Transgender Rights And Issues In America - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2028 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Transgender Essay Did you like this example? Every day, thousands of transgender Americans have to deal with several kinds of injustices. Whether it be trying to do basic, everyday activities, grow up in an unsupportive household, come out to family, or obtain basic healthcare, there is always trouble in the lives of transgender people. In America today, the negative stigma surrounding transgender people has begun to dissolve, and the community has acquired more support over the years, but prejudice is still awfully prevalent despite the efforts to stop it. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Transgender Rights And Issues In America" essay for you Create order This topic is important because transgender people are not always treated like people, when all they want is to be accepted by their families, peers, and communities, just like everyone else. Transgender Americans deserve the full rights to live that every other citizen in this country takes advantage of, and the discrimination that they face is unfair. Transgender people are normal people who feel they were born in the wrong body, as the wrong gender, and are either female transitioning into male, or male to female. This can mean extremely expensive top or bottom surgeries that alter the persons body to match the gender identity of the person. Gender identity is the gender that a person feels like they are, rather than the sex they were given at birth. A common condition that most trans people have is something called gender dysphoria. This is caused by distress that someone experiences because of the difference between the appearance of their body and their gender identity. Gender dysphoria is often confused with body dysmorphia, which is the mental disorder that distorts the image of ones body and causes anxiety about ones appearance. Although some transgender people might have both of these, they are different conditions (Callahan 2014). According to Planned Parenthood, transphobia can be defined as the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender, though it is most commonly characterized by bullying. It can take many forms and cause the victims issues such as depression, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, and hopelessness. Roughly 50 percent of trans people in America have thought about committing suicide because of transphobia (Ettachfini 2016). Unfortunately, in attempts to stop trans kids from being transgender, some conservative parents choose to send their trans children to conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a service given by churches or religious groups to try to change an adolescents sexual orientation or gender identity through electric shock, psychological conditioning, or a number of other cruel methods (2018). Several issues are common for the victims of whom are forced to participate in this continually debunked as unfunctional. According to the Human Rights Campaign, depressi on, anxiety, homelessness, drug use, and suicide can be the result of conversion therapy. There are several misconceptions about the transgender community. For example, some people who are uneducated or ignorant to the topic of gender identity believe that being trans is just a phase gone through by someone who is confused about who they are, and will grow out of it. Also, contrary to popular belief, transitioning fully does not just take one simple operation; legal, social, and personal changes are common in addition to reassignment surgeries to fully become the people they want to be. Gender reassignment surgeries can be difficult to schedule due to lack of funds or a support system from family and/or friends. Many people do not approve of trans people using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. This is because of the false belief that if trans people used the bathroom of their choice, they could be sexual predators in disguise, there to prey on young people, but this is untrue and trans people just want to use the restroom. Seventy percent of transgender peo ple surveyed in Washington D.C. said that they received some form of backlash or harassment for using the bathroom of their choice (Wang, Soloman, Durso, McBride, Cahill). This negative response can also lead to health concerns and embarrassment in young people. Students are more likely to develop urinary tract infections, be constipated, or have accidents at school, as a result of being afraid to using the bathroom (Ettachfini 2016). If a trans adolescent does not have a solid group of people to be there for them while growing and transitioning, they may suffer from depression and deal with higher rates of harassment and bullying at school than children who are not trans (Ettachfini 2016). In highly extreme cases, trans kids could become suicidal, and children over 14 have taken their own lives as a result of how they were treated at home or school. An example of this is the story of Leelah Alcorn. Leelah was a transgender girl from Cincinnati, Ohio, who had felt like a girl and not a boy since the age of 4. Her parents refused to accept that she was not a boy, and rather than loving and supporting her regardless of her gender identity and sexual orientation, when Leelah was 14, they sent her to conversion therapy after she came out to them. My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to Christian therapists (who were all very biased), so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me o f my depression, she wrote in her suicide note, giving up hope, I only got more Christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help (Farrell 2014). At age 17, Leelah could not take living with parents who did not acknowledge her gender identity anymore. Leelah posted this suicide note on her Tumblr account and then took her life. In this note, Leelah wrote, My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year, and concluded with, Fix society. Please. She intended for the purpose of her death help to bring change to the way that transgender people are treated. Even after her death in 2014, her parents still