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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781942733836 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Mystic Productions Press |
| Publication date: | 05/01/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 236 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Traversing Gender
Understanding Transgender Realities
By Lee Harrington
Mystic Productions Press
Copyright © 2016 Lee Harrington and Mystic Productions PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-942733-83-6
CHAPTER 1
Sex, Gender, and Orientation
Sex, gender, orientation, sexual behavior, intimacy, relationships ...
People sometimes assume that these things line up in a specific way. However, each of these are different and distinct concepts, and this is very important if we plan to understand transgender experiences. One way to break it down is as follows:
• Sex is the body we have
• Assigned gender is what we were told we were at birth
• Gendered behaviors are the actions we engage in
• Gender expression is how we communicate our gender
• Perceived gender is how other people see us
• Legal gender is what the government says we are
• Gender identity is how we see ourselves
• Orientation is who we are attracted to
• Sexual behavior is what we do with our bodies
Not every culture around the world categorizes these things in the same way, but this gives us a basic place to start the dialogue for the context of this book. So let's buckle in and look at these individual concepts to help us see where a lot of misunderstandings around transgender come from.
Sex
The concept of sex is based around the body we were born with. It is based on our biology. Sex is broken down into a few major categories: chromosomes; primary sex traits; and secondary sex traits.
Chromosomes
In school, many people are taught that there are only two chromosomal types: XX and XY. Girls are assumed to be XX, and boys are assumed to be XY. But there are a wide diversity of other chromosomal variances and intersex conditions.
Intersex conditions happen in one child out of 2000. Most children are XX or XY, but others are XXY, X0 or XX0. A child might have a mixture of two fertilized eggs, have a Mosaicism (patchwork of cells), or have a diversity of chromosomes within a single body. People who were assigned female at birth might be XY, while people who were assigned male at birth might be XX.
Very few people ever have the opportunity to have, or know it is possible to have, their chromosomes tested. Most people don't know if their gender matches their chromosomes. Many of us are making assumptions about our bodies that might be challenged if we had access to all the information.
Primary Sex Traits
Primary sex traits include not just the chromosomes, but the gonads, anatomy of the internal genitalia, and the anatomy of the external genitalia. Early on in the development of a fetus, all genitals begin with a similar structure – if not in function. Gonads, such as ovaries or testes, are responsible for holding and producing the eggs and sperm for producing future offspring. Female individuals have ovaries and males have testes; girls have vaginas and clitorises, and boys have penises and scrotums. For most XX and XY individuals, this specific type gonad to body configuration applies, but there are exceptions.
There are people who believe that females have estrogen and males have testosterone. This is not entirely accurate as everyone has estrogen and testosterone in their systems. Females traditionally have more estrogen while males have more testosterone, but variances in levels of productions for those hormones occur all the time.
Just as chromosomes are not as binary as they seem, neither are genitals. Everyone is different! This is sometimes due to birth differences, including phallus size, scrotum length, the degree to which the clitoris is exposed or the length and color of someone's labia. Other differences are from medical operations, such as a person who has had a hysterectomy (uterus removal, sometimes with ovary or cervix removal) or having the testes removed. It may also be due to culturally imposed standards, such as foreskin removal (circumcision) or clitoral nullification (female genital mutilation).
Secondary Sex Traits
Appearing usually at puberty, secondary sex traits are the body characteristics including breasts, body hair, menstrual cycles, fat distribution, and overall height. It is through these secondary sex traits and the cultural cues (such as the color a person wears, hairstyles, or scents worn) that we figure out whether someone is a man or a woman when we see them on the street.
Just like shape and size of genitals, the diversity of secondary sex trait distribution varies wildly; not just by person, but by family, nationality or ethnic background. The belief that only men having large upper bodies and shoulder girdles creates a story that some women of Polynesian or African descent are "manly," or that only women have little body hair infers that various Asian men are somehow "girly." Women with facial hair get painted as less feminine, while men with mammary tissue get harassed for their body realities.
Secondary sex traits have certain patterns, but are not as all- inclusive or homogenous as depicted by mass-media. At different points in history specific physical displays of femininity and masculinity have been praised. Cultural standards vary as well, from the flat-chested flapper-girls of 1920s to Rubens' 1600s voluptuous ladies, lithe J-pop singers to curvaceous Nigerian fashionistas.
Intersex Conditions
An intersex person is born with the sexual anatomy, reproductive organs, or chromosome patterns that do not fit the typical definition of male or female. Being intersex is not about sexual orientation or gender identity. It was sometimes referred to in historical contexts as being a hermaphrodite when a child had traits of both expected sexes, but this term is nowadays considered inappropriate and even offensive to many – but not everyone. Intersex circles and activists point out that it is inaccurate, and refers to a story within Greek mythology.
