Perceptions of Transgender in a White Society
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Perceptions of Transgender in a White Society
In the United States, white males perception of the idea of biology has greatly influenced male and female identities sexually constructing the terms sex, race, and gender. In the United States those who do not fall in the sexual gender binaries female and male are considered abnormal. In this paper, I will demonstrate how the US society leads us to believe that transgender is an abnormality and why it is not relevant today. The reading “Queering the Women Question” by Susan Stryker mentions how people identify as transgender in society so why do we continue to use male and female binaries? Emily Martin disagrees that men are superior to women and Carole Vance disagrees with the male and female binaries and I agree with their words.
Transgender does not fit neatly into the male and female binaries in United States society. The US society has implemented and taught that heterosexuality is the only normal way. Social media such as television, magazines, radio and even music promotes heterosexuality. From childhood, children grow up in these binaries that are displayed as objective and that nothing else can exist in between male and female gender identities. Feeling abnormal and out of place transgender “including lesbian and gay are built on imagining, imagining that things could be different,” (Vance: 35) a life lived unlike heterosexuals. Transgender face hatred and marginalization because of the way they dress walk or even talk. Normal day to day activities is excruciating for a transgender to complete. Ironically, gender identities have evolved over time supporting evolving ideas and superiority of the white man behind science. In an evolving and resilient world it is hard to believe transgender is painful to accept in the United States society.
In the US society, gender has been divided into male and female categories that have shaped the way people in the US society perceive others that do not look normal, however, gender and gender roles have constantly changed throughout the years contradicting that gender is objective. In ancient Greek times, a one sex model existed. Women were said to be deformed males and that ovaries were actually penises that were inside instead of outside. As years passed, the idea of one sex model was replaced with the two sex model. Women were believed to be inferior to men and that their sexes were even categorized with masculine and feminine characteristics. Women are said to be emotional and need a man to care for them because they are too irrational. This transition from a one sex model to two sex model is evidence that gender identities change throughout time and that the idea of science is not objective. Nothing revolving around gender identities is objective because gender naming and identity is subject to change. Transgender fits into the change I am supporting and the use of the term transgender in US society is still fairly new and considered deformed because of the lack of usage of male and female gender terms. ¬
In a world of millions and millions of people how can two terms possibly categorize the many different types of people that have walked on this Earth? Two terms cannot possibly encompass the vast majority of the world but only a certain percentage: the dominant white people, the ones who created the gender identities male and female. Transgender is a new way of gender identity that the United States society is having a hard time accepting. Transgender is one of the identities that does not fit in the umbrella terms male and female and it is an identity that needs patience because they face extreme degrading comments from others and are thought of as abnormal. The abnormality connected with transgender is irrelevant today due to an ever changing society. The United States is a state made up of such diversity and backgrounds, therefore, only two terms to describe gender identity is insufficient. This can be compared to the male body in spermatogenesis, “Perhaps the most amazing characteristics of spermatogenesis is its sheer magnitude: the normal human male may manufacture several hundred million sperm per day.” (Martin: 27) Many identities need to be considered in order to include the millions of people that exist in the United States. Transgender is not an abnormality rather a new way to think about people and how they can contribute to our US society.
The affects of a two sex model in United States society is present today with segregated bathrooms, the idea that men wear pants and women should wear dresses, and women are still thought to be inferior to men, types of clothing for the way you identify yourself, shoes, and every other aspect of our life. Transgender do not feel comfortable utilizing these segregated public bathrooms due to the fear of harassment and possibly rape. Our society is so naïve to judge others by our differences rather than our similarities that they are willing to hurt another persons body because they thought it was right. Transgender is made up of people and everyone deserves to express their rights freely in the US society without being shunned and marginalized. People are stubborn and ignorant to accept transgender because science proves the idea of a two sex model but science did not always support this model. Science changed with the change of perspective of the white superior male doctors. In “The Egg And The Sperm” by Emily Martin, a womens menstruation is described as “making products of no use, not to