Essays on Gender Identity

COMM 495: Communications Studies Senior Capstone

Introduction The present portfolio is a compilation of different works that I completed throughout my studies at UMUC. They illustrate my understanding of the different communication theories and concepts that I learnt in these classes. In the first part of this portfolio, I presented my work samples and briefly explained their background and purpose. In the second part of the portfolio, I reflected upon the manner in which these works added to my body of knowledge and developed my communication, critical thinking, writing and analyzing skills. The final part of the portfolio is a resume. I believe that this ...

Any human society can be conditionally divided into two parts in terms of gender. Sexual identity helps to understand one's biological role in procreation and influences people's social behavior. Belonging to males or females is traditionally associated with particular body and character features that are exclusively characteristic of men or women and considered as factors determining life roles. Gender as a binary relationship is a controversial question, comprising both nurture and nature issues. Therefore, it should be regarded from both points of view. Sexuality and gender identity resulted in social stereotypes of human behavior and psychological, mental, and physical ...

Gender identity is one of the fundamental characteristics that a person acquires and which will influence her choices and opportunities in life. Gender is not only a trait that one has, but also, gender is performed every day, according to certain theorists (Wood, 2011). One is expected to behave according to his or her gender, and to adhere to the norms and values associated with that gender. To “do” gender from this point of view means to behave as a woman and as a man respectively, simply because others expect one to do so. While I did not give ...

What effect did communism have on the United States at home and abroad from the end of WWII until the 1990's? What effect did it have on U.S. domestic and foreign policy? Make sure you give examples to support your claim! The end of the Second World War marked the separation of the Allies and the beginning of the Cold War between two superpowers, the United States of America and the USSR. First of all, the Cold War was the conflict between two leading political ideologies, communism and capitalism. The key ideas of communism were completely opposite to capitalism, ...

Discussion Board Posts

Main post starting a thread: Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields, "Chapter One" Racecraft (New York: Verso, 2012.) pp. 1-24. In chapter one of their book, Fields and Fields warn against an early celebration of the post-racial age, as people from minority groups continue to suffer from racial injustice. The authors talk about the racist concepts that continue to affect the way discussions about race are conducted in present-day America. The authors state that racist concepts are extremely harmful because they not only categorize people in obsolete racial groups that do not reflect their genealogical reality, but they ...

Abstract

In June 2016, the Pentagon reviewed and revised the Department of defense’s accession disqualifications with the effect of lifting the ban on transgender populations from serving in the military, but the debate on the suitability of the new policy has grown even more heated. This paper argues that barring transgender individuals from serving their nation in the most selfless way possible is at odds with both the constitution and the values that the military fights to defend. Given the large number of transgender personnel already serving or having served in the military, there is no reason to believe ...

Discussions about LGBT rights, civil liberties have been ongoing since the dawn of the 20th century. From the initial period where LGBT people were looked down upon or shunned from regular life and activities, to today, where there is more awareness and recognition about civil liberty and LGBT rights; the nation has come a long way. As time progressed and with the end of WW II, there was more awareness and sensitivity towards homosexuals and discussions and policies to provide fair treatment and employment began to emerge. These discussions, as we notice from the NYT articles are still holding ...

The case of G.G. ex rel. Grimm v. Gloucester City Sch. Bd. sets an important precedent in the gender identity of the transgender persons and the treatment they should receive in public facilities. In this case, the applicant was born a male, but began to transition to a female in his teens. The main issue of determination in an appeal is whether denying a male transgender access to boy’s bathroom could be construed to be a form of discrimination falling under Title IX protection. As of now, the issue is limited to use in public bathrooms, but will ...

ABSTRACT

Transgenderism is a topic of heated and continuous debate for some time. There are people all around the world every day who are struggling with their gender identity. For adults it is hardly easy, for youths who experience this issues it can be mentally and physically harmful as they struggle. Transgendered youths are a group deemed to be at great risk of depression and suicide. Research shows that much of their issues they face include lack of acceptance, exclusion, physical abuses and discrimination that lead these youths into patterns of social anxieties, self harm and even suicide. The statistics ...