In the case of some intersex children, there is a hesitation by medical professionals in determining whether male or female should be assigned, based on the presentation of their genitals. For 1 in 20,000, this ambiguity leads to a drawn out process. This sometimes causes discomfort for both parents and medical professionals, due to a desire to have an expression of binary gender, as well as confusion for administrators who are not able to issue birth certificates until a gender is assigned.
With only male and female available as markers on birth certificates in the United States, it can alienate these children whose body do not match with the expectations of those assigned sexes. Over the years there have been many doctors who have attempted to "disambiguate" babies with ambiguous genitals, forcing them into one expected gender or another through operations. There has been a push to develop the rights for intersex children to stop unnecessary surgeries, with some countries having already passed laws on the matter.
Intersex traits manifest at many different times during a person's life, such as during puberty, with the development of secondary sex traits. Boys grow breasts, and women develop extensive body hair. Other intersex conditions are only discovered when someone is trying to reproduce. They have different internal gonads than expected or variations in hormone levels and fertility.
* * *
Before we even examine gender, we see that sex itself is not as simple and binary as most have been taught to believe. People have argued that "biological sex" is something that makes a man a man, and a woman a woman. This is flawed logic, as it states that women have breasts (not all women do, and some men do), men have more body hair, and other gender fallacies. Arguments like "women have the ability to give birth" marginalizes women who are infertile while simultaneously harming intersex and trans people.
Assigned Gender
The gender you are given at birth based on biological sex is called an assigned gender. It is done at the doctor's best guess, determined by visible expressions of sex traits rather than internal configurations. This assignment can also take place before birth when a doctor or nurse says "you're going to have a boy" while looking at a sonogram. This confuses parents when they were told it would be a boy based on that guess, but they are handed a girl upon birth.
When a parent has been told "it's a boy" or "it's a girl," the difference of projection on that child happens almost immediately. Their room gets decorated differently, their clothes are different (or purchased anew if they were "wrong"), and whispers at night will tell the child of their parents' expectations for them. There are religious groups and communities where assignment affects what medical procedures are done to the child, from modifying their genitals to having their ears pierced.
Most often, assigned gender aligns with gender of rearing within a culture, though situations of "boys raised as girls" and "girls raised as boys" do exist. With only two expected genders of rearing, it makes things challenging for children who experience themselves as a mix of genders, don't experience themselves emotionally as boys or girls, or for parents who try to raise their children in a place beyond gender expectations. In recent years, there have been parents exploring non-gendered child rearing, and trans and gender nonconforming parents have become more public about their own experiences. Even dialogues around whether toys should be labeled as "boys' toys" and "girls' toys" have been part of an active dialogue in modern culture. In and of themselves, a doll is a doll and a truck is a truck. They do not inherently have a gender beyond the expectations of specifically societallygendered behavior expectations.
Gendered Behaviors
Also known as gender roles and gender stereotypes, gendered behaviors are the assumptions attached to various actions a person takes. These behaviors include, but are not limited to:
• What people wear
• What careers someone has
• Who does the housework
• Who makes decisions in the home or at the office
• Types of schooling a person pursues
• Who rears children
• Communication styles
• Mannerisms
• Courtship and sexual styles
• Hobbies a person has
• Toys a child plays with
• Colors to like
• Who to be friends with
• Games that can be played
• How emotions are expressed
All of these are based on a cultural or sub-cultural context. The social construct of each culture dictates these details, learning them from our family, neighbors, media, schooling, religion and peers. It is picked up through what we see, what we are told, behaviors modeled, and how people respond to what we are doing. We see parents telling children to "man up," "be a good girl," or "I'd rather die than see my daughter do something like that." Television even depicts women who gain popularity through sexualizing their body, or boys getting power through force.
Children mirror what they see – often unconsciously. This means that children enforce the gendered behaviors they have seen, learned, or been taught, in extreme ways. Children become cruel enforcers of any gender norms they see or hear, even if they do not understand them. A child can also learn to be open minded to different or atypical gender behavior if they observe a permissive model in the world around them.
Part of this challenge of gendered behaviors also has to do with a story in our culture around what being "masculine" or "feminine" means. For example, when looking at who has power, we encourage women to "masculinize" themselves rather than empowering femininity or feminine attributes. Women in men's cut suits are described as powerful or sexy, but putting men in dresses is seen to be humiliating, or somehow makes them weak.
Men are belittled for liking glitter or wanting to raise children from home. This further creates a culture of marginalization and oppression against what is considered "feminine," in many cases even unconsciously amongst those who are battling for gender equality. Becoming aware of this issue also helps us understand why so many trans women (male to female transgender individuals) are seen to have given up their power through their transitioning. These concepts also give context to women who choose to dress or live as men to be able to provide for their families.
When we look at our own gendered behaviors, we become aware of what gender roles we have unconsciously followed in our life or imposed upon others. By doing so we get to choose which behaviors are ones we want to follow, and which ones are unhealthy for us personally.
