Catherine Oliver
Genderqueer activist, freelance writer, and publisher, 'Just a Bit Radical' magazine
I'll Make a Man Out of You
Posted: 04/ 2/2012 7:43 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-oliver/ill-make-a-man-out-of-you_b_1391623.htmlCulturally, socially, and physically, we assign humans a gender based on appearance. Popular culture has very rigid definitions of "male" and "female" and imposes them on today's youth at any cost -- Seventeen, Teen Beat, the list goes on. Girls, make the cute boy in homeroom notice you with this new pair of jeans, or this new brand of makeup! Boys, get her attention with this fancy car, or this watch, or this gadget. However, transgender and gender-nonconforming youth are largely ignored in mainstream media.
Where is the message for these young people? It's nearly nonexistent. There is, quite literally, next to no mention of gender-variant youth in popular culture, nothing for them in magazines, books, TV (OK, maybe TV -- but then one would have to consider whether said gender-variant youth are portrayed as mentally stable, non-stereotypical, etc.). Adults and peers often ignore these youth or make them feel inadequate or damaged. If a child who is a girl but was born in a male body attends school as a girl, often there is an outcry. Why? Because of underlying transphobia, homophobia, etc. The mere fact that a little girl (yes, she is a girl, despite her physical sex) wants to be able to use the restroom in peace without her entire school knowing she has a "special situation" means nothing. It does not mean this child is going to endanger other children.
