Being born a boy or girl and letting life move on has changed as people consider being either gender irrespective of the sex at their birth. Transgender revolution is here to stay as people change their sex based on what they consider to be their most appropriate gender. Through a comprehensive review and analysis of different studies and literature, one realizes that concept of gender has transformed (Wanta & Unger, 2017). These sources demonstrate that a transgender revolution is taking place, and offer incisive account of the biological and socio-cultural perspectives of the issues faced by transgender individual and general public perception about the topic. These issues and perceptions form the basis of this essay.
In their review of literature on transgender, Jonathan Wanta and Cecile Unger (2017) posit that the debate on transgender is at its tipping point and has resulted into social and health issues that challenge the American culture. The research concludes that significant knowledge gaps exist in American culture on how to treat these individuals due to limited medical research. The article demonstrates that transgender people face several health and social issues that society has yet to find viable solutions in addressing them. Transgender individuals are more likely to be poor, unemployed and suicidal (Wanta & Unger, 2017). Further, mental health experts, including modern psychiatric professionals struggle to deal and view these people. For a majority of the transgender people, labels are offending since they view gender as a spectrum and not based on two options of either male or female (Armstrong, 2015). These individuals battle identity, inclusion, tolerance, and acceptance in society. Further, many of the transgender individuals suffer from emotional distress associated with depression, prejudice, anxiety, discrimination and other forms of social stigmatization.
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Many individuals who have changed their gender attribute it to a variety of reasons, right from socio-cultural to biological. Biological explanation for the situation state that people feel as either male or female irrespective of their gender at birth because chromosomes may fail to align themselves as expected due to complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). Under this situation, an XY embryo’s cells respond at minimum to the signals of male hormones. In such as case, a baby is born female with reproductive organs and will grow up feeling that she is a girl yet he is a boy (Henig, 2017). In attempts to change to their appropriate gender, such individuals face social exclusion, discrimination and depression among other issues.
Issues faced by Transgender Individuals
Brian Rood and colleagues (2016) state that transgender individuals are targets of external or enacted episodes of stigma, violence, and discrimination. These experiences are associated with adverse health, especially psychological distress. As noted in the case issues in the documentary, three out of four transgender individuals deal with social, economic, and cultural challenges due to the inability of society to embrace, include, and tolerate their gender choices. For instance, Tonye who lives in Florida changed his sex from female to male and has a family. He claims that ever since he was young he always felt that he was a boy. Immediately after transforming his gender, Tonye faced social scrutiny about his sex. The implication is that transgender individuals face social scrutiny over a personal decision made in light of the biological realities.
Transgender individuals like Nancy, previously Jack, have experienced discrimination at their workplace and depression for changing their sex because society does not embrace, tolerate, or understand them. Nancy did not have sex reassignment though had hormone treatment. Nancy has been weary of cross dressing and is ashamed of her gender transformation. The implication of this case is that transgender people face anxiety and depression even when they learn to take on the roles and behaviors of their new gender. In her study Beth Hoffman (2014) states that transgender women have higher rates of depression than in the general population. Through a review of literature on depression among these women, Hoffman identifies several variables that influence depression. These variables include lack of social support, gender identity and work among others. Therefore, to address depression among transgender women, people must consider the transitional stress and stage, and the significance of supporting families, friends, and peers. The findings from Hoffman (2014) mirror what Stephanie Budge and colleagues (2013) suggested in their studies on anxiety and depression among transgender people. The authors state that practitioners need to understand the roles played by the transition period, social support, loss of previous gender, and how to cope with the new changes, especially in relation to role play.
In addition to the stressors that transgender people get, they also have to face huge medical costs to carry out their transformation. The case of Terry in the documentary illustrates how medical costs limit access to health care for individuals who feel that they need to transition from one gender to another. The sex reassignment surgery cost Terry $30,000 and no insurance covers are available for this kind of surgeries. The cost of these essential surgeries are comparable to the cost of cancer, a lifestyle condition that may not be a must in some cases or diagnoses yet removal of sex organs and reassignments should be regarded as a must. Further, those who undergo these procedures, for instance Terry, do not want people to know since they will feel ashamed because society is yet to embrace and accept their sexual decisions.
Transgender revolution is expanding and becoming more prevalent in society, right from developing nations like Samoa to developed countries like the United States. Imperatively, society must begin to consider these issues and how they can address them because transgender individuals continue to grow and perception about gender continues to change in the general population with showing of such documentaries.
References
Armstrong, K.J. (2015, July 29) TV’s Transgender Revolution. Accessed from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150729-tvs-transgender-revolution
Budge, S.L., Adelson, J.L. & Howard, K.A.S. (2013) Anxiety and Depression in Transgender Individuals: The Roles of Transition Status, Loss, Social Support, and Coping. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , Vol.81, No.3, pp.545-557, Accessed from http://people.stfx.ca/x2009/x2009lgo/Depression%201.pdf
Henig, R.M. (2017) How Science Is Helping Us Understand Gender. Accessed from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/01/how-science-helps-us-understand-gender-identity/
Hoffman, B. (2014) An Overview of Depression among Transgender Women. Depression Research and Treatment , Vol.2014, Accessed from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/2014/394283/
Rood B. A., Reisner, S. L., Surace, F. I., Puckett, J. A., Maroney, M. R., and Pantalone, D. W. (2016) Expecting Rejection: Understanding the Minority Stress Experiences of Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Individuals . Transgender Health . August 2016, Vol.1, No.1, pp: 151-164. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2016.0012
Wanta, J.W. & Unger, C.A. (2017) Review of the Transgender Literature: Where Do We Go from Here? Transgender Health, vol.2, No.1 (2017) pp: 119-128. Accessed from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/trgh.2017.0004