These issues are even embedded in language, where people unconsciously say things like a person is "surprised they are doing a man's job" or that someone should "learn to wear the pants in their family." Statements of this sort marginalize people of any gender journey who fall outside of those cultural norms, whether they are transgender or not. When a person is transgender, these layers of response cause further conflict both internally and with the world they live in. They meet conflict with a gender change based on those cultural biases ("how could you want to become a woman, you are a great engineer") or face the risk of serious loss based on those same stories ("if you transition to being a man, you are no longer fit to be a mother to your children.")
Gender Expression
Sometimes referred to as gender performance, gender expression is the way that someone uses gendered behaviors to communicate their own gender. If we imagine gendered behaviors as the colors of paint we have, gender expression is the piece of artwork we create. People might follow the classical forms of presentation that their culture sets out, or craft something that is societally unexpected.
People use hairstyles, makeup, clothing, jewelry, grooming, how they move, name they choose, and style of speech to craft their expression. Beyond each culture, each subculture also has certain forms of gender expression. While wearing lipstick is considered an explicitly feminine expression in sports subculture, it is a gender-neutral performance in goth musical subculture. Cultural norms shift over time, such as the aesthetic of pop musicians being revolutionized by the Beatles. They presented a new style of masculine presentation that, at the time, was considered beyond the expectations of binary gender expression.
Different styles of expression display distinct approaches to femininity, masculinity or androgyny. Someone wearing a bikini is expressing a different performance of femininity than someone in a hijab. In and of themselves, neither a bikini nor a hijab are illicit or political in nature. Based on society's beliefs and approach to what it means to be a woman, they take on values. A person in the hijab might be seen by certain viewers as being devaluing because a woman's body is restricted or kept away; Others celebrate a person's choice to be private, saving themselves only for those they, are close to or share traits with. The person in the bikini can be seen as being devalued and sexualized as entertainment for the male gaze, or celebrated for the pride and joy she has in her body.
A transgender or gender nonconforming person can use gender expression as a way to communicate their gender through being aware of these points of cultural awareness. They may pad their hips, bind their chest, wear prosthetics, or tuck their genitals. An agender person might choose to dress in gender-neutral clothes, while someone who is very creatively gendered may choose to use a mix of every color of paint they have at their disposal. A gender fluid individual can choose different wardrobes and types of speech for different days, expressing what point they are at on the spectrum for the moment.
Each person also changes their gender expression based on the type of presentation they want to put forward. A person who chooses to wear shorts, as compared to wearing a suit, is choosing to consciously or unconsciously communicate a different face of themselves. Their gender expression may not even match their gender, with a cisgender woman choosing to wear a men's suit and don a mustache to explore what that performance is like for a while. This argues that the concept of a single gender binary – with the ultimate vision of womanhood on one end and the ultimate vision of manhood on the other end – is a myth. There is no single binary. Instead there is a diverse series of spectrums that we each traverse.
Perceived Gender
When someone encounters a baby in a stroller, it is incredibly common to ask the person pushing the pram, "are they a boy or girl?" Upon finding out their gender, people often unconsciously say statements such as "what a pretty girl" or "he seems so smart," instead of saying "what a lovely child" or "they seem so clever." Whenever we state these unconscious points of praise, we emphasize the gender norms to that child during their youth; a story that girls are supposed to be pretty and that boys are supposed to be smart. These early statements embed a story of what traits a child should strive towards; a shift in how we talk to our children is necessary to empower children of all genders.
Walking down the street, we scan the people around us to do a quick determination of gender, assigning stories, approachability, and threat founded on the genders we see around us. This is done and threat founded on the genders we see around us. This is done based on the expected binary genders we were raised with, behaviors mirrored from others, and our personal experiences of joy and danger alike. Those who fall inside expected genders are considered "normal." People who do not match these expectations face potential ridicule, confusion, fear, discrimination, or violence. As awareness around gender diversity expands in television, movies, and on the news, culture develops more space for genders beyond the binary stereotypes.
When we project a gender upon someone, we are seeing a story of what that gender means to us. Each person carries stories about what being a man or woman "means," constructed through the lens of our history and upbringing. We consciously and unconsciously make decisions about how we behave towards them, layered with stereotypes based on race, age, physical abilities, accent, and style of dress. Whether or not our internal experience of what our own gender is, or how we experience our own gender; this is about the person perceiving us. Their perceptions are not about who we actually are.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Traversing Gender by Lee Harrington. Copyright © 2016 Lee Harrington and Mystic Productions Press. Excerpted by permission of Mystic Productions Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
What is Transgender?,Journeys,
1 - Sex, Gender, and Orientation,
2 - Diversity of Transgender Journeys,
3 - Time Periods of Transition,
Health,
4 - Social Health,
5 - Medical Health,
6 - Sexual Health,
7 - Mental Health,
World at Large,
8 - Transgender and the Law,
9 - Challenges and Communities,
10 - Being a Trans Ally,
The Journey Ahead,
Citations,
Acknowledgements,
Glossary,
Further Resources,
About the Author,