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Never sacrifice who you are just because someone has a problem with it. ~ anonymous

  

We Are Not A Binary Gendered World!!!

 

Huttunen, Kähkönen & Hirvonen (2020) stated, “….information especially of varying transgender experiences is vital for individuals trying to understand and verbalize their gender identity.

 

Lets watch a Transgender Teen Share a Powerful Message

The transgender theory includes the feminist and queer theory by explicitly incorporating ideas of fluidity embodied, socially constructed, and self-constructed aspects of social identity, along with the dynamic interaction and integration of these aspects of identity with the narratives of lived experiences.  (para, Nagoshi and Brzuzy, 2010, p.432) 

As your teacher, I speak from experience as I am a biological, cisgender female who married and divorced a Transsexual man, a FTM (female to male). He had top and bottom surgery and legally transitioned into a man. I want to share what I know now.
Falling in love with anyone is supposed to be the most beautiful experience in life. But, being a Transgender in today’s society can be complicated for them regarding their sacred journey. For those unique individuals they must consider certain factors that most of us take for granted in everyday life. Trust and safety issues are always on the fore front of their minds. For an FTM (female to male) or MTF (male to female), the risk is high of being rejected or finding themselves in a hostile situation, leading to a hate crime. One can even say that they put their lives on the line, daily. Who can one trust in coming out?

Unfortunately, so many Transsexual individuals feel they are in the closet and not able to share their inner most self with newly found friends or potential love interests. This is a frustrating and a rocky road as their body progressively matches their mind with the proper surgeries and hormones. The passage into their gender as they integrate themselves into society as their innate sex is not one that is taken lightly, but destined.

Furthermore, discrimination is prevalent regardless of where one lives and unfortunately, most states do not have laws implemented to protect the Transgender individual. They are the victims with no legal backing when it comes to divorce, child custody or even employment possibilities. It is common knowledge that in thirty eight states a Transgender could be fired solely based on a label, a way of life…the only life they knew.

Bottom line, a Transgender does not wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll be a Transgender/Transsexual today. Think of it as someone deciding; today is the day, “I am going to be heterosexual.

Nor, would anyone place themselves intentionally in society with these gender disorder based on such negative undertones associated with our communities.

HOW ABOUT REVIEWING A COUPLE OF GENDER DEFINITIONS:

TRANSGENDER – An umbrella term that reflects those with identities that cross over, move between, or otherwise challenge the socially constructed border between the genders.

TRANSSEXUAL – A term referring to a person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned to at birth and wishes to reassign their biological sex.

 

Five Transgender Theories: Just to name a few

 

Theory 1: Being transgender simply happens, possibly in the womb. All brains start out female; if the fetus is male, testosterone normally programs both the genitalia and the brain to develop as male. But autopsies of a small number of male-to-female transgender people found that two important areas of the brain had a typical female pattern, suggesting an alteration in the brain’s sexual differentiation. 

Theory 2: In individuals who transition from female to male, it is possible that excessive production of androgens during pregnancy could have programmed the brain to be male.

Theory 3: The fact that the brain and the genitals develop at different times in the womb mean that a misalignment between the genitals and brain may develop, leading to either an intersex condition, or a transgender individual. 

Theory 4: In a new study published in Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of São Paulo compared the brains of cisgender and transgender people. Using MRI scans, they found that the volume of the insula cortex—a region of the brain associated with self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and empathy—differed greatly between the two groups. 

Theory 5: Meanwhile, another study out of Augusta University uncovered rare genetic variations among transgender people. Researchers sequenced the DNA of 14 trans men and 16 trans woman and, for the first time, were able to pinpoint a panel of genes shared by the subjects that could explain feelings of gender dysphoria. They found 30 rare genetic variants shared by participants, nine of which were involved in the  growth of brain cells or the production of sex hormones. 

 

Let’s listen to guest speaker Lee Mokobe: A powerful poem about what it feels like to be transgender.

In a perfect world, schools are considered safe social institutions and protective zones for the transgender child and adolescent from physical and mental harm. Not only are they hostile environments from peers but, teachers also fuel the fire by not helping a transgender child or not knowing how to help a transgender child for instance, Espelage & Swearer’s (2008) study of 3,450 students (ages 13 – 18), 88% stated homophobic remarks were used at least some times when teachers were present, and many students reported that teachers and staff did not intervene during these incidents.

Additionally, there is what is called, gender stereotyped education where gender oppression, demoralizing and alienation takes place. In the classroom, the binary gender system is in place. Segregation takes place when teachers address the class as boys and girls as Brill & Pepper, (2008), stated, “…in the common  practice of having boy and girl bathrooms, and when teachers segregate students into boy and girl groups or lines” (Rand, 2009, 424).

Listen to Lecture

Furthermore, Whitney (2002) remarked, “…gender doesn’t always indicate any information about an individual’s sexuality. The existence of transgendered individuals and transsexual individuals promotes confusion regarding sexuality. Any speculation about the sexual orientation of a trans-individual is as ignorant as the speculation of the sexual orientation of any individual. Just as any individual identifying as male might be attracted to males or females, an individual having had male-to-female SRS (Sex Reassignment Surgery) may be attracted to males or females. Identification of sexual orientation occurs independently of gender or sex identification, despite whether such identifications change from those assigned at birth. Thus, gender identity is about comfort or discomfort within the established gender roles of society. Sex identity is about comfort within the body. And identification of sexual orientation is more about experiences outside of the self and the body; it isn’t about comfort so much as it is about individual desire and attraction.”

Does sex matter