Transgender

Prior to this presentation I did not know a lot about transgender. I now know that transgender means that an individual has a difference between their sex and gender meaning that their biological sex does not match up with their socially perceived set of characteristics. I never realized how much transgender people have to go through on a daily basis. These are things that cisgendered people, like myself, take for granted. There is a long list of privileges that cisgendered people have that we are unaware of; for instance, i do not have to worry about not being able to use a public restroom, being addressed with the wrong pronouns, or be afraid to go to the doctor in fear of discovery. In a previous blog I wrote about privileges I have because I am white and little did I know that I also have another list full of privileges for being cisgendered. This make me wonder about how many other ways I am unknowingly privileged.

During the presentation we explored different models of gender. One model is set up in a way that puts male and female in opposition to one another. Therefore, you can be masculine, feminine, or somewhere in between. This model does not work because it does not account for people that are high in masculine and feminine traits. Another model has the two as separate spectras which fixes the problem of the first model. This model, however, is still rather simple and binary. A new idea for a model accounted for attribution, identity, and expression. In this model, each category consists of 5 spaces that can be filled in as masculine, feminine, or neutral. Attribution describes what others view you as, identity is how you feel, and expression is how you choose to express your gender. Although this model allows for a very fluid explanation of gender, it might be too fluid. The model could be constantly changing in multiple aspects of a person's life. However, one way to use it is to observe patterns. I am not too sure about the attribution category though. If someone attributes the wrong gender to me and tells me, then that could hurt my feelings. I am not sure that this would necessarily change my identity and maybe not even my expression. Furthermore, if someone attributes me the wrong gender and I do not know about it, then it does not affect me at all.

I particularly enjoyed the part of the presentation in which a guest speaker, Andy, came in to talk to us. I have seen Andy around campus and prior to earlier this year I did not know that she was transgendered. Even when I learned that a couple weeks ago, I did not know what that entailed. A lot of people instantly assume Andy is a male that wears skirts and do not care to learn the truth. I am so glad that now I have an understanding of transgender because I want to be respectful of other people and their feelings. However, I also do not want to assume someone is transgendered by looking at them because that could be disrespectful as well. I guess the only way to be fair is to not assume anything at all and actually get to know people. This, however, I know would be extremely difficult to do. It is unreasonable to ask every person you meet about their gender considering a majority of people are cisgendered. So, although I cannot stop assuming gender all together, I am more aware and can be more respectful.