Danella Durieux
Analytic and Persuasive Writing
December 2007
Timed Writing
My topic was on the transgender lifestyle and what exactly it means to be transgendered. My purpose for Project 3 was and is to further educate people on transgenderism and demonstrate how although the world is comprised of much diversity we are all still very much the same. I used several ways to express my view on transgenderism as well as relay information about it that consisted of a blog, letters, and a fable. In addition, some additional sources that helped me mold Project 3 into a resourceful facet for transgenderism were my transgender friend, my teacher and various websites.
The blog that I created in Project 3 strives to reach out to others and create a sense of awareness in their mind and heart that everyone is different in some way, as well as the same, from someone else. On my blog I have my paper on transgenderism, letters to three transgender supportive organizations, my fable and various additions that try to enhance ones general knowledge on transgendered individuals. Some of these additions include a web link to the very hilarious Eddie Izzard, a comedian who enjoys dressing in drag (women’s clothing and make-up) and racking up laughs. I also put a picture of Caroline Cossey, a former Bond girl who is a transgender, so that anyone who read my paper or did not could see how hard it is to determine whether someone is transgendered or not, to prove that it does not really matter.
Three letters to organizations also appear on my blog, which were sent to commend the site creators on their effective way of clearly conveying information on transgendered individuals as well as posing a question of them about transgenderism that I had further thoughts about. These letters went to the American Psychological Association, Human Rights Campaign and Gender Crash. The fable was the other element of Project 3 where I created an activity for any of the middle school students to do. I instruct them to draw what they think a man and a woman look like, with five items or characteristics that they associate with each gender. After, the students should explain why they chose those items and then think of scenarios in which the opposite gender would have said characteristics or use those items. This activity should teach the students how diversity is based on an individual and not their gender.
Outside sources such as my transgendered friend, my teacher and other websites helped a lot to create Project 3. My transgendered friend inspired the whole project as well as provided me with general knowledge on the topic before I researched it. My teacher helped when I could not clearly express my ideas, to better focus my thoughts especially with my fable. As well, additional websites such as Gender Crash and the other organizations I mentioned gave me lots of information and showed me that there is support out their for transgendered individuals.
In conclusion, I used different elements in Project 3 to better convey transgenderism to everyone in addition to my paper, with the help of additional sources that enhanced the quality of the project.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Organization Letters
To Whom It May Concern:
I am currently a student at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fl and I came upon your website www.hrc.org when I was doing research for a paper about transgendered individuals. I want to commend you on your site which was extremely helpful and provided a lot of useful information about the discrimination transgendered people face. The extent to which people will go to for hate is unbelievable to me and I simply do not understand it.
Being surrounded by so much hatred towards others who are different, especially the gay community, I am interested to know what you think I can do as a college student to help change this. Helping others open their minds to accept all types of people is really something I would like to strive for so please get back to me with any suggestions you may have on how I could possibly accomplish this in any way small or large. Thank you for reading this, I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Nella D.
_____________________________________________________________
To Whom It May Concern:
I am currently a student at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fl and I came upon your website apa.org when I was doing research for a paper about transgendered individuals. It was very easy to locate the section I was interested in, understand quite clearly what was written and generally explore your site. Thus, I would like to commend you on your site which was extremely helpful and provided a lot of useful information about what exactly it is to be transgendered and clarified the true meanings of common terms associated with gender in general that I was previously unsure about.
I am curious to know more about the extent of discrimination towards the transgender community, and if you think it is becoming more tolerant today or less through out the whole U.S. and not just major cities. As well I was wondering if there were any studies done that show any difference between that of a transgendered person's brain verse a non-transgendered heterosexual person, or if their mind was any different from that of anyone else? Thank you for taking the time to read this, looking forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Nella D.
_____________________________________________________
To whom it may concern:
I am currently a student at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fl and I came upon your website gendercrash.com when I was doing research for a paper about transgendered individuals. I want to commend you on your site which was extremely helpful and provided a lot of useful information about what it is to be transgendered and clarified the true meanings of common terms associated with gender in general that I was previously unsure about. I had a friend who was transgendered, which was the source of my inspiration for the paper I wrote, and she was part of SoFUQT (South Florida United Queers and Trannies) so it was cool to see another gender queer community in another state. I also really like the idea of an open mic night where the gender queer topic would be openly acceptable and I think that that level of acceptance would provide a certain comforting vibe which is always good to have when expressing your emotions to a crowd of people.
