Introduction to Gender and It's Specialities - Coursework Example

Introduction to Who Am I Activity One ‘‘Who Am I?’’ The answer to the question ‘who am I?’ can be answered variedly depending on the dimension one has taken or is looking at it from. Many times, we tend to identify ourselves by the names that tagged either by our parents or the primary caregivers who took the parenting role from birth. However, these names are given based on the gender and sex of the particular individual across many cultures in the world. The answer to ‘Who Am I?’ goes beyond mere names to finding out what exactly makes me that person I or people claim to be. The society has written and unwritten laws that regulate actions that happen within the culture a person is born and raised. Socialisation into the culture in which an individual is nurtured, therefore, influences the description of which exactly the person is (Melvin, 2013:44). My understanding of who I am begins after confirming that I actually exist and I cannot do that fact. It then progresses to my classification into what category of ‘item’ in the world I belong to. Looking at so many features that I share with human beings around me makes me know that I am human being and not a plant or anything else beyond doubt. The description using the word ‘Who’ and not ‘what’ or ‘which’ suits me for I am a human being. However, the difference comes in when I get to a point where I have ascertained the fact that I am a human being and the difference has to be made between myself and other fellow human beings. Different societies have different cultures that distinguish them from one another. I to a culture that identifies me primarily as a woman (based on the gender roles and expectations). Biologically, the difference in biological make-up between myself and men distinctively identify me to be a different human being. Socially, I am different because of the role tasks, and behaviour styles the society expects from me (Melvin, 2013:78). Gender roles and expectations, therefore, define who I am from a cultural outlook. The fact that I have a child make me a mother of someone and that still gives me a descriptive definition of who I am. For example, someone can say ‘I transacted business with Ricky’s mother’. Besides being a mother, I am someone’s sister and another person’s wife. This description is an identification of my position in the family. Moreover, the fact that I’m a religious woman makes me be identified socially through my pledge to my religion. Significantly, there is the ideal person inside me that these names and social identification refer to and that am the most important part of me. What drives the behaviours I exhibit and thinks and produces out the opinions I express is the real me; consisting of soul and mind expressed through body. Activity Two Gender and Sexuality: My Body is Wrong The reports is titled “My Body is Wrong’’ to denote great concerns individuals (Both children and adults) who are facing bio-psychosocial mix up between their sex and their gender roles. It is a report that describes and demonstrates the problems associated with Gender Identity Disorder (GID); its psychosocial negative effects and the societal stigma related to it. It also reveals case studies of the many attempts that both parents and the child (transgendered individual) make in trying to seek for medical assistance that end up futile as seen in some cases due to the country’s policies regarding to Transgender surgeries and treatment. The reporter even gives detailed information of their personal experiences, the walk they have taken and the outcome they saw with their own transgender case while highlighting the challenges that this condition brings not only to the parent but even more to the child especially during puberty when biology starts to take its course. A counter-comparison is also done by the writer on the different response in terms of providing assistance between UK and other nations about the same issue. The societal perspective in looking at and handling transgender issue in general is also displayed. Key Issues Evident in the Report Gender Differentiation (Gender Roles and Expectations) The struggle that is seen right from the start about this transgender issue is the need to conform by the society’s gender expectations so that one does not end up being condemned or ridiculed (Valentine, 2007:77). The society has cultures that pile pressure on and regulate individual an individual on how and when he/she is expected to behave right from the way they dress, what they eat, how they talk, who they play with, what they play among other aspects such as work. Men and women are restricted based on their sex to take up only those tasks that ‘synchronise’ with their sexes failure to which eyebrows are raised to them. From the report, the struggling children are battling to fit into what they observe in the society to be desirable. Sara’s daughter is doing everything she can so as to cover the organ that would identify her wrongly with the duties she desires to perform. This battle is seen even with male children who engage in some sports and finds it awful to play their ‘gender-based’ games as provided for by the culture (Erickson-Scroth and Boyland, 2014:188). Psychological Trauma Transgender individuals go through a lot of