Abstract

Notably, interracial couples and their families have faced various challenges including rejection and being stereotyped. These challenges have resulted in increased trauma and developmental delays among interracial people. The most common misperception about interracial couples is that one partner is black while the other one is white. The rate at which interracial marriages are growing in the US has increased steadily. Considering that the United States legalized interracial marriages, a high growth rate in interracial marriage is a significant move. The demand for interracial counseling is expected to rise as the number of multicultural couples increase. Education of counselors ...

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a milestone in United Stated labor law. It was the first comprehensive piece of legislation to prohibit employment discrimination by race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It also prescribed the allocation of federal funding to any discriminatory program at the State level. Additionally, it created the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which was mandated with enforcing anti-discrimination federal laws in the workplace as well as legislation that prohibit punitive measures against employees who complain about the treatment. The EEOC can also file a lawsuit against employers on behalf of victimized ...

Now it seems incredible, but the legendary iPhone firstly appeared in the summer of 2007, which was about 9 years ago! But these 9 years were enough to understand that this device has become one of the most popular in the world and in the near future, it certainly will not give anyone its place. What is the secret of success of the iPhone? Before the iPhone firstly went on sale, Apple has told to the world that soon the world will see something new and absolutely amazing, but the company was not going to specify what exactly we ...

Abstract Assignment Submitted by

Psychology 2301, Section 53003, Spring 2016 Abstract Dragowski, Scharrón-del Río, and Sandigorsky (2011) conducted research to determine the biological, environmental, cultural, and diagnostic factors that are associated with childhood gender Identity disorder. Childhood gender identity disorder is a birth defect where the person’s genitalia are outwardly observable (Dragowski, Scharrón-del Río & Sandigorsky, 2011). Dragowski, Scharrón-del Río, and Sandigorsky (2011) addressed that the aforementioned factors are significant to gender identity disorder because they will provide a guide for the necessary changes that need to take place in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic Statistical ...

It needs to be reckoned that the there is a difference between the sex of a person and the gender identity. In a society that is largely patriarchal in nature, the societal institutions come to impose the gender on the individual based on the sexual identity that the person is born with. However, this process of gender construction is not a natural phenomenon and can be described to be rather an imposition as per the parameters of patriarchy and its norms. As one goes through the story, All You Zombies, written by Robert A. Heinlein, one finds the exploration ...

The Professor’s Name

Gender dysphoria is not a widely spread Gender Identity Disorder, but still this condition deserves a deep analysis. The site Psychology Today offers scientific data about gender dysphoria that is based on the information gained from such reliable sources as National Institutes of Health - National Library of Medicine and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Gender dysphoria is a type of Gender Identity Disorder that is defined by a persistent sense of being a person of opposite gender and a strong discomfort with the person’s sex that can result in impairment and distress (Gender Dysphoria, 2015). ...

For many years, gender and sex have been mistakenly substituted due to a common perception that they relate to one thing, something which is not true. Gender and sex are very distinct and cannot be used interchangeably to mean one thing. Sex is basically the biological makeup of living things and groups them as either male or female. On the other hand, gender refers to socially contracted behaviors. These behaviors can emanate from parental influence, education, personal experience as well as childhood upbringing which play a crucial role in gender classification. In their work to explore the narrative of ...

Although globalization and integration processes in today’s society favor and encourage race, ethnicity, nationality, religion and gender equality, people will always identify themselves as representatives of a certain social group. One’s beliefs, attitudes and ideas about gender have always been a result of his or her personal experience, childhood, education and of course, parents’ influence and authority. It has been traditionally assumed that gender segregation in labor and education signal some kind of gender discrimination and tendency to define some professions as male ones and others – as the women’s types of occupation. It is also worth ...

Human Sexuality

According to Stahly and Corrigan (2012), gender identity is explained as a concept that involves the identification and perception of self in relation to one’s either masculine or feminine traits. The society perceives a clear distinction between masculinity and femininity and their associated roles and features. In this case, boys are expected to be rough and engage in sports as well as being assertive and confident with excellent leadership skills. On the other hand, girls are supposed to be gentle and sensitive, and also carry themselves with ease and poise. However, there are other categories that are not ...

