Batavia, USA
— The phrase, "I'm a woman trapped inside a
man's body," provokes many reactions from people, most
commonly an uncomfortable giggle.
A Batavia high school
science teacher has begun the process of gender
reassignment. Basically, he wants to become a she. In
order to receive the surgery, he must dress and live as a
woman for one year, a standard rule in medical procedures
of this kind.
As you can imagine, many
parents have a problem with this. Some have gone as far
as to move their children to another school.
The media is the main
resource for most people's knowledge and understanding of
transsexuals, who are still largely misunderstood in
modern society. For better or worse, our culture has
become dependent on media representations in film,
television and print. We especially look to the media for
information on things we feel distant from or threatened
by.
Let's face it, the media
doesn't do a very good job of representing transsexuals
in a positive way. Everyone has seen those trashy talk
shows, the worst of which is probably "Jerry Springer,"
wherein "cross-dressers" are paraded on stage like circus
freaks in order to provoke raucous howls from the
audience.
The talk show format is
an open arena for producers to exaggerate the
characteristics of certain groups of people, inflating
and encouraging stereotypes of all kinds. Audiences
watching at home are drawn into a sort of mob mentality.
They're encouraged to think of transsexuals as freaks who
want to corrupt the average conventions of everyday
society.
In truth, people who feel
that they have been born the wrong sex are faced with a
complex problem. The term "transgender" encompasses a
wide array of situations, including people who wish to
have gender reassignment surgery. Women can want to
become men, and still remain attracted to men, while men
can want to become women and desire to be with a
man.
Even scientists can't
determine whether it is a psychological problem or just a
disparity in human behavior.
Understandably, parents
are upset about this sort of thing happening in their
child's school. They don't want some scary "drag queen"
teaching their kids biology. He might put some crazy
ideas into their heads.
By all accounts, this is
a good teacher who was previously well liked by students.
It seems unfair to tear down his otherwise decent
character just because he has decided to change an aspect
of his life that won't affect his ability to
teach.
Luckily, we live in the
United States, and this country wouldn't be what it is
today if we started to trivialize the importance of
people's rights. Title 7 of the Federal Civil Rights Act
states that discrimination by employers infringes
individual human rights, which protects the teacher from
any harmful legal action. The school is supporting him
through this prolonged transitional process, either
because of the law or because of other incentives.
Classes are being offered to help students and parents
better understand the situation.
Obviously, this is a
small news story, but it marks a tremendously important
step in the right direction for the transsexual
community. Before they decide to have the surgery, these
people are just like you and me. They have families and
jobs, and all they want is to feel normal. Surely no one
could imagine enduring life day-to-day feeling as if they
were born the wrong sex.
There are a few accurate
portrayals of the transsexual community out there.
Positive examples that show transsexuals living real
lives can be found more recently in films like
"Transamerica," wherein a man decides to have surgery to
become a woman. The film's lead female-posing-as-male,
Felicity Huffman, was nominated for an Oscar.
Perhaps this and the
Batavia high school's efforts indicate that the subject
matter has made a hopeful breach into the consciousness
of everyday Americans, where someday it will be more
accepted.