I was curious to know if you knew about any term for someone who felt like both a girl and boy, because I remember someone mentioning that they felt like that but do not really know exactly if there is any term associated with it and have not been able to find out?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, looking forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Nella D.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Trans-Comedian
Although Eddie Izzard is not a MTF (male to female) he enjoys dressing in women's clothing and wearing make-up, and is also quite funny check it out!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY&feature=related
Monday, November 19, 2007
Transgender Websites
**Here are some sites that helped me write my paper and further my knowledge about the whole Transgender Lifestyle
American Psychological Association :
http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html
Gender Crash:
www.gendercrash.com
Human Rights Campaign:
www.hrc.org
American Psychological Association :
http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html
Gender Crash:
www.gendercrash.com
Human Rights Campaign:
www.hrc.org
Caroline Cossey
Caroline Cossey:In my Paper I mention Caroline Cossey, who is an MTF (male to female). She is one of the more well known transgendered individuals in the public eye. She is a former Bond Girl, model and actress who was outed by the press as a transgender, which temporarily put a halt her career.
Transgender Paper
Here is a paper I wrote about transgendered individuals. In it I go over some key terms associated with the transgender lifestyle, what a person would have to do to become transgendered and discrimination that a person would face because of being transgendered.
“I was born trapped in a body that didn't match the gender I am. I didn't know anything but discomfort and feeling out of place until I put a name to it, and decided to transition. After I had my first hormone injection, my first response was: "Ah! That's what I am supposed to feel like!" quoted by Unknown. Transgendered individuals not only have to deal with the normal obstacles that everyone else does, growing up, finding an identity, and simply living life, but also have to face who they really are, their families and the world. Imagine the toils on ones soul, living in a body that is not their own and trying to understand what will make it right, this is the struggle of a transgendered person. Transitioning from female to male, male to female is no easy, magical process either and involves emotional and physical hurdles. Hundreds of years ago, now and in the future transgendered people will strive for their true identity and place in the world, whether smiled or frowned upon, because that is who they are. Slowly, the transgendered community is becoming more and more accepted in society’s eyes but they still face discrimination from people and the law. With all the hate this world is filled with, war, oppression, massacres, and even seemingly meaningless banter, it is essential that everyone try to learn about and accept other’s differences. If people do not start trying to understand and support each other, we will crumble where we stand without anyone to lean on. The transgendered community is apart of the different lifestyles one should love and accept as any other and thus by learning more about them perhaps that love can grow.
The definitions of gender and sex have commonly been confused with one another and therefore have often been thoughtlessly misused. Although gender has been utilized to describe a person wholly as male or female, there is a distinction between gender and sex. According to the American Psychological Association, sex refers to the biological orientation of a person, their physical reproductive makeup which is male or female. Gender therefore is the actions, interactions and feelings one expresses either as boy/man or girl/woman. Usually male and boy/man attributes go together as female and girl/woman do, but this is not a pattern solidified in stone and so the term transgender was coined to represent another pattern. By these standards then, what is it to be transgendered? Transgendered most nearly means that a person is born a certain sex but does not act according to the gender that is generally identified with their sex. So not all transgendered people necessarily want to change sexes or live full time as another gender, but can choose to go about part-time as another gender. The realization that one is in fact transgendered can either happen at a young age or fairly older one, everyone has a different journey but some suffer from the diagnosed psychological disorder that is gender dysphoria. Virginia Prince explains dysphoria as, “in lay terms, I take it to refer to being uncomfortable, unhappy or dissatisfied with some condition.”(471) As a result, gender dysphoria is when a person feels distressed due to their gender and does not feel right in the body they are in. Transgendered people who suffer from this are generally transsexuals, usually seeking out SRS (sex reassignment surgery) to cure their gender dysphoric feelings. By learning the terminology used to describe the transgendered community one can attempt to take a step closer to understanding who they really are.