Nowadays a lot of problematic issues and controversies about people’s social, religious, racial and gender identity have been discussed. Equality of human rights, recognition of basic moral and ethical principles, tolerance and respect towards people with different background are the main conditions of real freedom and democracy. Although, people have started realizing new progressive ideals and there has been a significant decrease in the race discrimination rates, the problem of transgender identity still remains unsolved and public offense or misunderstandings still very frequently occur in different mass media sources. Many people wonder, why one should change his or ...

The language of rights as identified by Mills (2002) involves the manner in which language is approached today. Policy documents, as well as various academic literature, put language rights at the heart of their analysis. Language right-based policies are displacing traditional language planning while sociolinguistics studies have become studies of language rights. Language rights are additionally discussed as human rights, inspired by the remarkable expansion of international human rights advocacy over the last couple of years. Human rights have been looked to as values of ‘godless’ or post-political age (Klug, 2000). In recent decades, radicals and reforms have turned ...

Transgender persons have long been experiencing various forms of discrimination on the basis of their sex. These people experience a wide gap between their anatomical sex and their gender structure. As a result, many transgender people have at one time experienced anxiety and distress that there is no proper reflection of their gender and the way they portray themselves. In this sense, there should be great consideration of the legal rights of the transgender people so that they may not face certain challenges such as school discrimination, lack of quality public service and difficulties in getting appropriate gender designations. ...

The Arabs Portrayal in American Cinema

Introduction The problem in the development of misconceptions about the Arabs can be traced largely on how they were portrayed in western movies. As people do not generally meet Arabs in their everyday lives, the films play an important role in providing conceptions about them. Unfortunately, stereotypes and other factors proved to have shaped the way that the Arab images are depicted in cinemas. According to Michalack, it is the American popular culture that offered the lushest and most comprehensive perception of American stereotype about the Arabs, and this started as early as the 20th century until today (Michalak, ...

Abstract

Protecting working places an important aspect in any company for health promotion. Currently the influence of employee workplaces are related to stress and health hygiene. This study is designed to examine the long-term effects of good working conditions to employees and employers if their health environment is properly maintained. The employer needs to strive for a healthy workplace by creating awareness, for job satisfaction in improving their morale at worksite.

Introduction

Bath to a healthy workplace is a practice done by employees to ensure that all employees have safety and good health at their places of work such as companies ...

In Gender Pluralisms under the Transgender Umbrella, Paisley Currah introduces two legal cases that are quite similar in their contexts but argued out in different ways. Currah chooses to stay neutral in both cases and state them as they are to the reader. The first case is about a seventh-grade girl, Pat Doe, who wishes to express her femininity while attending school by wearing makeup, skirts, tight skirts, padded bras, and high heeled shoes. Her attire was quite disturbing to her teachers at South Junior High, located in Brockton, Massachusetts. The main issue was her gender presentation because her ...

Transgender in youth is used to identify a person’s gender either female or male depending on their behavioral character. Gender- nonconforming individuals were those given gender names opposite from their sex assigned to them at childbirth. For example transgender girls being given sex gender as male at the time of birth but later identify themselves as female. Transgender boys are people who on the date of birthgender was female but then transformed to a male. All these changes are usually doneat public or private health hospitals that are licensed and operating under the government legalized rules (Lambda Legal ...

The process of socialization is essentially institutionalized phenomenon that realized through a system of specific social institutions. They designed to shape and adjust the social qualities of the person in accordance with socially significant values ​​and norms of society, as well as to limit or strengthen the impact of various factors or to neutralize them. Gender relations is the backbone for the reproduction of a particular type of family, self-determination of the men and women in society, the choice of strategies for decision-making. Socialized identity of any type of society is extremely important to undergo gender-role socialization. Basic school ...

