Essay #1 : Gender Identity

Abdullah Al Iman
Professor Shamecca Harris
English 11000
23 September 2018

Rhetorical Analysis – Gender Identity

Gender Identity is an individual’s view of their own gender. Gender is considered to be different from sex by many because sex is biological whereas gender is what one identifies as. Gender has a sub-argument under it such as the debate between nature vs. nurture and how those two affect the decision of one’s gender. Gender Identity also has many factors under its belt such as social factors , environmental factors and parental factors.Gender Identity influenced other cultures where they made a new term for a third gender such as “Fa’afafine” which is Polynesian and “Hijra” which is Asian. Gender identity is an issue that is relevant in this generation and is impacting groups of all ages. It is an evolving issue in terms of thought process and perspective.

The newspaper article “Science Pinpoints DNA behind gender identity” is written by The Times (London, England). It is about how scientists may have proven that gender identity/dysphoria is not a choice but just the way your genes function. The articles main objective is to inform that people who have become transgender actually have a underlying difference in their brain and this will explain why they feel uncomfortable with the sex they were given at birth. There was research done to see if there were any common genes in the 30 transgenders they experimented with but with those common genes they also wanted to see if those genes appeared in non-transgender people. Turns out there was. About 30 genetic variants were found and about 9 of them actually impact the growth of brain cells. This implies that gender identity is not a choice but something you were born with.

The author of this article was The Times in London,England. The purpose of the article was to inform readers of why people change the gender that they were born with. The article was constantly filled with experiments with transgenders and were comparing them with non – transgenders to see the difference. It was filled with information/data which was backed up with evidence to educate people on the matter. The specific audience that this article is being intended to are the people who are to scared to come out as a trans because they feel as if they are going to be mistreated from the start. In the last paragraph it says “Nor is it a lifestyle choice or the result of a person’s experiences, for example being mistreated…The only way to be certain about a person’s gender identity is to listen to them.” ( The Times – London,England) So clearly based off that , it is being written for people who don’t feel comfortable coming out to the public because of fear . The general genre of this is it being a newspaper article , however specifically it is a science news report. The article conducted numerous tests led by doctors , neuroscientists , geneticist such as Dr. Theisen , Vincent Harley and Bernard Reed. While the author doesn’t blatantly say what his/her stance on the situation is , we can infer based on all the research and experiments he/she put that he/she wants to spread the idea that being a transgender is not a choice but a way of life. The author is a firm believer in that idea. The author’s attitude towards gender identity is that transgenders should not feel ashamed or inferior because it is something you can’t control and is nature’s way. The author needed to write this article because it was a common misconception that transgenders chose to change their sex and they shouldn’t be allowed to do this since it goes against basic biology.

The publisher for “Federal Courts In Pa. And Va. Affirm Civil Rights Of Transgender Students” was the Americans United for Separation of Church and State.This article is about the two stances of gender identity and how the government is working to fix the controversy. It starts off with a story of how a transgender boy was not allowed to enter the boys’ bathroom which was a violation of civil rights. The court did take action and the school was punished. After that , Pennsylvania implemented a policy on its school district to allow students to use bathrooms based on their gender identity. However , the group against this idea was the Religious Right legal group, who wanted to segregate transgender from peers. The article ended with Americans United along with the U.S. Supreme Court saying that religion and moral beliefs cannot influence how the government should enforce laws.

The author of the article is Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The article’s purpose is to not only inform but persuade people into allowing states to openly allow kids to use bathrooms that they feel comfortable with based on their gender. The author’s stance on the article dictated the purpose as well. The author uses two court cases where the position of not allowing kids to use whatever bathroom they want is antagonized. Such as the “ Doe V. Boyertown School District” where the Religious Group wanted to segregate the transgenders and non- transgenders, however at the end of the article the author states “religious or moral beliefs cannot dictate how government enforces the law, especially when those beliefs would result in harm to others.”(American United for Separation of Church and State) The author disagrees with the religious group and wants kids to use the bathroom they associate their gender with. The audience that the author is directing this towards are pro-lgbtq people and transgenders so they can help out with the bathroom issues. A more specific set of audience members is religious people. The author wants religious people to be more considerate towards transgenders and even telling them not to have another situation like Brown V. Board of Education. The general genre is a magazine/journal , however it is more specifically an informative magazine journal since it provides in depth info on the court cases dealing with the matter which were Doe V. Boyertown and Brown V. Board of Education. The author felt the need to write this so that other states can fight against the discrimination that has been going on in parts of the United States.