When a male decides they want to become a female and vice versa they undergo a series of procedures to get their desired end result, this period of time from one gender and sometimes sex to another is called “transitioning”. Essientially there are five main steps involved in transitioning which are, Questing, Gender Variant (showing mixed feelings about gender), Transitioning, Newly Transitioned, and Assimilated. According to Lynn Conway, “Roughly one in every 2000 people in the U.S., both male and female, now completes a social, hormonal and surgical gender transition sometime during their life. Even more people complete hormonal and social transitions without undergoing SRS…If perhaps 1/4 of all transitioners now attempt to transition during their high-school and college years, then a large state university of 20,000 students might have at least 4 to 8 transitioning or transitioned students at any one time.” The transitioning process is no easy thing and neither is paying for it. For male to female, transitioning costs a lot because of psychological therapy, hair removal, voice change, hormones, facial feminization surgery, vagino plasty and breast augmentation, similarly for female to male but with slightly different procedures. The main steps that are important for transitioning are as follows: self acceptance, coming out, when to transition, getting money for procedures, choosing and changing one’s name, voice alteration, hormones, other physical alterations, and living full time as one’s preferred gender. All of these steps are imperative to transitioning because they fully allow one to physically, mentally and socially change from one gender and/or sex to another. The transitioning process as a whole is usually very difficult due to emotional struggles, social acceptance, and cost, but simultaneously rewarding and life changing.
Living in the world today, although there is a higher tolerance for transgendered individuals then in the past, can be a very hard thing. Normal things such as applying for jobs, buying a house or getting married can be either very difficult to do or unattainable for some. The American Psychological Association states that, “Antidiscrimination laws in most U.S. cities and states do not protect transgender people from discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. …transgender people in most cities and states can be denied housing or employment, lose custody of their children, or have difficulty achieving legal recognition of their marriages, solely because they are transgender. Many transgender people are the targets of hate crimes.” Transgendered people are often targets for hate crimes, just because of who they are. The Human Rights Campaign states that by being transgendered, a person has a one in 12 chance of being murdered compared to the one in 18,000 chance that a non-transgendered person has. General discrimination that transgendered people face in everyday life is just as intolerable as hate crimes and more frequent. Caroline Cossey, famous model and bond girl of the 80’s, was "outed" by the tabloid “News of the World” right before her marriage, which temporarily put a stop to her modeling and acting career. Transgender discrimination today is still quite bad, and is one of the main reasons that stops transgendered people from openly expressing who they are, which no one should have to endure.
By educating others about the transgender lifestyle, perhaps they can open their eyes to see that transgendered people love, feel and are the same as everyone else, so society can learn to accept all forms of individuals. Being a transgender person is hard enough already without discrimination with accepting themselves, coming out to family and friends, going through transition, and living in a world that is not so tolerant. Terms that identify the transgender community are also important to distinguish such as gender and sex, because they are commonly confused. The transitioning process is complex both in the emotional and physical context. Discrimination today against transgendered people is still thriving and should not be tolerated in society. Everyone is different in some way and simply because one person’s differences are more obvious does not mean they should be subjected to greater or any discrimination.
“I was born trapped in a body that didn't match the gender I am. I didn't know anything but discomfort and feeling out of place until I put a name to it, and decided to transition. After I had my first hormone injection, my first response was: "Ah! That's what I am supposed to feel like!" quoted by Unknown. Transgendered individuals not only have to deal with the normal obstacles that everyone else does, growing up, finding an identity, and simply living life, but also have to face who they really are, their families and the world. Imagine the toils on ones soul, living in a body that is not their own and trying to understand what will make it right, this is the struggle of a transgendered person. Transitioning from female to male, male to female is no easy, magical process either and involves emotional and physical hurdles. Hundreds of years ago, now and in the future transgendered people will strive for their true identity and place in the world, whether smiled or frowned upon, because that is who they are. Slowly, the transgendered community is becoming more and more accepted in society’s eyes but they still face discrimination from people and the law. With all the hate this world is filled with, war, oppression, massacres, and even seemingly meaningless banter, it is essential that everyone try to learn about and accept other’s differences. If people do not start trying to understand and support each other, we will crumble where we stand without anyone to lean on. The transgendered community is apart of the different lifestyles one should love and accept as any other and thus by learning more about them perhaps that love can grow.