Language and Identity

Languages are viewed as universal abstract systems that are considered as independent and self-sustainable such that they can be extracted from an individual. The implication is that, whereas the language systems are of the individuals, they can be extracted and studied independently of the users for clearer insight. Individual plays no role in shaping the language systems as they are independent of the users. However, they can manipulate them to communicate and express themselves as they deem fit. Identity is a significant component of a language; it refers to the ay an individual perceives his or her relationship to ...

In his book Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes, Don Kulick studies the life of a certain group of transgendered prostitutes in Salvador, a Brazilian city. He explores various aspects of the lives of these prostitutes majorly their social lives, and why they do not identify themselves as females yet outwardly, they are women. In Portuguese they are known as Travestis. The Travestis are very common in Latin America, but they are more known and found in Brazil (Kullick 6). They usually look quite different when compared to other people. In most cases, they look bizarre and ...

Films like Tootsie (1982) and Victor/Victoria (1982) belong to genre that is called gender farce which is a subgenre of comedy films. More often than not they portray people who have to pretend to be someone else, most of an opposite sex, in order to overcome some life obstacles. Thus Tootsie and Victor/Victoria present viewer with light and entertaining farce that depicts the silly situation with cross-dressing and living a double life. However, besides witty and humorous remarks lay serious topics of gender identity and roles which are dressed in irony and sarcasm. Moreover, both directors manipulated and played ...

A prolific writer and researcher, the publications and theories proposed by Kay Deaux have impacted the field of sociology since the 1970s. While Deaux has not published a biography, she did give a fairly extensive interview to Anne Rutherford discussing her life in relation to her body of work (Deaux, 2010). By coordinating her biographical background with her research, it is possible to draw broad conclusions concerning the evolution of her interests and the influences of her life experiences. Kay Beaux was born in Warren, Ohio in 1941 and grew up in a Cleveland neighborhood that she describes as “ ...

Abstract

The work is devoted to the gender role development. The purpose of paper was to study theories associated with gender stereotypes, introduce practical surveys and prove that the childhood is influenced by gender stereotypes. It considers Albert Bandura's Gender Role development theory, gender stereotypes, gender identity, gender-typed behaviors and provides real-life examples. The paper reveals that gender stereotypes are popular in modern society despite the fact they were absent earlier. The first idea is that children experience prejudices about "male" and "female" behavior since early childhood. Then, Albert Bandura suggests that people behave in a certain way because they ...

Research thesis

The research focuses on the practical causes behind the plight of victims ranging from the African Americans of getting racially discriminated for their workplace rights to the gender identity orientation towards women for leadership roles in various organizations. The main question focussed in the research is that although, there are specific ethical and legal statutes which involve the human right violation laws for African American and females at the workplace, still they are not effective enough in solving the issue of racial and gender oriented discrimination. This research thesis aims at analyzing the various ethical considerations that are implied ...

Sexual Influences Amongst Teenagers

Today’s world is drastically different from what it was twenty years ago. Teenagers are shifting into a more sexually driven lifestyle yet there are numerous factors that are contributing to these behaviors for both boys and girls. There is a huge range of dynamics that all come into play, many of which children have little to no control over themselves. “Living in a two parent home, and higher socioeconomic status, residing in a rural area” (Dillard, 2002) are all contributing factors to teenagers being pushed away from sexual standpoints. Any individual child, boy or girl, is going to ...

Making a decision to undergo Sex reassignment surgery takes a lot of courage and commitment. Besides, the patient usually has a lot of expectations now that the very part of the body is changed permanently. During the various stages of transition, the patient experiences numerous psychological and physical challenges. If not addressed efficiently, these challenges may have a critical impact on the life of the patient after the transgender surgical procedure.

Challenges before SRS – Pre-operative stage

Quite often, it is always hard getting a qualified surgeon and endocrinologists professionals who clearly understand the needs of the patient. Just like any other surgical procedure, Sex ...

L

Sometime back, this young boy was harassed at an elementary school by his seniors for being feminine. The matter is now in oblivion as no media covered the incident. Also, no action was taken against the harassers. One of the burning issues of the world in the present times is the incessant gender discrimination that thwarts the holistic development of the human society. In a society that is immensely patriarchal in nature, male dominance has become institutionalized. Concepts of gender have come to be complicated, as the individual is influenced by the hegemonic markers that tend to ascribe ...