call Leelah by her birth name and referred to her as their son, because of their conservative religious beliefs (Farrell 2014). Soon, her story went viral and the world became devastated about what happened to her, and furious with Leelahs parents for neglecting their childs needs. Soon, after her death thousands of people from around the world, including President Obama, were advocating for Leelahs Law. This was meant to be a national law that would ban conversion therapy, named to imm ortalize both Leelah and what she wanted her death to stand for. Although people have not stopped pushing to make conversion therapy, in all its forms illegal, and seven states and several U.S. cities have passed laws that protect minors from conversion therapy, Leelahs Law has unfortunately not yet been passed (2018). A lot of trans people feel the direct effects of the current situation in this country. For example, Thomas, a transgender high school student at Bay City Central says that he has noticed that the trans community today is better than it was, but still not good at all, referring to the injustices and discrimination faced by himself and his peers. On a daily basis, Thomas has to deal with any combination of rude comments that intend to invalidate him, people who do not understand that he is a person, and those who choose to remain ignorant. He says that he feels genuinely scared for the future, because President Trump wants to make it even harder than it already is currently for trans people to legally change their names and gender marks. Thomas plans to move in with his boyfriends family over the next summer because he is incredibly uncomfortable around his family, who has not supported him since coming out. It is not right that Thomas, who has not even graduated yet has to find anoth er place to live because he lives in a household that chooses not to support him. The topic of transgender rights is complicated because it has many parts and layers. First, there is the issue of the way that transgender people are treated in society, and too often, as a result of prejudice, it turns violent. A survey carried out in 2015 by the National Center for Transgender Equality showed that 1 in 10 transgender people in America face violence from a family member after coming out, and that 46 percent of trans citizens in this country were verbally abused in the year before the survey took place. Second, transgender people sometimes have trouble with legal matters such as marriage, or obtaining healthcare. Trans people can have trouble accessing a marriage license that contains the gender they identify as on it, because some states do not allow for people to change their legal sex. Healthcare can also be difficult to attain because in several U.S. states, it is legal to deny trans people coverage for basic preventative care that everyone else has easier access to. Third, transgender Americans are more likely to be unemployed or homeless. About one in four trans people have reported losing a job due to workplace discrimination, and since there is no federal law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity, it is completely legal (Passy 2018). It is true that many people disapprove of people being transgender at all. Some of these people believe that God made men and women in a certain way, and to be transgender is to go against what He intended. Of course, it is not wrong to be religious and to follow that religions ideology, but some religious groups fight against the very existence of transgender people. For example, an organization who promotes strict, conservative views, called Focus on the Family does not believe in transgender theology because it contradicts Christian ideals and scriptures (2018). On the topic of raising trans children, they support the idea of conversion therapy, and urge parents raising children to have them act more feminine if they were born female, and more masculine if they were born male to stop their child from becoming transgender. This company has been supported by both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for a long time, with Pence giving occasional speeches sponsored by Focus o n the Family, which shows that neither of them are friendly nor supportive toward the transgender community. Others like Ryan T. Anderson have concluded that there is no way to transition that will ever make a person whole and happy. He also believes that, the sex of an organism is defined and identified by the way in which it (he or she) is organized for sexual reproduction, or in other words, the gender determined at birth should be permanent for the reason of sexual reproduction. This assumes that all people want kids, as some of them surely do not, and it is wrong to think that a persons sole purpose in life is to reproduce. Still, it is Andersons belief that trans men are will always be masculine women, and trans women will always be feminine men (Anderson 2018). This is simply not true because they do exist and can transition and be happy. These beliefs, however, can be dangerous to the trans community because the people who follow anti-transgender organizations such as Focus on the Family may begin to have transphobic views, believe that trans people dont exist, or be verbally or physically abusive toward them, which as mentioned before, can increase rates of depression and suicidal thoughts or tendencies in victims. If large groups of people continue to be transphobic, the current climate for transgender people could continue to get worse, and transgender erasure could persist, and the number of trans people who are killed, or commit suicide could increase greatly. Transgender people are just people, and they are valid, and deserve equality. In conclusion, the topic of transgender rights is important and should be talked about more because many people do not realize all the misconceptions that are believed by the ignorant, mistreatment of trans people and youth that occurs, and the everyday things that trans people endure, while trying to be equal to people who are not transgender. There is a battle that most transgender people and allies to the trans community must fight for equality, and they will not stop fighting until it is achieved.

