Gender Identity Disorder: Similarities Between Men And Women

Improved Essays
People often confuse the two words “Gender” and “Sex”. These words are far from similar. To clear things up, Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. Many qualities of identification are formed throughout life from childhood experience, adolescence, and adulthood. Our identities will forever be forming, Identity can therefore continuously be changing externally according to the ongoing life experiences through which a person goes through. Deaths, marriage, divorce, abuse, good or bad fortune are good examples as to why external identity could change. …show more content…
“Individuals having this disorder often exhibit discomfort about their actual anatomic gender, and they may have wished to alter their bodies” (Masroor 2013). They hold this belief that he or she was born the wrong sex and are believed to be classified with a Gender Identity Disorder. From what the guest speaker talked to us about, transgender people face dramatic challenges every day. They never know where they fit in at. Some statistics he shared with us were that hate violence happens to every one of twelve people for white transgender and it gets worse for transgender of color, for them hate violence happens to every one of eight. One really shocking thing that our speaker shared with us is that there is no law against murdering a transgender individual, the person could say that the victim scared or shocked them so much with their Gender Identity Disorder that the actions they took were completely out of self of defense. I was completely blown away by this. They take a big step in life, leading to a crazy realization that once they take that step for some of them life will never be the same and they may not ever be …show more content…
A 2004 California study found a 30.7% smoking rate for transgender people. In the general population, men smoke at higher rates than women, but in LGBT studies, women smoke at higher rates than men (Duncan 2014).
This presentation really opened my eyes to things I never knew. The challenge’s these individuals go through, the discrimination they take on, the disrespect from doctors and learning about the whole crossing over part were some of the things I was really interested in. It was so interesting to learn about how the crossing over process includes hormones, psychiatric help, doctor’s notes and approvals. The costs for treatments and name changing was outrageous and now I can understand why so many transgender/transsexual individuals do not only have trouble making the transition but also those who do make the transition do not take the surgical

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Families with a Transgender Child Learn and Change is a written article from 2015 by Boston Globe reporter Crisela Guerra. This article is a short essay informs its audience about a specific issue within the transgender community, which is transgender children and their families. Guerra cultivates a convincing, open-minded, and well-balanced text with the use of ethos, by introducing the reader to a young transgender child named Q Daily, then uses logos by giving the reader the facts on transgender children, and finally uses ethos by quoting a psychotherapist who specializes in gender. The reader or audience of this text could be anyone who simply wants to be more informed on the nuances of raising a transgender child, but it is also more…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In a recent study published in the UPI Health News, transgender adults were found to be twenty two times more likely to commit suicide than the general population. These individuals struggle with the hardship of being different than what is considered “normal”. In Lusus Naturae, a girl also faces the problem of being different from the community. In The Lost Children of Taum, Dan Barry exposes the treatment of families of wedlock. In Know Thyself, Bence Nanay explains the constant struggle of being someone who is different from their perception of themself.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Transgender. This word is being heard more and more in America but what does it mean? According to the Webster Dictionary, the word transgender means “of, 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” ("Transgender"). Transgender and gender nonconforming people have in recent years earned recognition as being legitimate genders.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stories involving transgender people have been in newspapers, magazines, and tabloids for over fifty five years and have captivated and intrigued the American audience from the start. It all began in 1955 when Christine Jorgensen, born George, publicly announced her gender confirming surgery and began life as a legally recognized women. 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).…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “According to [a] study, 20 percent of non-binary identified trans people said that they had been involved in drug sales, sex work, or other underground economies, versus 15 percent for binary-identified trans people. Non-binary individuals have a 43 percent suicide attempt rate, versus 40 percent for binary-identified, are more likely to have experienced harassment, and 7 percent more likely to have been assaulted” (Jones). In another study done by “[57% of non-binary people said] Family chose not to speak/spend time with them: [50-54% said they had] discrimination, victimization, or violence at school, at work, and when accessing health care, harassed or bullied at school (any level) [60% said they had] experienced discrimination or harassment at work: 50-59%, doctor or [healthcare] provider refused to treat them [64-65% said they] suffered physical or sexual violence at work, [63-78%] at school (any level) [57-61% said they experienced] discrimination, victimization, or violence by law enforcement disrespected or harassed by law enforcement officers. [60-70% said they] suffered physical or sexual violence: By law enforcement officers.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dbq Personal Values