The first discussed organization is the Happy Hippie Foundation established by a singer, performer and actress Miley Cyrus. The organization’s official website page can be found at the following address: http://www.happyhippies.org/. It is a non-profit organization that operates on a national level. The stated mission of the organization is to “rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations” (“The Happy Hippie Foundation,” 2014). The foundation speaks out against judgement of young people, who differ from the majority of population on the basis of their sexuality, sexual preferences, social status and other ...

Gender Identity

Gender identity starts its formation at home, and in Saudi Arabia it is not different. Home life greatly influences a person’s growth and is the root of cultural understanding (Mahler, 2012). In Saudi, home is usually seen as a work place for women, hence men form the majority of shopkeepers in the region. Women are also restricted to live in their parent’s house until they get married where they move to their husbands home. In America, however, women are perceived as independent human beings who can work anywhere they choose. Additionally, they are free to move out ...

Chapter 6. Gender Identity Development

1. At page 103 of Chapter 6, the author describes the process of "going underground" in order "to preserve important relational connections." Do you think it is justified to sacrifice connection with oneself in order to save connections with the others? 2. At page 108 of Chapter 6, there is Pastor's opinion that "There is a strong linking of family and politics" in "depiction of the home place." To what extent do you agree with this statement? Which aspect do you think is more important - family or politics? Or do you think they bear equal influence? 3. At ...

[Institution Title]

Introduction to gender identity disorder

Mental health is the absence of the mental disorder or the level of the psychological wellbeing. Therefore, it is the ability of a person to create an equilibrium between life activities and to enjoy life. It includes the mental, emotional and social being and therefore, it affects how we feel, think and act as we cope with life. Mental fitness determines how we make choices, handle stress, and relate to others and handling stress. Mental disorders affect our thinking, behavior, and mood. Mental disorders are caused by a family history of mental illness, genes and the life ...

Gender Roles in the Same Sex-Marriage

Introduction The issue of same-sex parenting is has been hotly debated and subjected to different views. Some people argue that partners in same-sex marriages should be allowed to raise children while others are of the contrary opinion. Nevertheless, it is now clear that the issue of same-sex parenting tends to move from the obscured fringes to what seems like the rolling center of the family-policy debate (Meezan & Rauch, 2005). The issues surrounding parent-child relationships in same-sex marriages are many. Ranging from the identity of the children to the division of gender roles, the same-sex parents tend to face challenges ...

Transgender and the Use of MMPI-2

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test is a self-report measure of psychopathology and the personality structures in adults. As opposed to other similar tests, it is difficult for those subjected to it to give a false impression or deny` the existence of a problem. It is also possible to conduct empirical research using the MMPI-2 tests, as it gives an opportunity to give quantitative evidence. Therefore, it is more practical when evaluating psychological issues. It is especially the case in addressing the psychological issues of the diverse transgender population (Tellegen, et al., 2003). Interventions such as hormonal treatment ...

Jeffrey Eugenides presents a dilemma that most people would find unimaginable and almost impossible to face if it occurred in their lives. Suppose one grows up knowing she is a girl, only to discover one day during her teenage years that the reverse is true, or even worse she is neither a girl nor a boy. It is unthinkable if such an individual discovered s/he is both. The author presents this kind of continual dilemma in this piece where the protagonist struggles to find a precise self-definition, a development that makes life almost unbearable. A universal reasoning in this ...

Questions for Women and Cinema

Part I

1. Transgender It is a state in which an individual’s gender is not matching his or her assigned sex responsibility. It refers to the trans-genders, such as homosexual, bisexuals, heterosexual. In the Paris burning film, the issue of Transgender is explored using various characters men and women. For instance, Trans women used as members of the club to show realness. The women are sued to enhance transgender in the film, this shows that as much as they are women they can also compete men and become real (Besnier and Kalissa 34).

