Читать книгу Transgenderism: A Case Study of the Movie TRANSAMERICA - Francine R Goldberg PhD - Страница 6

Transgender is a term that is used to refer to multiple categories of gender variant people, including transsexuals, people who believe that their physiological bodies do not represent their true sex, prefer to be referred to as men or women according to their gender identity and gender presentation, and may or may not have had sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) [also referred to as gender reassignment surgery (GRS)**; cross-dressers, people who dress in the clothing of the opposite sex for erotic fulfillment or for social fun; masculine-identified females; feminine-identifies males; intersex* and other differently gendered people.

* See “Notes About Intersex” at the end of this e-book.

** Many see the surgery as a reassignment of one’s biological sex, thus,

SRS; others see the surgery as a reassignment of gender, thus. GRS.

The 1990’s brought an increasing awareness among researchers and clinicians that genital SRS is not uniformly desired or sought by all persons who dress and behave as a member of the other sex on a full-time basis. This new paradigm originating from transgendered people themselves provided an alternative to the model of transsexualism which had held sway since the 1960’s. The initial model held that transsexuals were “trapped in the wrong body,” experiencing a psychic pain that could be alleviated only by body transformation. The new model views gender as a continuum rather than a male/female dichotomy and calls for individualized gender trajectories, which may or may not include hormonal therapy and SRS…. The transgender model changed the locus of pathology; if there is pathology, it might more properly be attributed to the society rather than the gender-variant individual. Those who are most visibly different are at risk for discrimination, hostility, and violence from an intolerant culture, and often from their schools, churches, police and other government officials, and even family members…. This societal mistreatment can result in psychological difficulties, including shame and guilt and resulting self-destructive behaviors, including abuse of alcohol and other drugs, eating disorders, and self-injurious behaviors; dissociative conditions; personality and behavior disorders; and mood disturbances. Accounts under the older transsexual model tended to assume such problems were symptoms of or co-existent with the “syndrome” of transsexualism, discounting or more often never even considering that they might be reactions to societal discrimination and abuse (Denny, 2004, pp. 26, 31).

It is futile to measure the incidence and prevalence of gender-variant persons for many reasons including that such behavior is private and often viewed a shameful area of behavior that is shrouded in guilt and secrecy. Data can be collected for those who apply for sex reassignment surgery (SRS) but not all gender-variant people seek SRS. In the United States, private mental health practitioners see as many, if not more, individuals who are transgendered than gender clinics per se, yet those numbers are not included in the incidence reports in the literature. Certainly, the prevalence of gender dysphoria is grossly underreported. However, it can be reported that transgendered people inhabit every nation of the world, come from all walks of life, and occupy all socioeconomic strata. Gender conditions do not discriminate on the basis of race or religion. They appear to be distributed randomly throughout the world’s population, much like random birth errors (Ettner, 1999, pp.25-29.)

Marilyn Volker, Ed.D. (2007), a therapist and sexologist, states: I think that it is a part of our society and we need to be learning lots and lots of lessons. We are learning a lot of things that can happen in a mother’s uterus – that can affect the shaping of people’s brains which doesn’t always match what is between the legs. There is a lot that we are seeing from pediatric endocrinologists, people who study hormones and chromosome patterns, and yet, the most extraordinary thing of all is that we see the human spirit who is saying to us, “see me, you want me to tell the truth, let me be able to be me.” We have seen in a mother’s uterus there are all kinds of things that can be different. Perhaps a baby girl can be born with an XO chromosome. A baby girl can be born with an XY chromosome. A child born with a vagina having, let’s say, testosterone testicular tissue in the ovaries which can shape the brain in a different way. We’ve seen children who have problems and differences with hormones right from the get go – right at birth and it can shape the brain. So we are very interested and excited about what’s happening - what we call brain sex as related to gender. And that’s what folks are telling us but a lot of research is looking at it.

With the production of the movie, “TRANSAMERICA,” Duncan Tucker and the Weinstein Company provide an opportunity to learn about the process and experiences of transitioning from one gender to another. While viewing the movie, TRANSAMERICA, this guide will assist the viewer in learning about this process and the issues and struggles faced by the people who experience it, as well as for their families and their friends.

To make the best use of this guide:

1.VIEW THE FILM IN ITS ENTIRETY, then

2.READ THE GUIDE, SECTION BY SECTION, AS YOU REVIEW THE CORRESPONDING SCENE FROM THE FILM.