“The world makes you something that you are not” ("Why I must come out"). Those are the first words of Geena Rocero in her ted talk, ‘Why I must come out’. Geena is a transgender. There are approximately 700,000 transgender men and women in the United States and the real number is most likely higher than that (ABC News. ABC News Network. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.). It is very difficult for men and women who have gender dysphoria in the world. It is highly frowned upon for being abnormal, socially unacceptable, anti-religious and just plain weird. A person could look upon another person and see someone who is stunningly beautiful, only to find out that they do not have the proper “parts” to go with the face, and suddenly that beautiful person is hideous
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Geena talks about boxes. This seems to really explain why people who are for and against transgender can both agree that it is socially unacceptable. Geena states that from the beginning humans are put into boxes by family, culture, religion, and of course society. These boxes are confining and wrong. These boxes attempt to make a person before their first words, before their first breath. These boxes build an individual for them, without their opinions. It is wrong to decide for someone else how that person will live their life. It is also almost impossible to break free of these categorized boxes. Keep in mind that right now, most readers are reading this essay from the comfort and security of their assigned boxes. Many of decisions made by an individual, are not actually made by that individual. Boxes…people are born into them and people need to break free to experience true freedom. Geena was 8 years old when she knew she wanted to be a girl. She remembers walking around her house as a little boy with a shirt pulled backwards over her hair claiming it was her hair because she was a girl. Luckily for her she had a supportive family, even at that young age, with them she was able to grow into the woman she wanted to be. At age 15, she entered her first transgender beauty pageant in the Philippines and she won second runner up out of 44 contestants. That was the lift she needed. She continued to be a contestant for transgender beauty pageants. She talks about how this pageant was literally in the back of the truck and how it was held in remote rice patty fields and –if it rained- in people’s houses. Transgender is frowned about around the world. When she was 17, her mother contacted her from the United States and told her to move with her. Geena declined at first because she was having fun and she felt safe in her transgender community. One day though her mom called her to
Geena talks about boxes. This seems to really explain why people who are for and against transgender can both agree that it is socially unacceptable. Geena states that from the beginning humans are put into boxes by family, culture, religion, and of course society. These boxes are confining and wrong. These boxes attempt to make a person before their first words, before their first breath. These boxes build an individual for them, without their opinions. It is wrong to decide for someone else how that person will live their life. It is also almost impossible to break free of these categorized boxes. Keep in mind that right now, most readers are reading this essay from the comfort and security of their assigned boxes. Many of decisions made by an individual, are not actually made by that individual. Boxes…people are born into them and people need to break free to experience true freedom. Geena was 8 years old when she knew she wanted to be a girl. She remembers walking around her house as a little boy with a shirt pulled backwards over her hair claiming it was her hair because she was a girl. Luckily for her she had a supportive family, even at that young age, with them she was able to grow into the woman she wanted to be. At age 15, she entered her first transgender beauty pageant in the Philippines and she won second runner up out of 44 contestants. That was the lift she needed. She continued to be a contestant for transgender beauty pageants. She talks about how this pageant was literally in the back of the truck and how it was held in remote rice patty fields and –if it rained- in people’s houses. Transgender is frowned about around the world. When she was 17, her mother contacted her from the United States and told her to move with her. Geena declined at first because she was having fun and she felt safe in her transgender community. One day though her mom called her to