I ♥ The Femininity of a Woman

Most people never think much about their gender identity - having little or no understanding of what causes their sense of being male or female. That's because our sense of ourselves as men or as women - our gender identity - matches our anatomy. If you are born male will are raised as a boy and grow into being a man. You never question whether your body is right for you. Ones gender identity is formed at birth through a complex relationship of genetic, biological, and neurological functions. One of the worst problems facing transgendered people is violence. Their first experience of it is usually in their own homes. The perpetrators are parents, grandparents and siblings. Annoyed questions like "When are you going to start acting like a boy?" "When are you gonna start acting like a little girl?" escalate to fists. Kids are thrown out of their homes. It's no better outside the house for boys who swish, or girls who don't. There are always people saying mean things, threatening. Race and class compound the problems. There is extra pressure from already oppressed communities to conform, to be good, to "help the people to rise up." In the insecurity of oppression, any behavior considered deviant is seen as an attack on your community. This sometimes intensifies the effects of trans- and homophobia. Schools have their own horrifying tortures. Who can learn algebra in the midst of name-calling, harassment, ridicule, and beatings? These, of course, come not only from other students, but from teachers and coaches, too. Depression among transgendered youth is a serious, sometimes deadly problem. Many turn to drugs and alcohol. Without an education, often without a home, some transgendered people find themselves on the street as prostitutes. Since criminals look for those who are not protected, prostitutes are targets for rape and murder. The police themselves, no friends of prostitutes, seem to single out transgendered female prostitutes for harassment. When these women report crimes against them, officers often laugh, or refuse to pursue the cases. Transsexualism is a medical condition in which a person's sense of identity as a man or a woman does not match their anatomical sexual characteristics. Transgender individuals can come from any racial, economic or religious background. They work in many types of fields: there are transgender engineers, mechanics, physicians, truck drivers and teachers. Transgender persons also have families and many have children. "Transition" is a stressful time for those wishing to live permanently in the opposite sex from their birth sex. During the initial stages of transition, a person changes so that their presentation (appearance, wardrobe, demeanor, legal name) matches their gender identity. Like you, transgender people have a right to dignity, privacy, and protection from discrimination, harassment and violence. Transgender people are not looking for special privileges, only equal access to the same services and opportunities afforded others with no question. Sadly, because at times transgender people appear different than others, they experience prejudice and victimization. This can include employment, and housing discrimination, refusal of public services and medical care, harassment and violence. >>>>>>>The following is a Blog posting of a dear sweet friend of mine who lives in Kuwait. So for those of you TS's who think you have it bad here read this,,, Wednesday, January 23, 2008 HELP KUWAIT TRANSSEXUAL :( To all the people with hearts , to all the people with feelings , to all the people who think we should all be treated alike to all the people who oppose torture and to every single person in the world who thinks every one should live life the safest way possible. on be half of the Kuwaiti transsexuals I ask you today to help us and to tell the world what is happening to us by the police and by the new law that strictly declares transsexuals as outlaws and criminals. a few months ago a law was posed in Kuwait declaring that transsexuals or any man acting, dressing or looking like a female will be sent to jail for some time and will get their head shaved so they can go back to be normal men. medical research has proved that we cant become men and it has proven that we are men from the outside but women from the inside and that we cant go on with our lives looking like males but we feel safer and more comfortable as females. let me tell you a little about Kuwait if you have good connections you can deal with drugs commit murder or even rape and u can get of the hook very easily but if u don't you will be sentenced to jail or even executed. today and as i type this letter a lot of transsexuals have been thrown in jail and have been shaved and beaten up to a point where they started telling on each other. their crime is feeling safer and more secure as women and not men so they became a threat to the community and to the state of Kuwait.Each transsexual is forced into confessing on the whereabouts of her friends and are refused to call a lawyer and are thrown in jail straight away for a time only the police know of . the Kuwaiti constitution is just like the french and it strictly states that EVERY CITIZEN HAS THE RIGHT TO LIVE THEIR LIFE THE WAY THEY CHOSE OR FEEL SAFEST IN we had this before the conservatives declared war on transsexuals outlawing us and making up stories that we are all involved in drugs and prostitution i must say that there are some who do drugs and others that prostitute but not the majority it is a minority. we only ask the world to see whats happening to us to see that getting beat up and tortured will not cure the problem they should try and understand us help us live our lives as the women we are. many people oppose this law but cant say a word because the islamists in Kuwait have forbidden every thing that goes against their beliefs and are trying to take the country back in time to the time of knights and horses a time when the sword ruled but not the constitution . we ask the world to help us help us live help us survive if no one helps us they will eventually arrest us all and only god knows where we are going to end up. from this letter i hope my voice can be heard world wide and hope that all the good hearted people in the world that think we should live our lives help and support us so we can survive god only knows if i might type another letter to you all and if i might escape arrest tomorrow. god be with you all from : a heart broken and frightened Kuwaiti transsexual We must find a way to all pull together and help some way to make this a better World to live in. If there is anything anyone can think of doing to help her and others in Kuwait contact her at her MySpace web page its http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=151056607 Lets Help put an end to all the Hatred in this Messed up Screwed up World of ours. ..