The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we are living. For some this is the experiences that didn’t happen or the love that was lost. For others this could be letting part of themselves die with them. This could mean not living the life they knew they were always meant to live. These regrets are often found in the transgender community where the word gender finds a new meaning. Leelah, a transgender girl from Ohio, stated in her suicide letter “I’m never going to be happy. Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself.” It is figures like Leelah and Caitlyn Jenner that have gotten the community rethinking the definition of
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An example would be Caitlyn Jenner, born as Bruce Jenner. Caitlyn always knew she was meant to be a woman deep inside. This topic is one that is often hard for people to understand. When hearing Caitlyn’s story it sounds so glamorous and beautiful but in reality many transgender people face discrimination and often depression. In 2011 a Swedish suicide study was conducted on transgender teens that showed people who had gender reassignment surgeries were 19 times more likely to commit suicide. Gender identification problems are often considered a mental illness. Could mental illness really be related to gender identification problems? Gender identity can’t be a mental illness if the definition implies that gender is a behavioral choice. Often suicide attempts from people who have had gender reassignment surgeries are because of other problems such as debt and homelessness which leads to …show more content…
Now it has also been found that suicide rates are much higher in male to female transitions rather than female to male. The average male to female transition cost is about $20,000 over a two year time period whereas a female to male transition costs about $30,000. This is a large amount of money that most individuals would agree deserves to be spent on something important. A very important step in the gender identification process is expressing how the individual feels on the inside with a new outward appearance and for many transgender individuals this doesn’t just mean dressing like the opposite sex. Clothes can’t always fulfill the need to look a certain way which leads to the gender reassignment surgeries. It is believed that this is what makes the topic so controversial. Once the surgery has happened has their gender changed? Or is gender even a physical
An example would be Caitlyn Jenner, born as Bruce Jenner. Caitlyn always knew she was meant to be a woman deep inside. This topic is one that is often hard for people to understand. When hearing Caitlyn’s story it sounds so glamorous and beautiful but in reality many transgender people face discrimination and often depression. In 2011 a Swedish suicide study was conducted on transgender teens that showed people who had gender reassignment surgeries were 19 times more likely to commit suicide. Gender identification problems are often considered a mental illness. Could mental illness really be related to gender identification problems? Gender identity can’t be a mental illness if the definition implies that gender is a behavioral choice. Often suicide attempts from people who have had gender reassignment surgeries are because of other problems such as debt and homelessness which leads to …show more content…
Now it has also been found that suicide rates are much higher in male to female transitions rather than female to male. The average male to female transition cost is about $20,000 over a two year time period whereas a female to male transition costs about $30,000. This is a large amount of money that most individuals would agree deserves to be spent on something important. A very important step in the gender identification process is expressing how the individual feels on the inside with a new outward appearance and for many transgender individuals this doesn’t just mean dressing like the opposite sex. Clothes can’t always fulfill the need to look a certain way which leads to the gender reassignment surgeries. It is believed that this is what makes the topic so controversial. Once the surgery has happened has their gender changed? Or is gender even a physical