Link to article: https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-09-29/transgender-americans-face-daily-struggles
Oppression, as defined in Threshold Concepts in Women's and Gender Studies is "prejudice and discrimination directed toward a group and perpetuated by the ideologies and practices of multiple social institutions" (73). Privilege, it is "defined as benefits, advantages, and power that accrue to members of a dominant group as a result of the oppression of the marginalized group; individuals and groups may be privileged without realizing, recognizing, or even wanting it" (74).
The policy that I decided to look at was related to LGBT Rights, specifically from the article, about Transgender Americans. The article makes it known that "same-sex couples have enjoyed many advances but transgender Americans still face fears in daily life". From this quote and everyday life, we can see that same-sex couples are privileged while transgender Americans are oppressed. Gays and lesbians are also oppressed which isn't mentioned in the quote. Transgender Americans face unemployment which can lead to poverty then to homelessness. Because of this they are harassed verbally and sexually. There is the bathroom issue that we all know of. The Trump administration "reversed two Obama-era policies protecting transgender people". The two being schools and military. It is also much harder to change their names and sex versus those who are gay or lesbian. So here, I would say that those who are gay or lesbian are a little bit more privileged than those who are transgender. Even at the end of the article, someone notes that "transgender rights still lag way behind". There is no equity when it comes to this policy regarding LGBT rights; transgender.
This is an important issue. Why do you think there has been more support for rights for cis-gendered lesbians and gay men, and more struggles for transgender folks of all sexualities? What are the barriers for full agency in society?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusion that those who are gay or lesbian do seem to have more privilege than those who are transgender. Gays and lesbians have been around or known for a long period in America's society than transgenders. Recently gay marriage was just legalized so we are becoming more accepting to gays and lesbians. But transgender people is still a new concept in society and people are still trying to figure out how they feel about it which leads to oppression.
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