Orwell’s Totalitarian Government in 1984 Essay - 1562 Words

George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power. George Orwell declared himself as a Socialist, and he†¦show more content†¦Using his remarkable writing skills, Orwell published 1984 in hopes that he would be able to demonstrate to his readers that a communist government would lead to a totalitarian reign over all of societ y. In Orwell’s novel he creates a fictional society in which the government rules all the people and holds complete power over everyone. The government is referred to as ‘The Party’ and they depict themselves and flawless, generous, and so very helpful to all of mankind. They feed the people lies and tell them that without them (The Party), the citizens would be hopeless and could not possibly survive. The government holds onto their widespread power by instilling fear upon all citizens. They openly let the people know that they have spies hidden everywhere, and they have various technological devices that will ensure that every person is acting exactly how the government wants them to. For example, the ‘telescreen’ was a device that was mandatory in every citizen’s house and was installed by the government. It was basically a video recorder that could watch a person’s every move, as well as read off important news from the government ruler s. The main character in Orwell’s novel, Winston Smith, expresses his thoughts about the telescreen by realizing that â€Å"at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and,Show MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Totalitarian Government In George Orwells 19841803 Words   |  8 Pagescontext of any government. But, these three statements help establish the foundation of the world in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The novel is set in an alternate version of the year 1984, imagined by Orwell in the 1940s. The world had split into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. The main character, Winston Smith, lives in Oceania where the entire superstate is run by an all powerful government, lead by the divine and immortal Big Brother. 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By examining both Animal Farm and Orwell’s biography, further light is shed onto his belief in the dangers of totalitarian governments as depicted in 1984. Primarily, there were many influential factors and moments in George Orwell’s life that causedRead MoreAnalysis Of George Orwell s The Great Gatsby 1285 Words   |  6 Pagesrecognized for his portrayal of dystopian societies and how they parallel present society. Through intense allegories, Orwell unintentionally crafted novels that are applicable to the totalitarian government systems prevalent in many advanced societies today. His dystopian societies have influenced many on history and government alike, giving it timeless qualities. Born as Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell was an extremely skilled novelist, critic, journalist, and essayist capable of spreading his thoughts

Spontaneous Recovery Reflections of a Smoker Free Essays

Definition: Spontaneous Recovery is the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from the extinction after a rest period. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner 2009). In order to better understand this definition I had to do more reading on the basic principles of learning and behaviorism. We will write a custom essay sample on Spontaneous Recovery: Reflections of a Smoker or any similar topic only for you Order Now The definition for learning is some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state in the learner. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner 2009) In order for one to have a spontaneous recovery you must first have learned the habit, such as smoking. Next is the habitation, which is a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner 2009) This would be the learned smokers getting use to the taste of nicotine, the smell of the smoke and ultimately the mood or mental state associated with the effects of the cigarette. I have been a smoker since I was about fourteen years old. At first I began smoking due to peer pressure. I was not truly addicted till the year 2003 when everyone I worked with would gather and smoke after out shift to relax and reflect on our night. In 2008 I quit smoking with the use of the medication called Chantix with complete success. Unfortunately, I picked it up again when I had a roommate move who smoked. Now even though I hadn’t smoked in over a year the craving came back, which was the spontaneous recovery. I hadn’t smoked In over a year and found myself under stress and quickly went back to the habit (habituation) of smoking again and have been doing so for the last year. Now, I find myself with another prescription for Chantix but I know that unless I control my urges after I quit. I will forever have the learned behaviorism of a smoker and must always remember that spontaneous recovery will be right around the corner if I allow myself to fall back into the habit of smoking. How to cite Spontaneous Recovery: Reflections of a Smoker, Essay examples