The definitions of gender and sex have commonly been confused with one another and therefore have often been thoughtlessly misused. Although gender has been utilized to describe a person wholly as male or female, there is a distinction between gender and sex. According to the American Psychological Association, sex refers to the biological orientation of a person, their physical reproductive makeup which is male or female. Gender therefore is the actions, interactions and feelings one expresses either as boy/man or girl/woman. Usually male and boy/man attributes go together as female and girl/woman do, but this is not a pattern solidified in stone and so the term transgender was coined to represent another pattern. By these standards then, what is it to be transgendered? Transgendered most nearly means that a person is born a certain sex but does not act according to the gender that is generally identified with their sex. So not all transgendered people necessarily want to change sexes or live full time as another gender, but can choose to go about part-time as another gender. The realization that one is in fact transgendered can either happen at a young age or fairly older one, everyone has a different journey but some suffer from the diagnosed psychological disorder that is gender dysphoria. Virginia Prince explains dysphoria as, “in lay terms, I take it to refer to being uncomfortable, unhappy or dissatisfied with some condition.”(471) As a result, gender dysphoria is when a person feels distressed due to their gender and does not feel right in the body they are in. Transgendered people who suffer from this are generally transsexuals, usually seeking out SRS (sex reassignment surgery) to cure their gender dysphoric feelings. By learning the terminology used to describe the transgendered community one can attempt to take a step closer to understanding who they really are.
When a male decides they want to become a female and vice versa they undergo a series of procedures to get their desired end result, this period of time from one gender and sometimes sex to another is called “transitioning”. Essientially there are five main steps involved in transitioning which are, Questing, Gender Variant (showing mixed feelings about gender), Transitioning, Newly Transitioned, and Assimilated. According to Lynn Conway, “Roughly one in every 2000 people in the U.S., both male and female, now completes a social, hormonal and surgical gender transition sometime during their life. Even more people complete hormonal and social transitions without undergoing SRS…If perhaps 1/4 of all transitioners now attempt to transition during their high-school and college years, then a large state university of 20,000 students might have at least 4 to 8 transitioning or transitioned students at any one time.” The transitioning process is no easy thing and neither is paying for it. For male to female, transitioning costs a lot because of psychological therapy, hair removal, voice change, hormones, facial feminization surgery, vagino plasty and breast augmentation, similarly for female to male but with slightly different procedures. The main steps that are important for transitioning are as follows: self acceptance, coming out, when to transition, getting money for procedures, choosing and changing one’s name, voice alteration, hormones, other physical alterations, and living full time as one’s preferred gender. All of these steps are imperative to transitioning because they fully allow one to physically, mentally and socially change from one gender and/or sex to another. The transitioning process as a whole is usually very difficult due to emotional struggles, social acceptance, and cost, but simultaneously rewarding and life changing.
Living in the world today, although there is a higher tolerance for transgendered individuals then in the past, can be a very hard thing. Normal things such as applying for jobs, buying a house or getting married can be either very difficult to do or unattainable for some. The American Psychological Association states that, “Antidiscrimination laws in most U.S. cities and states do not protect transgender people from discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. …transgender people in most cities and states can be denied housing or employment, lose custody of their children, or have difficulty achieving legal recognition of their marriages, solely because they are transgender. Many transgender people are the targets of hate crimes.” Transgendered people are often targets for hate crimes, just because of who they are. The Human Rights Campaign states that by being transgendered, a person has a one in 12 chance of being murdered compared to the one in 18,000 chance that a non-transgendered person has. General discrimination that transgendered people face in everyday life is just as intolerable as hate crimes and more frequent. Caroline Cossey, famous model and bond girl of the 80’s, was "outed" by the tabloid “News of the World” right before her marriage, which temporarily put a stop to her modeling and acting career. Transgender discrimination today is still quite bad, and is one of the main reasons that stops transgendered people from openly expressing who they are, which no one should have to endure.
By educating others about the transgender lifestyle, perhaps they can open their eyes to see that transgendered people love, feel and are the same as everyone else, so society can learn to accept all forms of individuals. Being a transgender person is hard enough already without discrimination with accepting themselves, coming out to family and friends, going through transition, and living in a world that is not so tolerant. Terms that identify the transgender community are also important to distinguish such as gender and sex, because they are commonly confused. The transitioning process is complex both in the emotional and physical context. Discrimination today against transgendered people is still thriving and should not be tolerated in society. Everyone is different in some way and simply because one person’s differences are more obvious does not mean they should be subjected to greater or any discrimination.
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