2. Monstrous-feminine The female ...

The video highlight how differing points of view create variation in interpretation of issues. Gender is a critical issue that encompasses many societal issues due to its conscious and unconscious effort of dividing the sexes. One of the most common issues related to gender that is often taken for granted is the concept of activity exposure of children to ‘societally’ accepted toys and activities. Children at a very young age are being molded towards a gender identity through the materials they are being exposed.

Boys and girls have different toys given to them. Boys are usually given cars and action figures ...

Introduction

Gender identity acts as an aspect of self-concept, which gives a person the sense of being either a male or a female. The gender role affects gender identity, which is the outward manifestation and not necessarily the child’s sex at birth (Rathus, Nevid & Fichner-Rathus, 2005). It is possible for a child to have a hindered gender identity at the time of birth caused by hormonal errors during development stage. Hormonal errors lead to conflict between the inner sexual self and physical sexual genitalia. As early as 18 months, the children become aware of their anatomic sex and there is no confusion whether a ...

In Kimberly Pierce’s 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, the true-life story of Brandon Teena (played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank), a transgendered man who attempts to pass for a biological man in rural Nebraska, is told. Over the course of the film, Brandon (born Teena Brandon) tries to fit in with a group of male friends he encounters, and continues to pose as a man in order to woo her friend Lana (played by Chloe Sevigny). However, by the end of the film, his friends find out about his anatomical femaleness and is raped and murdered by them. The film is commonly ...

Gender is an aspect of an individual’s sexuality. Gender defines that expectations of society on how people should act and think pas either male or female. To identify a person’s gender identity, you have to look at the gender as well as gender roles of that individual. The way they behave, dress and physical appearance as well, determine the gender. On the other hand, sexual orientation entails the attraction different people have towards a particular sex. While most people show opposite sex attraction, some show same sex attraction. The display of sex orientation to a particular sex and gender identity, ...

Compare and Contrast paper

Sexuality is a broad area of study related to an individual’s identity, sex, expression, sexual orientation and gender identity. It is the capacity to have erotic responses and experiences. Sexuality has spiritual, biological, emotional and physical aspects. The biological aspects refer to reproduction mechanism relating to hormones and the biological drive existing in all human beings. The emotional and physical aspects refer to the bond that is found between individuals which they often express inform of physical manifestation or profound feelings of love, caring and trust. The spiritual aspect refers to the 4connection with other individuals. Sexuality affects and ...

Along with the ethical issues regarding cosmetic surgery, the ones, concerning sex reassignment, remain of high controversy for medical science, psychology, philosophy and religion. While sometimes gender reassignment can be viewed as a caprice of a person, in vast majority of cases the willingness to undergo gender reassignment surgery is a consequence of gender identity disorder. According to M.Hume (2011), gender identity disorder can be considered both as a physical and psychiatric disorder. For those specialists, who consider gender identity disorder purely mental health issue, question whether surgery can be viewed as morally appropriate solution to the incongruity between a body and mind ...

Literature Review

Sexuality and gender are social constructs, which may differ depending on the norms of society (Reis & Carothers, 2014). In a heterocentric society, certain attributes are reserved to describe either male or female individuals, with characteristics such as aggressive and strong being relegated to males and women being considered as more caring and emotional (Reis & Carothers, 2014). However, not all individuals fit neatly within the categories dictated by society and the challenges of individuals who are treated as “outliers” of society’s norm can be overwhelming, leading to emotional and physical distress, bullying, and social inequalities that have the ability to impact ...

The debate on sexual orientation has been going on for a long time in the world. There are many researches some claiming that the homosexual people are socially assimilated towards being homosexual from the social environment. There are others who hold to the opinion that it is entirely a hormonal aspect that develops as one grows. There are those who take a position in between the two and belief that gender and sexual orientation are as a result of the interplay between the environment and the genetic and hormonal state of the individuals. As it was learned recently, the hypothalamus plays an important ...

1. What are the components and time course of the development of gender identity? Sex identity develops through a methodology of differentiation: associations of biological, social, and cognitive-learning elements that happen after some time. Differentiation implies that an essentially comparative structure develops specially, contingent on the impact of different components. Chromosomally female and male human babies are undifferentiated (have a comparable physical structure) until after the second month of pre-birth development. As development advances, different impacts build the contrast between the genders. Changes in sexual and sex development happen (or don't happen) at particular times or touchy periods, and from ...

