Initially, I would say that I did not become familiar with transgenderism until high school and even then, I thought it meant having your sexual characteristics physically altered to that of the opposite sex. However, after taking an Introduction to Family Studies course during the Fall 2017 semester and reading The Gender Book last week, I would change my statement to say that I was first introduced in elementary school. The Gender Book (Hill & Mays, 2013) describes transgender as having “some element of crossing over or challenging gender roles, expressions, or expectations.” It is an umbrella term that includes drag queens and kings, cross dressers, masculine women, feminine men, transsexuals and numerous other identities (Hill & Mays, 2013). I then realized that, not only did I know many people who fell into this category, I was once in a relationship with a transgendered person, as my ex-girlfriend was very masculine and only wore men’s clothing. I, however, am
Initially, I would say that I did not become familiar with transgenderism until high school and even then, I thought it meant having your sexual characteristics physically altered to that of the opposite sex. However, after taking an Introduction to Family Studies course during the Fall 2017 semester and reading The Gender Book last week, I would change my statement to say that I was first introduced in elementary school. The Gender Book (Hill & Mays, 2013) describes transgender as having “some element of crossing over or challenging gender roles, expressions, or expectations.” It is an umbrella term that includes drag queens and kings, cross dressers, masculine women, feminine men, transsexuals and numerous other identities (Hill & Mays, 2013). I then realized that, not only did I know many people who fell into this category, I was once in a relationship with a transgendered person, as my ex-girlfriend was very masculine and only wore men’s clothing. I, however, am