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When someone from this community enters our facilities and sees that they cannot identify with a bathroom or their identity is not an option on the paperwork, this creates an oppressive environment from the beginning, further preventing them from reaching their wellness goals. Regarding financial access, I always assure myself to inform them of our sliding scale and where to get insurance coverage in our county. As a clinician, it is also important to understand the intersectionality of this community and issues faced to not perpetuate marginalization. At the macro level, I have lobbied for bills that affect the trans community in support for the birth certificate modernization act. Though this experience, I have heard the difficulties that this community faces daily and how under current law, healthcare providers are the ones that must decide their treatment, rather than collaborating and providing gender affirming care.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument Imagine a world where your gender defines who you are and who exactly you could become. Stereotypes about gender could be as simple as a person born male would become a construction worker or police officer and a person born female would become a school teacher or hair dresser. People are to fit into their gender stereotypes, and that was that. But, it is not the 1950s anymore.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While the US have been engaged in actions on the LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) issues for decades, the “T” in LGBT remained silent. The “T” refers to people who permanently identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth, or whose gender expression does not match society’s expectation regarding gender roles. In fact, these people had received a lot less attention until very recently and their issue and gender identity is still unclear for many Americans, who held/hold overwhelmingly negative feelings for them. Unfortunately, transgender people are still legally discriminated against in most of the states. They have several barriers such as the lack of access of trans-specific health cares, obtaining government-issued identification corresponding to their gender identity or military injustice.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jessica Lynn Sociology

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The social problems this meeting was trying to overcome was the unjust situations many people in the transgender community go through. Jessica Lynn spoke of her personal life and used it to help us understand what it may be like growing up feeling lost. Even though it is very difficult to explain how someone in the transgender community feels being born in the wrong body. 1.4 million people feel that way in that community. Jessica made it very clear she's not a spokesperson, everyone is different, and everyone is unique with their stories.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Medicalization Essay

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the case of trans people, medicalization has turned the trans identity into one that needs to be diagnosed and sterilized, streamlining the way that one can exist as trans in the world. As we’ve discussed in class, medicalization leaves room for only one type of narrative, the one that will get individuals access to things like legal name changes and surgeries. This leads…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The diversity of the LGBT community, especially among women, is evident not just in terms of background and appearance, but also in the challenges each women faces. There are a great deal of health issues common among LGBT women, yet there are prominent health issues that specifically affect different subgroups. Despite the differences, one point is clear: LGBT women face unique health disparities, which can lead to negative health…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The article also includes specific examples of intentional violence, including a situation where a transgender individual was told in public that they should be killed for being transgender (Kidd & Witten, 2007). Many people would argue that these acts are not any different from any other intentional violent crimes, that non transgender individuals face; which is true to an extent point. Non transgender individuals do also experience such violent acts, but there is a specific social disparity between their situation and a transgender individual put…

    • 1993 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Identity is a person 's sense of self-awareness. The terms “gender” and “sex” are often used interchangeably, however, the two words have significantly different definitions. Sex can be argued to refer to the biological essentialism and the idea that we are who we are because of our genetics. On the other hand, gender is associated with the social constructionist theory, presented by Jeffrey Weeks, arguing that the way we are depends on our race, class, and sexuality. Every individual is different within their race, class, and sexuality, therefore, their gender is socially constructed.…

    • 1544 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Immersion Project Analysis

    • 1759 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Deciding on which population to use for the immersion project took a few different turns; at the beginning this writer had thought maybe indigenous people of North America. Unfortunately, well maybe by fortune, the cultural activities specific to that population slipped by. Having had some internship and volunteer experience with the LGBTQ community, at the Rainbow Community Center in Concord, California this writer thought this would be an ideal community for this project. On November 7th 2015, this writer volunteered to help at the 3rd Annual Welcoming Schools and Communities Summit 2015, that was held at Olympic High School in Concord, California.…

    • 1759 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Transgender Movement

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Transgenders face discrimination in many aspects of society in everyday life, law, and employment. There are many violent encounters faced by transgenders for example, in the past year “102 transgender people were murdered in 12 countries” simply because they were openly transgender (Machlitt). Transgenders also deal with wrongful incarceration; one of the biggest issues is being convicted for “manifesting” prostitution, which is if “somebody in public manifests an internet to commit or solicit an act of prostitution” (Machlitt). Laverne Cox once said that “[the ‘manifesting prostitution’ law] basically means that as a trans women of colour walking in a certain neighborhood, you can be arrested for prostitution.” However, the most prominent issues faced by transgenders is employment, “47 percent of transgender people report they were fired, not advanced, or not hired due to their gender identity” (Machlitt).…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics