Transgender



Transgender

Introduction

In the past few decades, transgender has become a topic that is increasingly discussed and debated among social theorists. Indeed, sex and desire have become the focus of intense social-theoretical, philosophical and feminist fascination, and it is against this backcloth that social theorists have sought to rethink the constitution and reproduction of sexualities, bodies, pleasures, desires, impulses, sensations and affects. How to think sexuality beyond the constraints of culture is a question that is increasingly crucial to the possibilities of political radicalism today. The cultural prompting for this turn towards sexuality in social theory is not too difficult to discern. In the aftermath of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and particularly because of the rise of feminism, sexuality has come to be treated as infusing broad-ranging changes taking place in personal and social life. The politics of identity, sexual diversity, postmodern feminism or post-feminism, gay and lesbian identities, the crisis of personal relationships and family life, AIDS, sexual ethics and responsibilities of care, respect and love: these are core aspects of our contemporary sexual dilemmas.

Social Injustice

Social injustice is social discrimination. When some of the people in a society are deprived of their basic rights and are not given rewards and benefits from the society on a similar scale. They ultimately occupy a position of utter disrespect in a society where they live as victims of social immorality, injustice and suppression. The victims of social injustice are mostly people who are physically or emotionally weak. They may include people with color, women, gay men, lesbians, elderly men and disabled individuals. The mistreatment of people with color can be called racism. Racism penetrates in the society to encourage racial superiority over others. It deprives people of their basic human rights without enabling them to condemn these practices or voice grievances. As a result, the society can be divided (Gonsiorek, 1991).

Dividing men and women on the basis of gender are a common way of devaluing human beings. Women can be suppressed to contribute their share along with men. They can be confined within the house so as to establish the dominance of men in state affairs; live with constant fear of rape; battering, killing and are denied rights. In an age-segregated society, it is a common belief that youngsters are superior to old people in strength and hence should be prioritized everywhere. As a result, elderly people are denied jobs and access to other resources while the youth reigns supreme. Homophobia is prevalent in the society where lesbians and gay men are forced to live in isolation for fear of can be treated harshly. This in turns suppresses their contributions towards society and fails to give them a place on the societal pedestal. These practices result in societal pressures on these individuals, and they suffer extremely at the mercy of commanding others (Rimmerman, 2002).

Critique of Gender, Sexual Difference and Identity

Although transgender politics took various shapes and forms in the course of its evolution, the issue of identity politics can be said to ...