Transgender behaviour has been a constant of human society for thousands of years and yet people in the UK and other countries still cannot deal with the simple fact that gender and sexuality are not simply male and female. Why is this and how long before people face up to reality?

People fear what they do not understand...  people fear understanding for it leads to acceptance which is change... people fear change in there small little bubbles.....  powers that be <IE the chruch and governments> fear knowledge and change... ignorance is bliss for the populace, and ignorance is controll for the powers....   

Take away ignorance, you have understanding, from there you have acceptance, from acceptance you loose the fear, and with the lack of fear change... when things change and all fear is lost, the powers that be loose there power  >

But how do we educate...  When there are so few facts?  What are the root causes?  Why is treatment effective?

Add to that, the difficulty that this thing is to accept.  After all, how long did it take you, yourself, to finally admit that you were TS and were going to deal with it?  Don't you think that it would take your average straight person just a bit longer? 

I think that with all things considered, we've come a very long way in the past couple decades.  I've seen great changes.  Someone called me a pioneer recently.  I'd never thought about that but in a sense I am.  I fought a difficult battle twenty two years ago.  I had no idea that anyone would ever benefit from my trials.

Cindi

Mostly Trans-Misogyny.  People are narrow minded and I personally blame the patriarchy and cultures high value on masculinity to the point that a minute anybody turns their back on it in any way they become a target for ridicule and misunderstanding, and at worst violence.  We by our very nature turn our backs on it completely and cannot relate to it all, when many in society think we should relate to it because of our birth sex.

Quote from: Fer on April 09, 2007, 07:41:17 PM
Transgender behaviour has been a constant of human society for thousands of years and yet people in the UK and other countries still cannot deal with the simple fact that gender and sexuality are not simply male and female. Why is this and how long before people face up to reality?

Hi

Well actually homosexual behavior has existed for Thousands of years. Homosexuality has only really taken a social black list when the Christian came into their own...

There is no clear record before surgical correction solutions for the incidence of Transsexuality in the population. There have been societal solutions for transsexuals and yes even homosexuals, but when surgical solutions were attempted as early as the roman era you have men stating their desire to be women and actually try to do something physically about it.

Importunely for the person stating themselves an opposite gender than they present is the incorrect association of Transsexuality with that of Homosexuality.

Jane

Yeah, I don't like it that there are a lot of anti-trans people out there (some of my family is like that). I try to educate people who are willing to listen, and I've had a lot of people who've talked to me come out with a better understanding of who I am and what is a transexual. I have a lot of friends, and I go out a lot, so I get a lot of opportunities to talk to people.

As for people who don't listen -- I don't bother with them. I let them go around looking stupid as the world changes around them and they find out that they are a dying breed.

We are difficult to understand for some because they don't put forth the effort.

Society has always been what it is; a semi-cohesive unit that attempts to continue through the use of strident beliefs, threats of punishment for being different, and ostrasization (the spelling on that has to be wrong, but I'm on a roll).

Remember, even people who were left handed were treated with contempt, and even told they were children of satan in the past.

One can only hope that times change, people are enlightened to some degree, and we may all find

peace

It's a horrible state of affairs, isn't it? Anyone, not just us, who is different from the 'social norm' is a target for prejudice. As for why...I wish I knew the answer. As was said earlier, people fear what they don't understand and only see the harm something could do to them, never the rewards that would emerge if they even tried to accept what they were seeing.

Some people will always have problems dealing with ambiguity and are projecting their own gender identity and sexual orientation problems onto others that have the courage to be themselves.  I'm sorry if any of you has been a victim of bigots.  I guess really they need pity though as their view of life in general is so narrow.

Fer,

I guess people will be prejudice forever.  Most people want to fit-in and be accepted.  We can try to be kind to other humans and hope that kindness is contagious.

W

Unfortunately, one of the best tools to control a populace is to unite them in hatred against some different group of people.  This is widely used in many (not all) churches these days.  It is also being used by our own government.  Fortunately, we as a country are beginning to see the fallacy in our nation's bigotry.  .... I hope.

Cindi

I know what everyone is saying.  But transgender behaviour has been a constant of human society for thousands of years and yet people still cannot deal with the simple fact that gender and sexuality are not simply male and female.  I find though that anything outside of the norm  whatever that is, causes raised eyebrows.  Thats a pity.

QuoteI find though that anything outside of the norm  whatever that is, causes raised eyebrows.  Thats a pity.

Hence, it reflects the strength of social control on our actions the fact that such strong emotional responses are evoked towards people who act "out of line", as cross-gender boundaries. I agree it's so sad that things have to be this way in this day and age but at least in some European countries like France, for instance, dissemination of information is gradually leading to increased tolerance of people like us.

I think a lot of people still find it unusual,  but Im sad to think that their reaction is to be nasty or to treat someone badly.

QuoteI know what everyone is saying.  But transgender behaviour has been a constant of human society for thousands of years and yet people still cannot deal with the simple fact that gender and sexuality are not simply male and female.  I find though that anything outside of the norm  whatever that is, causes raised eyebrows.  Thats a pity.

And unfortunately, transgendered people (or who we might retroactively identify as such) have been oppressed by society for much of these thousands of years as well. Grrrrr!

zythyra

I would caution us as a community, not to read to much into hatred from the norms.... If we were the norms, human nature suggests that we would be doing the same to them. That said their is little justification for the hatred that the community faces.

Bigotry works and is reenforced in the family and is well exampled by parents teaching children to be fearful of things the parents don't like or that endanger the status Quo, that breeding brings about.

That is just my partial read on it...

JaneX