What Are Y ' All Hoping For?

Internal conflict is something that the transgender community knows all too well. Feeling as though you are living in the wrong body can do serious damage to the way that someone sees themselves. One of the hardest time for transgender teens is puberty. Researchers have said that “This is a particularly hard age, since the body begins to change and adapt gender specific features (breasts, changes in genitals, menses, etc..). Transgender individuals have reported “I was disgusted by (hair, breasts…etc)” (Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). It already puts a child or teen under great stress to see themselves living life as a gender they feel is completely wrong, but, as puberty begins to hit and they see this body changing it only increases that self-hatred that slowly builds. Even though transitioning can be the best decision a transgender person might make, it can still be just as difficult to finalize this. Many transgender youth have said that they have “Fears about finding a partner, feelings about having to experience surgeries, hormones, (and for MTF transsexuals) facial hair removal and voice changes, and fears about violence and prejudice when one is read transgender”(Ami B. Kaplan, 2014). Even when the option to transition arises, doubt may still linger. Some transgender youth that have gone through with transitioning face many issues emotionally such as “Disappointment that transitioning didn’t solve all problems, level of satisfaction with appearance, level of satisfaction

Ariel’s main concern about having children was that she would not be able to experience child birth the way a woman would and would not like to have children the way a male would . (Navasky & O'Connor, 2015) Other issues concerned tough decisions that shouldn’t be made quickly which required both the parent and the child who, would go through the treatment to come to an agreement with one another on how to proceed with the process. Many parents of gender dysphoric children become distraught during the decision-making process, which involves making the choice of whether or not the children are ready for these types of treatments. Sometimes the strain of these decisions cause dysfunction between parent and

When they reach an age where they are considered to be able to assemble reasonable decisions they can start the process of transitioning, which is the process they use to match how they feel to their appearance. It can start by changing their hair, clothing and name to using hormones and surgery. Every person’s way of changing is different, not all transgender people have the same process. Some choose not to change anything in their appearance but still ask to be spoken to as if they were the opposite sex and others change everything about themselves to the point where it isn’t even noticeable that they were once a different sex.

In class, we have learned and discussed how during the period of adolescence, it is known that this is the period of time where individuals are finding themselves and figuring out where they belong. It is during this time where individuals are the most sensitive and personal problems tend to arise more commonly during this stage. A major issue adolescents struggle during this stage is gender identity and sexuality. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are attracted to and how they perceive themselves to be. While the norm is to identify oneself as their biological gender, there are those who develop gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a reoccurring feeling that one’s biological gender is the opposite of one’s sexual identity (Cole,

If I was a parent and I had to handle my child experiencing gender dysphoria, I would reaffirm them of their gender. I would encourage activities of their gender such as a girl spending more time with the mother while a boy would spend more time with me. I would discourage any activity of wearing any clothes opposite to their sex or playing with toys opposite of their sex. I personally would constantly reaffirm my child of their sex no matter how they felt as I know they are at a very young age and are just developing.

LGBTQ+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and more referring to the people categorized by not having heteroxexual and cisngender actions or identificantion. As opposed to having a romantic preference to sex, gender identification is what a person chooses to identify as, instead of it being decided by their sex. Currently, countries and law makers are currently blocking the same rights as heterosexual and cisgender people regarding civil, political, social, and economical stand points.

In an article “'Why did God make me like this?': Parents share incredibly moving film about having a transgender son and why they decided to let him change gender and become a boy at age five” by Snejana Farberrov discuss how one family embraced a daughter transgender by cutting her hair and using male pronouns. The girl who name is Ryland told her parents, she was a boy and from then on more and more they started to treat Ryland as a boy. She told her parents at a very young age that she was a boy.

Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism published an article by Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis and Daniel Klink titled Adolescents with gender dysphoria in 2015. The article discusses the increase of youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria and receiving medical treatment and possibly surgery as well. The authors stressed the importance for psychotherapy and/or family therapy. The article also discussed the factors that influence gender development psychological, social, and biological. There are not many studies on determinants of gender dysphoria, and no epidemiological studies in children younger than 15 exist at all. Although, more recently research has focused on histological and brain imagining studies on individuals diagnosed

In the documentary Growing Up Trans, we hear the real stories and explanations of how kids felt with both their sex and gender. Kids would give interviews on how they felt being stuck in a biological body that they did not agree with. Throughout the movie, we see children expressing how they do not want to conform to the ideas of their “gender”. Throughout the movie, we see the ideas of a gender that is socially constructed. People buy their little girls babies, Barbie dolls, princess costumes.

