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David Martinez
English 114B
Professor John Kubler
March 26, 2014
Gender Identity
The video I was assigned was titled The Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She. It
discussed the major problem within society concerning the controversial topic of both
transgender and intersexual individuals. I believe the video did a great job in providing both
actual stories from both the transgender and intersexual perspective, therefore allowing more
sympathy to be felt towards the subjects. Many subtopics were covered within the documentary
as well. For example, the alarmingly high number of transgender related crimes, which can be
categorized as a hate crime. Another excerpt we were assigned was the medical analysis of
gender identity. This article provided and in depth medical study of the biology behind being
considered one sex or the other. One detail I found interesting was the general struggle of being
confused. I knew confused people had a difficult time functioning in society because they do not
know whether or not they would be accepted. Many of them face outside criticism and while
accepted by their families, the family is still finding it challenging to accept them exactly for
who they are.
One great example of the family dealing with their child's gender is the family living in
the Midwest region of America. Noah, is an 8 year old boy who act as if he is a girl. He is not
transexual, so he falls into the category of intersexual. Although Noah is being raised in a

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Christian household, his biological parents and stepfather are somewhat accepting of his
behavior, but they do fear for Noah in the outside environments such as school, parties, or in
social groups. His mother revealed a terrifying statistic by stating 50 percent of them either are
killed, or kill themselves. Ive never heard this number, so when I heard it I had to rewind it just
to make sure what I received the correct information. I was a bit surprised to hear such a high
number, so I did a bit of extra research on the topic using the provided medical analysis.
The doctors refer to gender identity as Gender Identity Disorder. A criterial has been
created to diagnose a childs state. One symptom is the hatred of their own anatomy. Another is
the stronger preference to participate in activities stereotypically acknowledged as designed for
the opposite sex. There are other items in the criteria, but these are perhaps the most important
factors when determining the disorder of the patient. All symptoms listed in the criteria must be
present for longer than 6 months, and must occur before the child reaches puberty.
The entire article and video are an interesting study. Ive always been a believer in your
sexual orientation and lifestyle to be determined before birth. Everybody argue how your raising
is the reason for ones sexual habits. I never quite understood exactly what all the controversy
surrounding the transgender community was for. I was raised to put aside anybodys sexual
preference or race, and respect them and their life. For that reason I was always puzzled when
hearing about a transgender person is attacked or murdered. Those who attack them are confused
about themselves internally, and are scared to express themselves, end up leading to many
horrible actions towards others.