Transgendered Individuals

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.

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?

While discrimination is pervasive for the majority of transgender people, the intersection of anti-transgender bias and persistent, structural racism is especially severe. People of color in general fare worse than White transgender people, with African American transgender individuals faring far worse than all other transgender populations. Many transgender people are also the targets of hate crimes. They are also the victims of subtle discrimination—which includes everything from glances or glares of disapproval or discomfort to invasive questions about their body parts (Bassichi, Lee, & Spade, 2011). Discrimination laws and hate crimes laws encourage us to understand oppression as something that happens when individuals use bias to deny

A REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION SURVEY” which is a comprehensive survey taken by over 7,500 respondents a part of the LGBT community to discuss their experiences of discrimination that will further encourage the implementation of better protection towards gender variants. Authors concluded the:

In the present study, intersectionality theory is applied to understand the overlapping levels of stigma and privilege associated with gender and sexual identities among transgender individuals.

Elderly transgender individuals have their own assortment of psychosocial and relational concerns that are associated with their identified community. They must contend with identity conflict, discrimination, policies and services that may not meet their basic needs. Furthermore, they are increasingly distressed by inflated financial concerns due to discrimination. Transgender adults face increased workplace discrimination compounded with ageism in acquiring new jobs. Increased interpersonal violence and harassment besiege transgender elders. Additionally, they must cope with the same challenges that their non-LGBTQIA colleagues encounter, such as long term care, chronic debilitating physical health and mental health

There were many primary themes that I found within my research. One was that most of the people who had a negative view of transgender people did not personally know anyone who identified as transgender. Hence, they had either learned about it from friends or the internet. Out of the 10 people interviewed, 6 people did not know anyone who identifies as transgender. Within those 6 people, over half of them had a more of a negative view regarding the transgender community. I believe this may be because when one cannot attribute humanistic qualities or personal experience to a topic, one tends to be less sensitive to it. Another primary theme that I found interesting was the response to the question, “when did you first hear the term transgender?”. Interestingly, the people who did not

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.

Majority of society chooses to ignore the development of working relationships with those who are or are transitioning to become transgender due to their own biases based on their own beliefs for decades. Regardless of our own biases, while at work there has to be a professional relationship and not what one likes. Therefore, the researcher would like to discover how could people work together and determine, what are the effects with integrating transgender equally in the workplace? Therefore, the focus of this research is how those that are transitioning or are transgender are treated in the workplace by their co-workers and supervisor.

Transphobia is a phenomena of emotional disgust towards individuals who do not conform to social gender expectations—in other words, it is the revulsion with those who identify with the gender that is opposite from the one they were distinguished with at birth (Bandini, Elia, and Maggi 49). There are two components that come into play when conceptualizing transphobism. The first is genderism, which is in reference to the cognitive beliefs and views towards the transgendered. The second is genderbashing, which is the physical assault or harassment towards these individuals (Bandini, Elia, and Maggi 49). The harassment brought about by genderism and genderbashing affect various areas of their lives. Transsexuals have reported persistent and extreme

Argued in Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003:15), living up to our gender is learning through a life-long process of socialization. Further supported in Kulick and Schieffelin (2006:352), one’s gender emerges over a lifetime through interactive process in which one accepts, rejects, or modifies the cultural and gender norms they are socialized in. These two arguments supported the idea of this essay’s research question in which cultural and social factors do contribute to gendering an individual, and in turn implicating the creation of a boundary that exclude transgenders from the society.

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 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

Transgender individuals who experience discrimination, violence, or interpersonal rejection are at risk for developing symptoms of depression. Studies reported significantly higher levels of anxiety (26–38%) and depression (48–62%) within this community (Pflum, Testa, Balsam, Goldblum, Bongar, 2015). Different ethnic groups have varying experiences related to social support, gender-based stressors, and health outcomes. Racial outlook presents additional risk of prejudice and discrimination for transgender individuals. Researchers noted that Caucasian and Latina Trans women reported significantly higher needs for social support than participants of other ethnic groups, whereas African American and Asian/Pacific Islander Trans women received

Transgender students’ rights have significantly improved since the past three decades. According to the University of Massachusetts, American education in the 1970’s dismissed the rising number of transgender individuals as “a rapid [growth][…]of mental illness” (UMass 18). According to an analysis done by Susan Stryker, it was not until the late 1980’s when “The first organized transgender community [was formed]” and even then “transgender individuals and students were officially classified as psychopathic” (Stryker 4). Health and institutions of psychology abroad in America were intent on disavowing transgender individuals and students as mentally ill, and only through small increments was any change proposed.