals into the mainstream spotlight was the announcement that Bruce Jenner, an Olympic gold metal winner, is trans gender. This was broadcast to millions of people as he told his story in an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer. Laverne Cox, a transgender woman, has had a predominant role in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” for the past 3 seasons and has also helped spread awareness about the trans community. With all of these stories being seen by more and more people, there have been some that haven’t been very accepting of the transgender community. Transphobia can lead to aggression towards trans individuals, causing abuse that may cause physical and emotional damage. Trans individuals are being policed by not only society, but also by institutions.

President Barack Obama expresses that anyone can be a LGBT individual and therefore we should support those we know with no judgment or cruelty stating, “Every single American — gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender — every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition. (Obama

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