Gender (n): either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.

Gender roles have played a great part in society since the beginning of time. In traditional societies, men are the breadwinners and women are expected to stay home with the children. Conforming to gender-specific roles can make it seem that there is no flexibility and can demotivate people. Society nowadays is allowing for more expression and fewer roles catered to gender.

From the very strict male and female expression came a wide variety of gender expressions and pronouns. The more common ones are male, female, non-binary, FtM transgender, MtF transgender, and genderqueer. Pronouns can be interchangeable for any gender but the most commonly used ones are she/her, he/him, they/them, and ze/zir. The history to liberate these people from prejudice is a long deep-rooted story that should be honored for lifetimes.

In 1910, the term transvestite was created to describe men or women who cross-dressed. The term was used lightly because doctors did not want to treat something that they did not consider an issue. It wasn’t until the late 1940s that a doctor coined the word “transsexual” which described a person who later identified as the opposite of their actual sex at birth. In the 1960s the first sex-change operation in the United States was performed at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.

Around the same time, as the first sex-change surgery came the riots on Stonewall. The Stonewall Inn located in Manhattan, New York in the village of Greenwich. The purpose of this movement was to liberate the LGBTQIA+, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual, people of America. The LGBTQIA+ community was being faced with anti-gay laws.

The movements of the past have allowed this world today to have the freedom to be whoever they want to be. Breaking gender normality ensures that there is a better standing for accepting people in the future and to allow true gender equality.

It is more common for teenagers to express their gender fluidity in the 21st century. There are many people in Stroudsburg School district who identify as something other than their assigned genders at birth.

“I get oppressed because of my femininity in and outside of school,” said an anonymous SHS student. “I embrace it as I am a non-binary, gender non-conforming person. I don’t think anyone deserves the hate, not even the ones giving it out. I wish we could blossom into a better society where everyone is accepted.”

Here are some resources for your convenience:

https://www.aclu.org/other/rights-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-people

https://www.glsen.org/activity/pronouns-guide-glsen

https://www.lambdalegal.org/issues/anti-lgbt-rulings-laws-and-amendments

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/2019/02/22/research-brief-data-on-transgender-youth/