Transgender can be defined as a person whose self-identity does not conform precisely to conventional notions of the male or female gender. This self-identity problem can usually be accompanied by numerous forms of treatment to change ones’ physical appearance, and make it more consistent with their identified gender identity. In many cases, the individual can identify with the gender of the opposite sex to the point one believes that he or she is a member of that gender group trapped in the wrong body. This is also called Gender Dysphoria or formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder. The person with gender dysphoria or GD at times does not know that he or she have an actual disorder but more of a general discomfort with his or her biological sex. This also creates complications in their everyday life, when they are unable to interpret their feelings or rationalize problems they experience in a social setting (Gender Dysphoria, 2014).

When discussing transgendered people it is important to understand the difference between sex, and gender. “Sex is assigned at birth, refers to one’s biological status as either male or female, and is associated primarily with physical attributes such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, and external and internal anatomy,” (APA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns Office). Sex is mainly important for medical reasons. A person can change their sex, through surgery and hormone therapy. “Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women” (APA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns Office). Gender and sex can coincide or they can be in conflict with each other. Someone whose gender identity matches the sex they are born with is called cisgendered. Cis- is a latin prefix, meaning “on this side”. Contrarily, trans- is a prefix meaning on the “other side of”. A person who is transgender expresses

A person who identifies as transgender is one who expresses a gender identity that differs from the one that corresponds with their assigned sex. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or any other gender. Gender expression refers to the way someone communicates their gender identity, whether it’s through the clothing they wear, their hairstyle, or their voice and body characteristics. Although some may not be aware, sex and gender aren’t synonyms. Sex is assigned at birth and refers to a person’s biological status whereas gender is based on socially constructed roles, behaviors and attributes that given societies consider appropriate for men or women. People who fall under the transgender umbrella may identify

The medical and behavioral (DSM) community has chosen to let go of the more shadowy term “Gender Identity Disorder,” in favor of a less charged and hopefully more suitable term, “Gender Dysphoria,” for transgender individuals. This paper will explore conventional clinical perspectives and subsequent changes therein; survey a few theoretical frameworks, both conventional and more post-modern, in order to gain a better understanding of how to effectively work with gender dysphoria. The main body of this paper will be structured under specific headings, beginning with a brief historical description of gender dysphoria, followed a brief discussion on etiology with some clinical implications. Current theoretical frameworks will be presented

They know it will not change throughout life. Even though children begin to see the difference of male and females, children born boys may feel and identify as girls and girls may feel and identify as boys. Parents might dismiss their child’s claim as a simple phase because of the expectations they have about their sons and daughters. However it is not a phase. Gender dysphoria, also known as gender identity disorder, is a condition of feeling one’s emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one’s biological sex. Children with gender dysphoria are affected both psychologically and sociologically; however, with the proper diagnosis and treatment parents will have the knowledge to properly bring up a child with gender dysphoria. Psychologically a child may have suicidal tendencies, be depressed, have emotional problems, and have high levels of stress and anxiety. Sociologically a child tends to be alone, tormented by peers and frightened of never being accepted by

The most obvious challenges I have faced living as a transgender male have been physical, but the hardest I have faced have not only been personal, but emotional. I have encountered countless overly personal inquisitions, questioning looks, and awkward introductions. Existing as a biological female for a large portion of my life imbued that period of time with many challenges. As a child, I fought passionately with my parents to shop in the “boys” section of the store, to play hockey and lacrosse, and to never step foot in a dress. I often wondered why other children would point and snicker at my choice of clothing. I even asked my distraught mother why I was “put in the wrong body” at the age of three. I had to grow up and not only learn, but understand and accept that I am not the same as everyone else. I had to come to terms with the fact that most people do not face the challenge of waking up every day and overcoming the feeling that something is fundamentally “off” that cannot truly be “fixed”. “Average” is a description I often longed to be labeled in the past, but over the years I have discovered that striving to be above average is the true key to success.