In the recent past, the United States has been holding discussions regarding transgender rights. Under the Obama administration, the nation actually made some strides in protecting these rights. For instance, the administration introduced a policy that required schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice. While this policy triggered intense debate, it represents the nation’s desire to ensure that all citizens are treated equally. It should be understood that while the progress that the nation is making is encouraging, transgender individuals continue to face a myriad of challenges. Transgender children bear the brunt of these challenges. The PBS documentary Growing up Trans offers audiences an in-depth look at the struggles of these children. The key take-away from the documentary is that societal notions of gender serve as a trap for transgender children before and after they transition.
Societal notions and definitions of gender and roles appear to have a significant impact on the experiences of transgender children. As stated above, this is the main message that Growing up Trans conveys. The documentary presents the experiences of children who find that their understanding of gender is in conflict with societal standards. For instance, all the children in the documentary lament that how they felt about their bodies violates established standards. The girls felt that they were not feminine enough while the boys believed that their displays of masculinity feel below the threshold set by their societies. These experiences echo the views of Messner and Sabo (1990) who castigated society for imposing ideals and standards on individuals. For instance, Messner and Sabo (1990) observed that in such fields as sport, masculinity is cherished. Athletes are expected to be aggressive and pursue victory at all costs. Messner and Sabo (1990) add that the immense focus on masculinity has seen sport lose its association with compassion and courtesy. Instead, it has become an arena for the display of ruthlessness. Similarly, how society defines gender has condemned children struggling with gender dysphoria to an existence defined by anguish and confusion. For instance, one of the children in the documentary describes feeling trapped in the body of a girl. His experiences reflect the damage that occurs when children are forced to abide by arbitrary and harmful gender standards that society establishes. There is yet another child who shares about her hardships with school. She opted for isolation out of fear that it would be discovered that she is transgender. The great lengths that the transgender children are forced to go to either hide their true identities or conform to society’s demands highlights the need for society to rethink its approach to gender.
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One would expect that after transitioning, transgender children would be better placed to comply with society’s demands and expectations. Unfortunately, as the documentary makes clear, this is not the case. Even following their transition, the children continue to struggle in their efforts to fit and conform. For instance, there is a transgender male who embraces sport and another who turns to boxing as part of their efforts to fit the male ideal. While their efforts are enviable and point to their desperate desire to conform, the experiences of these children highlight the damage that society causes. As Messner and Sabo (1990) note in their text, the obsession with manliness has stripped sport of his essence. They state that previously, sport created opportunities for social interactions. This is no longer the case. As mentioned earlier, sport has become a tool for men to exhibit ruthlessness at the expense of real and fulfilling social relationships. The same can be said about how society approaches gender. In addition to compounding the problems of transgender children before they undergo the transition process, societal standards ruin their lives post-transition. There is no question that society needs to relax its standards and allow individuals to be truthful and genuine in expressing their identities.
A further exploration of the Growing up Trans documentary reveals that trans children are forced to edit themselves to find acceptance among their peers and within their communities. For example, a transgender girl shares that she wears three sports bras. The purpose of these bras is to appear more female and gain acceptance and approval from other girls. This girl’s life confirms the assertions that Goffman (1959). According to Goffman (1959), all individuals are in a never-ending campaign to appeal to others. As part of this campaign, the individuals present an image that they feel that others will find acceptable. When they wear sports bras, play sports and engage in behaviors that society associates with particular genders, the transgender children in the documentary are essentially engaged in identity editing. It is indeed unfortunate that they are part of a society that only accepts those who adopt its ideals and standards. The documentary makes clear that the editing process is unsustainable. The transgender children admit that they must reveal their true identities at some point. For instance, a transgender girl opens up about how she had to come out to her parents after years of living in shame, isolation and secret. The relief that she feels after revealing that she identifies as a girl shows that to experience freedom, individuals should be bold enough to reject society’s standards. Furthermore, individuals struggling to conform should understand that trying to appease and appeal to others delivers frustration and disappointment. Therefore, the documentary is a powerful tool that can guide others who are battling to hold on to their identities in societies which demand total conformity.
