Understanding gender identity is not just about whether someone identifies as male or female. People identify in several different gender categories, from straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual, gender fluid, gender neutral and more. Nonbinary.org, which consists of blogs, forums and definitions of gender in the nonbinary sense, explains identifying as gender fluid means to flow between the masculine and feminine possibly several times a day, weekly, monthly, more or less (2015).
My interviewee Matt (ie) Huish was kind enough to share his/her background from his/her childhood to today, identifying now as gender fluid. Matt (ie) was born a male and states that most of the time he/she identifies as gender fluid or gender queer. “But …show more content…
I knew many kids that did that at an early age, even I wanted to play with my brother’s toys at times and I never liked wearing dresses when I was young. Even though these confessions didn’t alarm me, I felt the need for more understanding.
Egan, Susan K and Perry, David G, Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, argue in their article “Gender Identity: a multidimensional analysis with implications for psychosocial adjustment” from the American Psychological Association, that gender identity is “feelings of psychological compatibility with one 's gender”. Meaning the characteristics of one’s body are either male or female and feeling comfortable with the male or female sex. They also argue that pressure to conform comes from society, starting with our parents and peers, and then moving to ourselves (2001).
Matt (ie) talks about how it was back in the 70’s, the differences in gender identity were not really understood. Matt (ie) sensed early on that it wasn’t okay to think or feel that way, so those feeling just got pushed down inside. Matt (ie) remembers the memories of such feelings going back to the age of three or four (lines …show more content…
D’Augelli, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, discusses in this article “Transgender Youth: Invisible and vulnerable” that youth from ages 15-21 who identify as transgender are vulnerable to mental health issues. Most of the young people felt they had these feeling at puberty. Some of the issues they have are the nonexistence of safe environments and insufficient places that deal with their mental health problems (2006).
Matt (ie) mostly dressed as a woman because thinking about becoming an actual woman was too overwhelming and riddled with guilt. After a move to California Matt (ie) went into a deep depression and disassociation, strange phobia’s started to develop and Matt (ie) stopped going to school. Matt (ie) spent time in a hospital and started to get turned around a bit, but when talking with a therapist about wearing women’s clothes etc., the therapist stated “oh that’s fine, people do all sorts of stuff; let’s talk about your mother” Once again issues were pushed aside (lines 53-70).
This shows us that society wasn’t ready to hear any such thing and getting mental health assistance was very difficult. It is hard for me to imagine what Matt (ie) went through during the youth years. My life seems simple as I look back at things, my problems so
My interviewee Matt (ie) Huish was kind enough to share his/her background from his/her childhood to today, identifying now as gender fluid. Matt (ie) was born a male and states that most of the time he/she identifies as gender fluid or gender queer. “But …show more content…
I knew many kids that did that at an early age, even I wanted to play with my brother’s toys at times and I never liked wearing dresses when I was young. Even though these confessions didn’t alarm me, I felt the need for more understanding.
Egan, Susan K and Perry, David G, Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, argue in their article “Gender Identity: a multidimensional analysis with implications for psychosocial adjustment” from the American Psychological Association, that gender identity is “feelings of psychological compatibility with one 's gender”. Meaning the characteristics of one’s body are either male or female and feeling comfortable with the male or female sex. They also argue that pressure to conform comes from society, starting with our parents and peers, and then moving to ourselves (2001).
Matt (ie) talks about how it was back in the 70’s, the differences in gender identity were not really understood. Matt (ie) sensed early on that it wasn’t okay to think or feel that way, so those feeling just got pushed down inside. Matt (ie) remembers the memories of such feelings going back to the age of three or four (lines …show more content…
D’Augelli, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, discusses in this article “Transgender Youth: Invisible and vulnerable” that youth from ages 15-21 who identify as transgender are vulnerable to mental health issues. Most of the young people felt they had these feeling at puberty. Some of the issues they have are the nonexistence of safe environments and insufficient places that deal with their mental health problems (2006).
Matt (ie) mostly dressed as a woman because thinking about becoming an actual woman was too overwhelming and riddled with guilt. After a move to California Matt (ie) went into a deep depression and disassociation, strange phobia’s started to develop and Matt (ie) stopped going to school. Matt (ie) spent time in a hospital and started to get turned around a bit, but when talking with a therapist about wearing women’s clothes etc., the therapist stated “oh that’s fine, people do all sorts of stuff; let’s talk about your mother” Once again issues were pushed aside (lines 53-70).
This shows us that society wasn’t ready to hear any such thing and getting mental health assistance was very difficult. It is hard for me to imagine what Matt (ie) went through during the youth years. My life seems simple as I look back at things, my problems so