Film Studies

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Introduction

The issue of gender-based behavioral patterns has always been a point of artistic interest. After cinematography emerged as an independent kind of art and a cultural phenomenon, it also started viewing them as a mean to increase attractiveness and interest for the media. This essay is aimed at pointing out the main examples of female characters who express certain elements of what is commonly perceived as male behavior, sort them out and determine whether there is a certain trend towards “masculinization” of the females. In order to perform a deep and thoughtful analysis of the issue, certain ...

The period of adolescent development can be difficult and exciting for either gender. Males and females develop different characteristics and different skills at different rates. Cognitive and physical development occurs very differently throughout adolescence depending on the individual’s gender as well as the individual themselves. Typical emotional development tends to be more similar between the sexes though it can vary depending upon each individual. We will explore the differences and similarities in these adolescent developments between the genders. During adolescent the individual’s self-concept, or way they view themselves, begins to change and develop. The self-concept involves ...

- Introduction It was Sigmund Freud who first suggested that human psychosexual development is heavily influenced by one’s relationship with one’s father or mother (Katz-Wise 2). However, in reality, the development of sexuality is quite different and significantly more complex. Gender identity has become different from sexual identity, and one’s sexual orientation is different still (Katz-Wise 2). Before detailing the prevailing arguments regarding sexual identity and all the issues that go along with it, it is first important to understand the nature of the discussion. Sexual identity, for the purposes of discussion here, will ...

Jennifer Conlin, writer of “The Freedom to Choose Your Pronouns,” explores gender fluidity in teenagers and college aged students. She asserts that this is just another way teenagers are trying to go against the grain, but she also pairs this with showing that this is not just an American trend. During an interview, she recalls an individual’s example of gender fluidity by saying, “Maybe one day you wake up and feel more like a boy.” While this does not quite define the complexities of gender expression, it is one example that is easy for the general public to understand. ...

Are Men Held To Unrealistic Standards in Terms of Gender Stereotypes and Expectations

When people think of gender inequality and unfair standards they usually think of woman and the struggles they have endured and continue to endure in the world. They faced gender stereotypes like a woman’s place in in the kitchen or the home not in the working man’s world. They still continue to face a world that holds them to different expectations. We don’t often stop to think of the struggle men are constantly dealing with. The truth is men also face their own challenges to try standing outside of the normal expectations and not be labeled a stereotypical man. ...

In order to analyze a client’s behavioral trait, one has to probe into the very person’s social conditions, culture, environment, genetics, and family background. These are the main factors that constitute the biopsychosocial wellbeing of every individual. Calliope Stephanides, the protagonist in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel ‘Middle Sex’, would be a potential client for an evaluation and case plan. The character Calliope (Callie) is relevant for its socio-psychological significance, and it makes a sincere approach to intersex individuals’ emotions throughout the story. A close analysis of the client Callie makes it clear that she undergoes severe identity crisis and emotional ...

Persistent controversy over LGBTQ rights has called for several activisms at the local, national and global level. In modern parlance, demand of equality for the homosexuals is gaining immense prominence, as many NGO’s, human rights activists and youths are insisting for a legal transformation towards the sexual minorities. Western countries have shown more tolerance or even accepted same-sex marriages; but, Eastern societies rigorously jostle with this issue owing to its influence upon society. This paper identifies the main dilemma in granting equality to the LGBTQ community and how human rights activists are gradually exerting pressure for social acceptance of ...

LGBT Aging and Their Health Care Needs

Introduction The changing demographics of aging population in many countries especially in United States is one of the most important aspect of modern history. One of the main issues in the aging services is the non-existent Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) specific service programs. The LGBT people who spend their lives in supporting their families and create productive contributions to the communities may have difficulties in their elder lives. Aside from the non-LGBT elder problems, there are LGBT-specific elder problems such as discrimination, abuse and impoverishment. There are also specific obstacles in the aging LGBT people ...