To fully understand the documentary, it is helpful to consider how the transgender children perceive themselves. As already noted, all these children struggle to accept themselves. Instead, they appear to be more concerned how they appear in the eyes of others. According to Cooley (1902), individuals tend to be anxious about how others perceive them. They obsess over their position in society and whether they are accepted. Such are the experiences of the transgender children. While some of the children simply wish to align their bodies with their gender identities, most of them only want to appear in ways that enhance their likability and acceptability. It is for this reason that some of them train their voice to sound more masculine while others alter how they walk. Some of these children are actually considering undergoing surgery and hormone replacement therapy. By undertaking these drastic measures, the children are essentially demonstrating their desperation to be accepted. The discomfort and unimaginable pain that they experience is the direct result of American society imposing its vision of how girls and boys should appear and behave.
To be complete, the analysis of the documentary should consider the role that parents play in the experiences of the transgender children. Most of the parents are immensely supportive and accepting. For example, there are parents who accompany the transgender children to medical centers where they receive advice regarding the transition process. Other parents move the children to different schools to help them cope with their gender dysphoria and transition. On the other hand are parents who find the desire by their children to adopt different genders to be confusing, wrong and unacceptable. All of these parents are driven by genuine concern and a desire to protect their children. However, it is difficult to ignore the fact that their behavior is an extension of society’s influence. According to Messner and Sabo (1990), the family is among the tools that society relies on to perpetuate its values, standards and ideals. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the parents opposed to their children transitioning are simply a reflection of how society regards deviants. Messner and Sabo (1990) also note that the family can serve as an essential resource for transforming societal values. By defying societal norms and expectations, families can establish new dispensations and systems. The parents who accept and support their transgender children help to show that families can become effective agents of change.
The ill effects of the standards that society pressures individuals to adopt can be seen in the poor mental health of some of the transgender children portrayed in the documentary. For example, one of the children confesses that he struggles with depression. The symptoms of this condition are so debilitating that the medication that this child takes offers little relief. The child’s depression can be blamed on his inability to match the behavior and appearance of others. While he identifies as a boy, his anatomy is that of a girl. This boy’s experiences are essentially a manifestation of the claims that Cooley (1902) presents in his text. According to Cooley, individuals are constantly comparing themselves with others. The results of this comparison influence how the individual feels. The boy in the documentary is depressed because he is unlike other males. The pain and sense of loneliness that this boy endures should remind society that its rigid and strictly-enforced standards are harmful and should therefore be relaxed. In particular, there is a need for society to abandon outdated and dangerous social norms about gender and roles.
The interactions that the transgender children have with their friends help to shed further light on the far-reaching influence of society’s standards. Most of their friends are refreshingly and encouragingly supportive. However, even these friends admit that there are many moments when they struggle to accept their identities. For example, the documentary shows a friend who tells one of the transgender children that he struggled to call him by his new name. Goffman (1959) would feel vindicated if he were to hear these children. He argues that it is nearly impossible to shield oneself from the demands of society. Basically, Goffman (1959) suggests that society’s influence is so strong that virtually no aspect of human life has escaped its effects. It can be argued that the friends of the transgender children are unable to fully accept their identities because their minds, values and ideas regarding gender have been shaped by society. If these children embrace society’s ideas, the transgender children will lack the support and acceptance that they desperately crave. Therefore, in order to help members of communities which have historically been marginalized and rejected, society needs to re-examine its position on such issues as the roles that boys and girls should perform.
In conclusion, the Growing up Trans documentary is profoundly impactful. This documentary challenges audiences to reflect on their own biases and perspectives regarding gender and sexuality. More importantly, the documentary spotlights society’s failures. It shows that transgender children are growing up in societies that refuse to accept and accommodate them. Fortunately, the US is moving away from traditional notions of gender and creating safe spaces for the transgender children to thrive. For this progress to be sustained, parents, communities, the business community and even the government needs to listen keenly to the concerns of transgender children and other marginalized populations.
References
Cooley, C. H. (1902). The looking-glass self. In Human nature and the social order . New York: Scribner.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Hamburg: Anchor.
Messner, M. A., & Sabo, D. F. (Eds.). (1990). Sport, men, and the gender order. Critical feminist perspectives. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books.
