Gender Identity Crisis: My Choice and its Implications/Consequences

 

Gender Identity Crisis: My Choice and its Implications/Consequences

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

Gender identity crisis is also called Gender Dysphoria. It refers to discomfort in individuals because they experience a mismatch between their gender identity and their real gender (Cherry, 2022). Such feelings usually distress them about their existence because they are not happy with their physical sex characteristics. In other words, students with gender identity crises feel that their biological sex is different from their identity. The findings say it is not a mental disorder, but it can be developed due to varied reasons (Crown, 2020).

My Choice and its Implications

Imagining Jenny Monroe as my student in class 10, after knowing that she is going through a gender identity crisis whereby she has begun to dress like a boy and has cut her hair like a boy, during my first class while taking attendance, I would prefer to call her by name as written in the roster. If I call her and ask, “What would you like to be called?” she may get offended thinking that I have a kind of gender bias mentality, or she may feel insulted. I should be respecting her choice to protect her safety, dignity, and well-being (Rudy, 2017). By asking her about what I should be calling, I would make her feel that I am confused about her gender, which is bad. I should reflect on my gender assumptions while handling such a situation so that I can act beyond my comfort zone to protect her rights by creating a classroom with gender-inclusive spaces and making our students feel free about who they are. (Zane, 2016).

The Consequences of My Choice

Sometimes there would be some consequences if Jenny is called by her name. She may dislike her female name and it may not be based on her desire (Budlong, 2019) since her choice would be more toward male-characteristic behaviors. Instead of directly calling her by the name from the roster while taking attendance, I can ask all classroom members to introduce their names along with the pronouns to the class so that she is allowed to self-identify her name and pronouns (Harbin, 2016). Before that, I should introduce myself with the pronoun I use for my name (Zane, 2016) by saying, “My name is Mr. Santosh Kumar,” so that she can also use it while introducing herself, which enables me to know her choice in her name and pronoun. To affirm her, if she prefers all in the classroom to use her preferred name and pronouns, we should respect her choice to have a positive impact (Tran, 2018) because if we try to avoid her choice of name, it can stop her from expressing herself and participate in the classroom.

Sometimes, simply because I call her by name, she may behave differently or become insecure in the classroom. Such behavior may create an environment where she would become the victim of mockery in the classroom. Moreover, she may become a victim of discrimination, bullying, and anxiety, which affects her learning (Fraser Health Authority, 2021). In such a case, we need to create an inclusive classroom culture so that she gets equal respect from others in the classroom which makes her happy and motivated.  

Thus, the teacher should create adjustable experiences for students to address issues of gender identity in the classroom environment.

 

 

References

 

Budlong, J. (2019). Small changes can have big impact for inclusive classrooms. https://www.inside.iastate.edu/article/2019/02/21/inclusive-classroom

Cherry, K. (2022). What Is Gender Dysphoria? https://www.verywellmind.com/gender-dysphoria-5085081

Crown. (2020). Gender dysphoria. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/

Fraser Health Authority. (2021).  Gender and sexual identity in schools. https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-to-z/school-health/sex-education-and-sexual-identity/gender-and-sexual-identity-in-schools

Harbin, B. (2016). Teaching beyond the gender binary in the university classroom. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-beyond-the-gender-binary-in-the-university-classroom/

Rudy, S. (2017). Responding to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in school. PennGSE, Perspectives on Urban Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1143312.pdf

Tran, T. (2018). Creating a Safe School Environment. https://www.teachforamerica.org/one-day/top-issues/standing-up-for-transgender-students

Zane, S. (2016). Supporting Transgender Students in the Classroom. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management/supporting-transgender-students-classroom/