5-2 Final Project Part I Submission: Preparing for the Letter of Intent

2

3-2 Draft of Research Approach

Latonya Parrish

Final Project Milestone Two

Sociology of Social Problems

Southern New Hampshire University

Gender Identity
Variables	Determinants
Sex	Social factors
Gender	Personality and Sexual Preference
Race	Environment/community
Ethnicity	Childhood experiences
Health	Genetic factors

Gender identity is a global issue that dates back centuries. We are all aware of the biological sex that is given to you at birth based on your genetic organ I email her female. However, when it comes to identifying your gender there are so many different factors and variables that come into play that can place you in a different category on how you identify yourself. Sadly, on a local and global scale many people tend to confuse sex and gender as the same thing wish they then incorporate personal bias or religious beliefs to create a set of standards and rules on what a person should be. All around the world people are discovering who they are and where they feel they belong despite the biological sex that was provided to them as well is the social defined characteristics of who they should be.

For example, in countries like Africa and India when a person identifies outside of their biological sex they are outcasts by society, harass, abuse, and in many cases murdered because they don’t conform to the normality. They have clear laws in Ghana and Nigeria that being gay is punishable by law including jail time and even harsher punishment up to death. “In 2014 former president Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill which proscribed penalties of 14 years' jail for same-sex marriage and 10 years' for same-sex "amorous relationships". (Cooley, 2017) In the country's Muslim north, 12 states have adopted Sharia, with punishment for gay sex including lashings, jail and death by stoning. Other countries have decided to treat the issue of gender identity as a disorder. They’re classifying it under gender dysphoria is the feeling or belief that your body does not reflect your true gender.

Sex is assigned at birth, refers to one’s biological status as either male or female, and is associated primarily with physical attributes such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, and external and internal anatomy. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves. While aspects of biological sex are similar across different cultures, aspects of gender may differ. ( American Psychological Association)

Homosexuality was treated as disorder until 1987. Prior to the cure involved showing patients pictures of naked men while giving them electric shocks or drugs to make them vomit, and, once they could no longer bear it, showing them pictures of naked women or sending them out on a "date" with a young nurse. (Burton M.D., 2015). Sadly, it did not work. Gender identity is still being studied without any successful treatments being provided. One approach that is more acceptable is allowing for children who are spear and seeing gender identity issues be placed in a safe environment with other children who are experiencing the same concerns and allow them time to grow and figure out why a and how they want to move forward. Since 2013, there have been studies but no true success rate other than gathering information and how each case is unique.

Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford professor of biology who has done extensive neuroimaging research, suggested a possible neurobiological explanation for cross-gender identification in a 2013 Wall Street Journal article, “Caught Between Male and Female.” He asserted that recent neuroimaging studies of the brains of transgender adults suggest that they may have brain structures more similar to their gender identity than to their biological sex. ("Caught Between Male and Female," 2013)

People generally tend to look at gender identity as a mental disorder. As we all know most people have a cultural background that is either religious or based off traditions that do not support the LGBT community and way of life. Some people are experiencing it in their home which allows for them to have a different approach to the love ones, whereas others feel it is an abomination against God in the values that they hold dear. Lastly some people are so infuriated with the lifestyle that they are taking matters into their own hands and verbally and physically abusing people that are part of the LGBT community.

I have had the opportunity to have friends and family that our children and adults that are part of the LGBT community which allows me to get a in-depth understanding of who they are. Even though I am very supportive of the LGBT community and I respected I don’t condone everything that it entails. For example, I am not a big fan of transgender and in some ways, and club will think most of that is the one wonders: I agree that it may stem from some type of chemical imbalance. I think that we all have a right to choose who we love however I don’t feel that we should be able to change facts. However even though I cannot condone it I respect every human being’s right to choose. I would just simply have preferred that everyone respects that sometimes you just have to agree to disagree and move forward as adults. Teach tolerance and be open-minded to other diversities and cultures because in the end we are all humans we deserve to live our lives.

References

American Psychological Association, “Answers to Your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity and Gender Expression” (pamphlet), http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender.pdf.

Burton M.D. N. (2015, September 18). When Homosexuality Stopped Being a Mental Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201509/when-homosexuality-stopped-being-mental-disorder

Caught Between Male and Female. (2013, December 7). Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/caught-between-male-and-female-1386374537?tesla=y

Cooley, D. (2017, October 22). 'I didn't want my mum to know': The men and boys arrested for being gay in Nigeria [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-22/arrested-for-being-gay-in-nigeria/9069350

David P. Fourie. (2010) Look, but Don’t Touch: Narcissist Behavior and the Conservation of Ambivalence. Journal of Constructivist Psychology 23:2, pages 143-157.

Gender Identity - Development Of Gender Identity [Video file]. (2018). Retrieved from http://family.jrank.org/pages/690/Gender-Identity-Development-Gender-Identity.html

Mayer, L. S., & McHugh, P. R. (2018, April 22). Part Three: Gender Identity Sexuality and Gender. Retrieved from https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/part-three-gender-identity-sexuality-and-gender

Rolleri, MSW, MPH, L. A. (2013, November). Understanding Gender and Gender Equality. Retrieved from http://www.actforyouth.net/resources/rf/rf_gender1_1213.cfm

Slavin, L. A., & Slaughter, V. (2013). Gender identity formation. Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Health,