Transgender is a word used to refer to the category of human beings whose sex assigned during their birth do not conform to their gender. A person may display male characteristics despite being born with female genitalia. These people tend to feel isolated since they don’t understand which gender to associate with. Others may fail to have a specific feeling on which gender to belong to neither male nor female. The gender identity of these individuals is based on their internal sense of belonging, and this therefore guides the individual on which gender they want to identify. These individuals tend to portray a gender expression based on the gender they want to associate with (Tate et al. 221). The dressing, the behaviors and body characteristics are based on their gender identity.
In seeking to acquire some sense of belonging, they tend to change their names and also the nouns used when referring to them. Some completely change even their certificates to conform to the name and the gender they have switched to. The strength of the gender identity determines the direction into which the person will shift. If a person is born with the male genitalia, but their inner gender identity dictates that they are female, they will turn towards to match their personality. Their gender identity affects their sexual orientation and therefore determines the gender they will engage with to fulfill their sexual desires. These individuals suffer from isolation from the rest of society as they try to adapt to life in this condition. The transgender nature does not conform to society's perception of being feminine or masculine. Many transgender people lack the sense of belonging since they don't have gender as to which to identify with as are the cisgenders. Due to this many transgenders suffer from gender dysophilia and therefore seek medical intervention to alter their situation. Some of the transgender do not desire the treatment to belong to a particular gender while others cannot afford.
Transgender in many cases suffer from discrimination on many aspects of society and even in the workplace. Due to their nature, many perceive I as a disability, and therefore these people are denied social representation. The cisgender on the other hand are persons whose gender assigned during a birth match with their biological sex. Individuals with this kind of gender identity are considered normal and have a sense of belonging to a specific gender either male or female. The cisgender is socially accepted and therefore enjoy social representation. Transgender can lower the self-esteem of an individual since they are not socially accepted within the societies they are born and brought up (Reisner et al. 98) The gender also suffers prejudice from the rest of the community with many perceiving the transgender to be associated with specific disorders or myths in the society. The transgender suffers from lacking the courage to communicate their status with other members of the community.
The transgender individuals suffer from inequality, despite the law warning against discrimination by sex at the workplace these individuals fail to be identified to either gender. Such a scenario happens where there are those who don’t know to which gender to belong to and therefore ends up left out by recruiters. Job discrimination also arises when these individuals are required to use shared facilities like a bathroom at the job place which do not match their gender. Due to this, some of these individuals end up suffering from sexual assault by society members. These individuals also suffer discrimination from their own families which are not willing to be associated with them. Due to this, some end up being homeless and left to tackle their situation on their own. Because of this, therefore, they become exposed to more suffering like sexual assault in the streets.
Discrimination also in school is a common thing for the transgender, they suffer bullying from their fellow students and other harassment due to their nature. The cisgender freely interacts with the people within the society, and their behaviors conform to the social expectation. The community generally accepts the cisgenders, and their perception towards them is positive. Some cultures, however, consider transgender as an inferior gender, this is because the cisgender bodies seem more natural and with their full biological functionalities like bearing children on the part of women. The transgender also faces discrimination from the medical care providers with many not receiving medical attention required, times the medical practitioners may be not aware of what it means for an individual to be transgender. The individual also can be fully locked out of the society way of life, because these individuals cannot marry or get married freely and have children due to this the cisgender discriminates on this gender. Being transgender therefore has many challenges from self -acceptance to the acceptance by the society.
Work cited
Reisner, Sari L; Conron, Kerith; Scout, Nfn; Mimiaga, Matthew J; Haneuse, Sebastien; Austin, S. Bryn (2014). "Comparing In-Person and Online Survey Respondents in the U.S. National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Implications for Transgender Health Research". LGBT Health. 1 (2): 98–106
Tate, Charlotte Chucky; Bettergarcia, Jay N.; Brent, Lindsay M. (2015). "Re-assessing the Role of Gender-Related Cognitions for Self-Esteem: The Importance of Gender Typicality for Cisgender Adults". Psychology & Psychiatry Journal. Springer US. 72 (5–6): 221–236.
