JOHANNA EVENSEN

Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes

What is it if you feel confined, confined in your own body? What is it to feel different, to feel different from the other children? What is it if you feel like you are in the wrong sex, and that you should have been the other gender? Therefore, these feelings and the disorder is named gender dysphoria. In this case, this article will bring you, as a reader, more information about the disorder, but also how it is to feel different and trapped in your own body.

In fact, the conditions for the disorder are described, by James Fletcher (and can be found in the article “Born in the wrong body”, at BBC news website), as “being born into one sex, but feels like they are the other”. Namely, Fletchers’ article talks about how children feel and what they have to go through, goes through before, during and after, they are confirmed with the disorder gender dysphoria.

As a result of this, it is many people that write about the topic; gender dysphoria, one of them is James Fletcher. Hence to write about the feeling of being confined, and the children emotions. In other words, it’s not an easy debate, since some people would say that a child is not ready to know neither decides something that big about their own lives. A quote that describes how a child is feeling, however, is “It used to make me feel ill and so horribly down. I’d just wish that I was not around. Everything to do with me being male was horrible; I just could not stand it”. In this case, the quote is from a “girl” named Nikki. As Fletcher writes, Nikki was born as a boy, accordingly to herself, never felt like a boy. In the article, Nikki is 16 years old, and lives her life like a girl, as for the gender she feels like she is. In an article named “Gender Dysphoria & Transgender” (from BBCs’ website) the reader can learn about how a child can feel when they have the disorder gender dysphoria. The article clarifies that a child with gender dysphoria is not sick or neither ill. The child just have a feeling of not being right. A sense of hiding their own identity, and because of the hiding, a lot of children suffer from great stress. In the article “5 things to know about gender identity” (From CNNs’ website, the author in the article is Jacque Wilson),  the readers can learn that transgender is not the same thing as the typical gender identities, such as gay, lesbian or bisexual. Transgender is something else. As Wilson writes, “Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they are assigned at birth”.

As a consequence of change gender, bullying is very common. A reason for this is that the changes now are apparent. Due to the fact of puberty. In the article “Kids who veer from gender norms at higher risk for abuse”, from the CNN’s website, Madison Park writes about the bullying affect. In this case, they describe the bullying as a problem from teenagers and other children. It is when the child with gender dysphoria gets teased owing to reject conforming from the other teenagers. Reject conforming to the child’s biological gender roles. Owing to this, the bullying is expressed with misunderstanding, scorned of the peers or adult. In fact the bullying does not have to come from other teenagers, it might as well come from their own parents, other parents or merely from other teenagers or adults.

In the article “Gender Dysphoria & Transgender” the readers can learn about the fact that it is not always that clear about what a transgender is. It is not something that is remaining. One child can describe their sense of being in the wrong sex in one way, and another child can describe it in another way. As the article say “Only you can every say whether you are trans”. Also from the article “Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are”, the author Madison Park, writes about this; that gender nonconformity is not a disorder, the disorder is the gender dysphoria, but it is not a disorder where you can call the children/ humans mentally ill.

The common thing that all the articles and also the movie clip say is that; often a child with gender dysphoria knows that they are “different” already from a very young age. It is children from the age of three/ four years. The mutually thing is also that the children do not feel like they belong, they do not fit in, not in their bodies or neither in their society. As the article “Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are” written by Madison Park (can be found at the CNN’s website) brings up this subject. Park writes about a girl named Tammy, that already from the age at three knew that he was a girl, and not a boy that he was assigned with at birth. Also in the article “Kids who veer from gender norms at higher risk for abuse”, we can see an example at this again. Due to this article, Park writes about a boy named Cory, which also knew for a very young age that he was not a girl. In view of this, a conclusion can be drawn, that it is common for a child to feel different and confined at an early stage in their years.

However, what is the child supposed to do when they have decided that they want to be the other sex? As in the movie clip “Real Life: Transgender children”, the audience may learn about the fact that a child can take puberty blockers. As well as Fletcher, from BBC, writes about the puberty blocking. Fletcher writes that the child with strong gender dysphoria can be “treated” with drugs. The drugs are supposed to block the pubertal development. The blocker is known as hypothalamic blockers. The drugs are meant to block the child’s sex hormones.  Also the article “Gender dysphoria & transgender”, the reader may learn about hormone blockers. In fact in the article, the readers may learn that the hormone blockers are a safe method, and that the child may stop the medication at any time, that they want. The blocker is designed to help kids decide whether they want to continue with the blockers or if they want to remain in his usual sex. As a result of remaining of taking the drugs, when the children are older, over the age of 18, the child may be able to take different blockers, known as "Cross-sex hormones”. With these drugs, the child will “cross” and be able to see differences and change to the other sex. Nevertheless as the article says, the child would not be able to this until the age at 18; at least it has not been done yet (in the Great Britain).

As a result of the hormone blockers, it is a big discussion about the subject; when the child should receive drug blockers. In the Great Britain they do not give drug blocker until the “child” is in the late puberty, at around the year of 16. Many other countries instead have the age of 12. In this debate what is right? Due to the fact that the child should do it early in the puberty, so the child can decide what they want to do, or due to the fact that the child should do it later in the puberty when the child is older and more secure?

Summary, A quote that a girl in an article said, was “It’s your own body, it’s your choice, it’s not anyone else’s to decide for you, because that’s just taking away all the control that people want to have and people need to be sane”. This quote can summary the debate about transgender children, whether a child should be able to decide about their own lives. As well as you should be available to decide about your own hair, a transgender child should be available to decide about their own life, that is whether they should change their sex or not.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BmtInLGt8

Jacque Wilson, “5 Things to know about gender identity”, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/22/health/bradley-manning-gender-identity/index.html

Madison Park, “Kids who veer from gender norms at higher risk for abuse”, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/20/health/child-gender-nonconformity/index.html

Madison Park, “Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are”, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/27/health/transgender-kids/index.html

James Fletcher, “Born in the wrong sex“, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8330157.stm

“Gender dysphoria & transgender”, BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/XZjhcLhQW08Ylw5b0p9xgH/gender-dysphoria-transgender