Class #17 – Lecture Outline Understanding Transgender and Transsexualism; Peer Review of Outlines 1. Ma Vie en Rose (1997, Alain Berliner) - In-Class writing/film discussion 2. Historical Perspectives on Transgender: Sampson, Craft, Tipton 3. Student Presentation 3. Contemporary Perspectives on Transsexualism: Social Constructionist, Psychiatric, Biological Perspectives Social Constructionism- transsexualism as a manifestation of: (a) performative freedom in gender roles (b) logical outcome of rigidly defined categories of gender and sexual orientation (c) gender dysphoria—logical outcome of gender stereotyping and homophobia- sense of “being born into the wrong body” 4. Peer Review: Outlines, Essay #2 1Social Constructionism- transsexualism as a manifestation of: (a) performative freedom in gender roles (b) logical outcome of rigidly defined categories of gender and sexual orientation (c) gender dysphoria—logical outcome of gender stereotyping and homophobia- sense of “being born into the wrong body” (d) Solutions to issue of extreme gender dysphoria— social change, legal advocacy, counseling/therapy/education, not surgery or hormonal treatment b. Psychiatric Definition of Gender Dysphoria/Transsexualism (a) Deeply rooted psychic split between gender identity of the mind and body—clinically distinct from normal curiosity about the bodily differences between the sexes—source may be social/familial or biological (b) Part of a spectrum of body dysmorphic disorders (c) Not necessarily connected to other mental health issues (d) Hormonal treatment and sex reassignment surgery treatment are effective in many cases (e) Counseling post-surgery is often necessary to deal with trans- formations in individual identity and negative reactions/discrimination in various spheres of society. c. Biological Essentialism (a) Asserts idea of a core gender identity Sees transsexualism as caused by hormonal problems in fetal development resulting in a gender split between body/mind (b) Optimal treatment: hormonal, surgical 2MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu SP.401 / WGS.401 Introduction to Women's and Gender StudiesFall 2010 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit:
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