psychological pain especially when they approach puberty. They are under pressure to gradually change their ‘wrong bodies’ and get the ones that they perceive to be right for them. They feel the society does not understand them and, therefore, seek for various ways of doing it right for the society. In this process most of them end up in, isolation, depression and commit suicide (Girshick, 2008:122). This is because they feel they have no place in the society where everyone from peers, friends to even some doctors laughs at and ridicules them. Sarah’s daughter is psychologically disturbed that she wishes some of her part could fall off and let her live in peace. The death of McWilliams as reported in the case study shows how much traumatising this condition can be (Groskop, 2008). Consequently, parents to these children who have been identified as transgender individuals go through the same trauma as well. No parent would want to see their children suffer and in that regard they hop from one hospital to another looking for help on how to deter the hormonal changes so that their children can remain ‘normal’(Shrage, 2009:129). Stigmatisation Transgender persons receive stigmatisation from the society since the society has the laid-down provisions on how different genders are expected to behave. Failure to comply to this automatically leads to insults and name callings as seen in Sarah’s daughter who would be called unpleasant names (Groskop, 2008). People ridicule and make fun of you when you take a different gender path that is not demarcated or defined by the society’s standards and that’s the stress that transgendered persons face (Currah, 2006:87). Outcome of Interview on another Student Having gone through the report carefully and critically, the interview held with another student revealed a lot in relation to this topic. Right from the start, one could see the shock on the face of the interviewee having read the report. The interviewee reported that they were so surprised by the suffering transgender children go through. They said that the case study was an eye opener to real life experiences of Gender Identity Disorder. Theoretically, they said, the topic seemed just like any other academic topic but when it was brought down to practical narrations of what happens then they really empathise and feel a lot has to be done to salvage the situation. It could also be noted that many people including the interviewee lack sufficient information about transgender and it was their first time to critically look at this issue. The interviewee is, therefore, just a representative of a larger population out there who have not taken a keen look into this problem. The interviewee was far much surprised at how strict the society is in handling gender issues. They felt that, just like some other nations, policies and laws should be enacted to protect the transgendered and medical response be made quickly when such cases are realised (Groskop, 2008). Personal Report Outcomes This report about ‘My Wrong Body’ has been able to expose the deficiencies of our socio-cultural practices and believes which have skewed our minds into believing that rigidity in looking at gender issues is the only way to go. There has not been effective response, hitherto, in reacting to the problems that the transgendered persons go through especially in UK. Most people suffer in silence as they would not want to be identified as ‘abnormal’ in the society and those who cannot withstand living in silence for long resorts to self-destructive acts (Rowland, 2008:119). Conclusion Gender related issues have paralysed the society for long especially in societies where the identification of person’s importance is solely based on their gender- role. Cultures that only answers the ‘Who Am I?’ question after considering your gender tend to have biasness and segregation in most aspects as the deep-rooted false belief about a person’s prowess do not allow selection and judgement based on merits. Societies, therefore, have to adjust and change these aspects and perspectives. There should be an intensive campaign by the organisations that represents and work for the benefit of people suffering from disorders related to gender to enlighten the society about free choice when it comes to gender matters and that the physiological make-up should not necessarily limit one from staying amongst them. Transgender needs to be recognises as a condition and not a choice. References Currah, P., Juang, R.M. & Minter, S. (2006) Transgender rights, Minneapolis, Minn., University of Minnesota Press. Erickson-Schroth, L. & Boylan, J.F. (2014) Trans bodies, trans selves: a resource for the transgender community. Girshick, L.B. (2008) Transgender voices: beyond women and men, Hanover, University Press of New England. Groskop, V. (2008) Viv Groskop on children who believe they are transgender, The Guardian. Available at: . Melvin, L. (2013) Who am I? [S.l.], Dorrance Pub Co. Rowland, D. & Incrocci, L. (2008) Handbook of sexual and gender identity disorders, Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons. Shrage, L. (2009) "Youve changed" sex reassignment and personal identity, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Valentine, D. (2007) Imagining transgender: an ethnography of a category, Durham, Duke University Press. Read More