“Promoting sexual health in the LGBTQ community: A nonjudgmental, informed approach will create a safe space for productive discussions” was written by Philip McCabe, Mark McMillan, Kristina Padilla and David Fawcett. This article deals with a variety of topics including “Trauma and Sexuality”, “Sexual and Relationship Histories”, “Same Sex Relationship Styles” and “Embracing Healthy Sexuality”. In the article it states there was a record high 52 related hate crimes against the LGBTQ in 2017 which was reported by The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. All the abuse and trauma had taken full effect on the community. It is also stated that many clinicians are concerned to take a thorough sexual history check. It is said not to assume the gender of the patient including their sexual orientation. Rather , make a harmless dialogue when proceeding with a sexual history checkup.
The authors of the article are Philip McCabe, Mark McMillan , Kristina Padilla and David Fawcett. The author’s main focus is to inform you with a little bit of persuasion as well. The authors starts off the article informing readers of basic terms related to gender identity. The authors remind us of how LGBTQ clients are traumatized and what is needed for a clinician to do for the client to feel safe. So they are definitely educating/informing and giving us advice all at the same time. Their stance is very clear with the information given on this article. They support the LGBTQ community and are trying to help them overcome mental health issues since it is their forte. They give tips such as “counseling and support groups, tools such as mindfulness, relaxation and conscious breathing can be useful in this process.”(McCabe , McMillan, Padilla , Fawcett ) The genre is a professional and clinical report. This was written by therapists , doctors and health educators which shows why it was formatted in a clinical style. The author needed to write this because mental health issues concerning the Lgbtq community was getting worse and this was to spread awareness.

The blog “Gender-based violence: lesbian and transgender women face the highest risk but get the least attention” was written by Saurav Jung Thapa. The article opens up by stating how society is evolving and changing rules for the LGBTQ community and highlights how they worked hard for this.However violence against the LGBTQ hasn’t changed , especially against lesbian and transgender women. The main reason is because of the gender-based discrimination. A study by the Human Rights Campaign and Trans People of Color Coalition showed that transgender women face about 4 times the risk of getting assaulted than the average population of females. It has become so bad that the average life expectancy of a transgender female in Brazil is 36 years. The U.N. Secretary General says that everyone should have the right to live a life of happiness no matter what they identify themselves as and they’re sexual orientation.

The author of this article is Saurav Jung Thapa, who is an associate director of research of the Human Rights Campaign. The author is informing us about the state in which the world treats the females of the LGBTQ community. Thapa does mention that we have improved somewhat by accepting Lgbtq with equal rights but we haven’t been treating Lgbtq women as equals at all. Not only with the previous statistics I’ve given which dealt with physical damage , it also goes beyond that and deals with poverty and discrimination. “A 2013 study revealed that 7.6% of lesbian couples in the United States live in poverty compared to 5.7% of married different-sex couples… Because of social marginalization, transgender women become susceptible to violence, are likely to end up in poverty, may lack access to healthcare and many estimates suggest they are at 49 times higher risk of being HIV positive than the general population.”(Thapa) His attitude towards gender identity is obviously Pro-LGBTQ , just based off all the studies and facts he gives and also since he works under the largest organization to help the LGBTQ community. The audience is intended to be Pro-LGBTQ memebersin other areas since he works under a global team and wants to erase a problem that is worldwide. In the article it says “ 75 countries continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relationships and up to ten countries have the death penalty for “homosexual conduct.” In every country, discrimination and stigma are a daily fact of life for most LGBT people.”(Thapa) So this article is reaching out to the whole world and trying to get the discrimination to a minimal. The genre of this article is an informative blog. The author felt the need to write this because he cares very deeply for the Lgbtq community since his career is based around helping them and couldn’t tolerate the brutal acts committed against them.

Gender Identity is clearly a heavily talked about social issue. It is extremely controversial and has many sides to it. It is one of the few topics where if you break it down to the core you would be talking about biology. It will most likely be a never ending debate which is why it will be evolving even more while more and more evidence is discovered throughout the years. The sources included are all intertwined with each other. They are all for the LGBTQ community.

Works Cited Page:
“Science pinpoints DNA behind gender identity.” Times [London, England], 19
Mar. 2018, p. 7. Academic OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A531478633/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid =AONE&xid=024ef09b.

“Federal Courts In Pa. And Va. Affirm Civil Rights Of Transgender Students.”
Church & State, July-Aug. 2018, p. 20. Academic OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A549156286/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid =AONE&xid=976cc69d.

McCabe, Philip, et al. “Promoting sexual health in the LGBTQ community: A
nonjudgmental, informed approach will create a safe space for productive
discussions.” Addiction Professional, Summer 2018, p. 27+. Academic
OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A550612851/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid =AONE&xid=0b96b517.
https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/gender-based-violence-lesbian-and-trans gender-women-face-highest-risk-get-least-attention

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