by Cynthia Roebuck
Did you know 1 in 1,000 to 1,500 children are born sexually ambiguous, and the practice of gender assignment is carried out by medical procedures at birth (Cummings, 2010, p. 148; Conway, 2006; Fausto-Sterling, 2000; Kessler, 1990; Dredger, 1998)? Dr. John Money in 1955 while working at John Hopkins began the practice of assigning gender at birth (Fausto-Sterling, 2000). He established the social norm for a child born sexually ambiguous to have her parents and doctors decide on his sex. Dr. Money’s theories proclaim a “gender gate” of neutrality that stays open till around the age of two, so the reality of gender can be constructed simply by raising the child as the sex assigned (Tischler, 2014, p. 76).
This forced identity with either male or female gender is arbitrary to the natural being of a human being. The recognition of only male/female or straight/gay limits the depth of the intellect and creates a harmful social environment that can create constant dissonance for so many trying to fit into the role assigned. It is this socially constructed reality that is in need of a revision. It is this dimorphic view that has led us to look at the differences between male and female and not the similarities or variabilities between the sexes (Jhally, 2009).
There are many cultures around the world today having more than one gender including Germany with a birth certificate option of indeterminate (Chapel, 2013). In this map, cultures around the planet are identified that recognize more than two forms of gender.
Anthropological evidence also points to variations throughout time and space of two genders being present and recognized within global cultures (Puts, 2012). Today the North American Task Force on Intersex has endorsements from “the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Urological Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American College of Medical Genetics, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, the Society for Pediatric Urology, the Society for Fetal Urology, and the Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons” to name a few supporting the need to revamp the way sex is assigned at birth (Chase, 2008).
So, this is a challenge to all media to put forth the effort to give us positive representations of transgendered people, so we can begin to correct the stereotypical misrepresentation of so many. Allow humanity to be expressed in all its wonderful shapes and hues and society will follow, because in our busy lives we often only associate with those we know. Our social cues for interacting with those different from ourselves often are formed through media exposure, but the problem with this is there is no trial and error learning (Bandura, 2006). Media presents a single symbolic representation, but when the representation is a stereotype, a segment of society can be marginalized through audiences developing their social cues from what they were exposed to in the media. “In conclusion, transsexualism is strongly associated with the neurodevelopment of the brain…The condition has not been found to be overcome by contrary socialisation, nor by psychological or psychiatric treatments …” (GIRES, as cited in Conley, 2006). It is a form of being human.
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-815641-X 01.
Chappell, B. (2013). Germany Offers Third Gender Option On Birth Certificates. National Public Radio. Retrieved 23 January 2015 from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/01/242366812/germany-offers-third-gender-option-on-birth-certificates.
Chase, C. & Aaronson, I. (2008). North American Task Force on Intersex Formed. Intersex Society of North America. Retrieved 6 February 2015 from http://www.isna.org/node/153.
Conway, L. (2006). Basic TG/TS/IS Information. University of Michigan. Retrieved 29 January 2015 from http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS.html.
Eytan, T. (2013). I SUPPORT photo. Rally for Transgender Equality 21176. Retrieved 19 February 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/8603717323/in/photolist-fa1pU-pXLmc8-drbvg-qYFp6L-qLuCEj-j3yJ6-7yFqQP-7h4zDD-e7hipR-NHLdq-mEwTCq-q57aGY-8q94PM-e7hhqD-ndU2MK-6B1Ffb-e7nWHU-5tf2gA-e7nVXJ-e7nVzj-dvcDVd-7mTVrd-5otHqH-gdKmK-nDmSCD-o4o72q-63nebf-aBj7NW-7cARDf-78b16d-5ELJFo-5bWgco-pr3gB2-icYznx-qgEiNw-qxXh7P-qhQD8u-pQspnd-oV53Wc-pQp9vz-pwSY85-p8ZJga-nASJma-4xfLxD-nb7xLz-48uWw1-8TNgHF-paQGp3-nZxSty-nGqTr7.
Jhally, S. (2009). The Codes of Gender, Identity and Performance in Pop Culture. Media Educational Foundation. ISBN: 1-932869-39-5.
Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.) A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures. Independent Lens. Retrieved 23 January 2015 from http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits/map.html.
Puts, D.A. (2012). The Evolution of Human Sexuality, An Anthropological Perspective. p. 109-113. UNIT III Sexes and Genders. 2nd Edition. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IO.
Tischler, H. (2014). Introduction to Sociology. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN: 13-978-1-133-58805-5.