What+is+gender?

Melissa Blair - n8590231 Tutor: Jey Rodgers



__Artefact__ The first artefact demonstrates what gender really is and also what it can be perceived to be and often mistaken as. The second picture portrays the overall definition of gender with regards to in our minds, in our hearts and anatomically what we are born with.

__Public Health Issue__ I think by reading the paragraph above it is quite clear as to what topic I am depicting. In case you didn't catch it the topic is..... gender identity. By definition, ""Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women" (World Health Organisation, 2012). This definition is wrong. It should be "gender is whatever or whoever we want to be, without caring about public portrayals or criticism". Gender surrounds us all, and for some it haunts them. When first born, notions such as, ‘blue is for boys and pink is for girls’ are bombarded to us. However later in life, everyone identifies with who they really are, and for some, who they’ve always wanted to be. Identifying as a particular gender and addressing the stereotypical norm is a struggle for a lot of people. Being transgender in today’s society makes easy things like filling out a job application hard; things that are meant to be exciting end up being terrifying.

__Literature Review__ "Gender identity disorder is a conflict between a person's physical gender and the gender he or she identifies as" (PubMed Health, 2012). There are a lot of reasons as to why people become transgender, or change their gender completely, but when they do they begin to change the way they act:

"- Children:


 * Are disgusted by their own genitals
 * Are rejected by their peers, feel alone
 * Believe that they will grow up to become the opposite sex
 * Have depression or anxiety
 * Say that they want to be the opposite sex

- Adults:


 * Dress like the opposite sex
 * Feel alone
 * Have depression or anxiety
 * Want to live as a person of the opposite sex
 * Wish to be rid of their own genitals

- Either adults or children:


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Cross-dress, show habits typical of the opposite sex
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Withdraw from social interaction" (PubMed Health, 2012)

Once this occurs, some people who remain cisgender target them because they act different than what is supposed to be the typical norm. Transgender school yard bullying has resulted in "55% of transgender youth reporting being physically attacked, 74% of transgender youth reporting being sexually harassed at school and 78% being verbally harassed" (Drag it out, 2011).

These large numbers have resulted in "Ninety percent of t<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ransgender youth reporting feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression" (Drag it out, 2011), and they are "five times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe"(Abuse bites but true love heals, 2012). "Forty eight percent have even reported being victims of assault, including assault with a weapon, sex assault or rape (Drag it out, 2011)."

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These statistics are extremely horrible, however the shocking reality is that "suicide attempt rates rise dramatically when teachers were the reported perpetrators: 59 percent for those harassed or bullied by teachers, 76 percent among those who were physically assaulted by teachers and 69 percent among those who were sexually assaulted by teachers" (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation, 2010).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other findings include: >.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Thirty-five percent of the participants who had been bullied, harassed, assaulted or expelled because of their gender identity or expression while in school said that they used drugs or alcohol to cope with the effects of discrimination, compared to 21 percent of those who had not had similar experiences in school.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Twenty-five percent reported that they were currently or formerly homeless, compared to 14 percent of those who did not report mistreatment in schools.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Those who reported they had to “leave school because the harassment was so bad,” had an HIV infection rate of more than 5 percent, which is more than eight times the HIV infection rate for the general U.S. population"(National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation, 2010)

__Cultural and Socia<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">l Analysis __

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gender surrounds us all. From the moment we are born and up until the moment we die, the expectations of becoming cisgender are overwhelming. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"What society expects of men, women, boys, and girls also affects what we feel about ourselves. Every culture has "rules" about what is expected for men and what is expected for women. These expectations can include things like hairstyles, clothing, and jobs — and how people should act or behave" (Kidshealth, 2011). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are many influences that contribute to the gender one becomes. Culture, peers, media, community, family and religion are only a fraction of the influential factors that help shape our identity. The notion males are masculine females are feminine has made it difficult for the transgender community to live.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">However on a good note, "reports of anti LGBTQH ( lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, homosexual) hate violence decreased by 16%" (National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 2011). This hate will not entirely disappear until the notion of how boys and girls should be is eliminated, and who knows how long that will take...

__Artefact Analysis and Learning Reflection__ As you can see above, the pictures really speak for themselves in what they represent. Gender is .... a spectrum, a range of expression, how you relate to yourself, a personal identity.... it's basically whatever you want it to be and what you want yourself to be to portrayed as. However, for some reason, people often think that gender is simply just male or female (which is actually the sex), the definition of what body part they were born with, sexual orientation (straight, gay, bisexual) or determined by chromosomes. But tell me this, soccer is perceived to be a male's sport, if you were a female would you stop playing it because of this reason? I doubt it. So this basically proves that it matters more about what you want inside then what others want you to want. Sexual orientation displayed on this second picture is what you feel in your heart (explaining why the arrow is pointing to the heart), whether it be lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, asexual or queer. Where as sex,depends on your genitals (explaining why the arrow is pointing to the genitals), whether it be female, male, or intersex. Gender identity is what you think of yourself (girl/woman, boy/man or transgender). Sexual behaviours are obviously the ways in which you behave and display both in public and in private (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or cellbate). Lastly, gender roles; they can be very tormenting throughout a person's life. Gender roles such as feminine or masculine, are 'supposed to be' girls are feminine while boys are masculine. If a boy seems feminine he is weird or gay, if a girl seems masculine she is weird or lesbian, it's an awful way to portray a person.

References

A.D.A.M Medical Encyclopedia, Gender identity disorder: Transsexualism; Transgender, 2012 Retrieved from: []

Transgender People, KidsHealth, 2012, Retrieved from: []

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV - affected Communities, 2011, Retrieved from: []

Transgender Youth Statistics, Drag it out, 2011, Retrieved from: []

Abuse and Bullying Kills, Child Abuse, Abuse Hurts but True Love Heals, 2012, Retrieved from: []

Study: high rates of bullying, suicide attempts among transgender and gender non-conforming people, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation, 2010, Retrieved from: []

Reflections

"Say no to drugs, say yes to life" - http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/+%E2%80%9CSay+No+to+Drugs%2C+Say+Yes+to+Life%E2%80%9D

"'Rip & Rolled' Practicing Safe Sex" - http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/%27Rip+%26+Rolled%27+Practicing+Safe+Sex