“I couldn’t stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double life, one pure and one not.” [1] Published in 1963 this sentence was a part of Sylvia Plath’s banned novel, The Bell Jar. A novel exploring the roles and expectations of women, Plath’s pen became her sword. She was suppressed due to the brutal honesty she utilized to explain how her role as Woman had become suffocating. She explored aspects of the womanhood she experienced in the 60’s, never shying away from the nitty gritty. Since Plath’s time the western world has experienced many changes and shifts when it comes to gender and its roles and expectations. Not only is this shift integral to where gender rights reside today, but it is also in line with human tendencies and history. In the “nineteenth century, ideas about gender started to change” [2] in the Western world. Women were becoming more independent and their identities started to detach from that of a man’s. Understandings of gender have changed in Africa, Latin America, and Asia due to colonial influences not meshing with traditional understandings of gender. There is much variation to how different indigenous cultures globally understand gender. Notions of gender and what it entails are not universally understood. Depending on region, family, culture, media, and religion, one’s understanding of gender and how it applies to them will change. [3] Oftentimes gender goes beyond a simple personal identification. In the Western world, gender is not just about identity but also about power. [4] Due to socialization we often have a very limited view and understanding of what gender is and what it can be to those around us. Understanding that humankind does not and has not viewed gender as a universal or unchanging standard is vital to truly understanding and empathizing with the transgender community.
In 2023 alone there were and are 586 anti-trans bills in the U.S. [5] Anti-trans bills are defined as a bill looking to erase transgender people from the public, bills that are “seeking to deny access to basic healthcare, legal recognition, education, bathrooms, athletics, or the right to openly exist in public schools.” [6] The stark increase of anti-trans legislation is a striking hit to an already vulnerable community; 42% of transgender adults have attempted suicide and 81% of transgender adults have considered it. [7] Earlier this year the New York Times published an article highlighting how conservatives were mobilized by a campaign against trans rights. [8] The article talks about how these “efforts have thrust them [transgender adults and children], at a moment of increased visibility and vulnerability, into the center of the nation’s latest battle over cultural issues.” This battle has become unhelpful and reductive in the conversation of understanding transgender people and creating a safer environment. This movement has been detrimental to the health and safety of the transgender people both in this country and abroad; while legislation is typically limited to our country's border, rampant anti-trans material and sentiments as well as the slew of misinformation is not limited to our fifty states.
Partially due to this cultural war, I am always hesitant to discuss transgender people’s identities, experiences, and if one sees them as valid. When people view the validity of trans identities as a debate topic and our rights as a mere aspect of a cultural war, our humanity is pulled into question. When your humanity is constantly questioned you feel less than human. Transgender people are people! Not only are we human beings but there is ample evidence to support that gender-affirming care not only works but aids in bettering the mental health of trans people. [9] [10] [11] [12] Not only has the cultural war put transgender people down and allowed others to believe that trans identities are less than valid, it has also peddled misinformation regarding what gender-affirming care is. Gender-affirming care is creating an environment where trans people can “move through the world safely as the gender they know themselves to be.” [13] Gender-affirming care is anything from correct pronoun usage to puberty blockers to gender-affirming surgery to hormone therapy. [14] Gender-affirming care has become a buzzword and “gotcha” moment, when in reality it is well researched and proven to work to better the lives of transgender people.
Another fear mongering misconception often pushed is that social media makes someone transgender. No one becomes trans because they use social media. The truth is the democratization of information that occurred due to the ease of internet access has opened up our world ten-fold. Greater knowledge of the world around us often allows us to grow into ourselves. We find out our likes and dislikes, we learn there's a word for the specific smell after it rains, we learn that there are people who feel similarly when it comes to gender identity. When it comes to research about trans people and the internet, it has only been proven to allow trans people to have better access to resources and community. While it has had this positive effect, it has also been shown that transgender kids are more likely to experience cyberbullying due to heavy anti-trans sentiments across the web. [15] Another factor that contributes to the argument against transgender people’s existence is our societal understandings of gender and sex. Our society tends to view sex and gender in stark boxes, when in reality there is no box - there are simply many things that we don’t understand as well as we let on. [16] For example, sex is not just two boxes. XX vs XY chromosomes will develop so differently, and sometimes a person’s DNA doesn’t even host either of those combinations (shoutout to intersex people). If we do not even make room to understand the many variations of human DNA, how can we in good conscience enter into this conversation? The popular view of sex and gender being both well differentiated and paired is not congruent with the scientific reality of the human gene pool and experience. Because the view of sex and gender as intrinsically compatible is far from reality, as well as there being rampant misunderstandings of the concepts of sex and gender, I find it difficult to believe the many reasons people give as to why transness exists. Trans-ness exists, and trying to figure out why it exists with a limited understanding takes away from the core of this situation: understanding transgender people, and, in turn, creating a better landscape for our health and safety.
I have spent much time thinking about this. From the history of transgender people abroad and at home, to how gender is understood in the western world vs other cultures and societies, to why I can’t make my gender identity align with my sex, it never seems to leave my mind. Transgender people are people. When it comes to our care and our identities, listen to us. When it comes to trans kids and their identities, listen to them, support them, don’t talk down to them or insult them. Trans people are only a small percentage of this country, yet are the spotlight of a culture war that is beaming with bigotry, apathy, and misinformation. It's leaving third degree burns. If you’re not ready to listen to us or the well-supported research, then please keep our names out of your mouth.
