Is America a False Hope for Transexuals - Essay Example

We see that while doing this, the issue becomes very tricky indeed. It is unusual for one who hails from the continent of Asia to refer to him/herself as being "Asian," but rather to identify him or herself as Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, etc. Similarly, we are led to question if a transsexual does not prefer to be more specific about his or her identity as a transsexual. Go to Wikipedia, and you will be inundated with a huge variety of external links, each one catering to a very specific type of transsexual.

We see sections devoted to "trans men to women," "trans women to men," and "trans youth." In spite of the ridicule surrounding the phenomena of transsexuals, (and there is no question that this ridicule does in fact exist) we find many sophisticated medical journals either devoted to or featuring information on this topic, such as "The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders," "The Gender Trust - The UK Charity for the support of trans individuals, their friends & family, employers and professionals," " Definition and Synopsis of the Etiology of Adult Gender Identity Disorder and Transsexualism as published by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society.

" (Wikipedia, under the term "Transsexual.") In order to really see the issue of transsexuals, their place in our society and how the majority of Americans regard them, we need to first dispel certain myths about them. How do transexuals view themselves What do they have to say "A transsexual is a person in which the sex-related structures of the brain that define gender identity are exactly opposite the physical sex organs of the body. "Gender and Sex are very separate things, though the terms are often considered interchangeable by the less aware.

Sex is physical form and function while Gender is a component of identity. There can be considered to be some legitimate overlap in that the brain is structured in many sex-differentiated ways, and the brain is the seat of identity. "A transsexual person, born to all appearance within a given physical sex, is aware of being of a gender opposite to that physical sex. This conflict, between gender identity and physical sex, is almost always made manifest from earliest awareness, and is the cause of enormous suffering.

It is common for transsexuals to be aware of their condition at preschool ages." (http://www.transsexual.org/What.html) To further learn about the lives of transsexuals in America, we need to go to the source and take a glimpse at their situation and how they are treated by society. To really put things into perspective, it may help to start with the story of David Reamer. As an