As humans, we are social creatures who live within a society that has established customs and practices to ensure cohesion. One such practice is the binary gender system that divides people into two categories - male and female.
This division creates an environment where there are specific expectations for how men and women should behave, dress, and act. These expectations can be harmful when they limit individual expression and exclude those who don't fit neatly into either category. Transgender individuals face discrimination, harassment, violence, and even murder because their identities challenge these norms. In this article, we will explore how cultural norms around gender exacerbate fear and hostility toward transgender people and what steps need to be taken to create a more inclusive world.
Cultural Norms of Binary Gender
The binary gender system reinforces rigid roles assigned to males and females based on physical appearance, behavior, and sexual orientation.
Men are expected to be strong, stoic, and assertive, while women are supposed to be nurturing, emotional, and submissive. This leads to a lack of understanding about gender diversity and puts pressure on transgender individuals to conform to stereotypes. It also makes it difficult for others to empathize with or accept them as valid human beings.
Fear and Hostility Toward Transgender Individuals
Transgender individuals often experience fear and hostility from others due to their non-conforming gender identity. They may be mocked, ridiculed, attacked, or denied basic rights and services. This occurs because they break societal norms by challenging traditional gender roles and present themselves in ways that go against the accepted status quo. Some common forms of discrimination include job discrimination, healthcare denial, housing discrimination, and hate crimes.
Examples of Discrimination
Job discrimination is when an employer refuses to hire someone because of their gender identity.
A transgender woman applying for a job at a company may be rejected because she doesn't match their image of what a woman should look like. Healthcare discrimination involves denying medical care to transgender individuals because of their identity. A transgender man seeking treatment for breast cancer might not get adequate care if his doctor assumes he is simply trying to deceive them. Housing discrimination happens when landlords refuse to rent properties to transgender people based on their appearance or behavior.
A transmasculine person wearing short hair and a shirt could be told they don't fit the criteria for renting an apartment.
Hate crimes are violent acts committed against transgender individuals due to their identity. A transgender person may be assaulted or killed solely because they do not conform to society's expectations of how they should behave or dress.
Cultural norms around binary gender exacerbate fear and hostility toward transgender individuals. To create a more inclusive world, we must challenge our preconceptions about gender and accept everyone regardless of their identity. This means educating ourselves on gender diversity and advocating for laws that protect transgender rights. We can also work towards creating safe spaces where all genders feel welcome and accepted. By doing so, we can ensure that everyone has equal access to opportunities and resources without fear of persecution or discrimination.
How do cultural norms of binary gender exacerbate fear and hostility toward transgender individuals?
Transgender people are often seen as threatening to the status quo due to their rejection of traditional gender roles. This can lead to fear and hostility towards them because they challenge expectations of how men and women should behave.