How Could You Be Affected... ?
As we know within the western world it is considered a social norm to either identify as 'Male' or 'Female' when discussing gender........So what happens if this is not me......how do I express myself.....How do I 'fit' into society........?
........not everyone will experience this however, if you do not have a supportive network of family and friends this could be you; left feeling very lonely and issolated. This may not necessarlity be due to your beliefs but the beliefs and values society holds about gender, how gender is definded and automatically given to you at birth as your biological sex is identified; your gender is confirmed and the role in which you will perform life is adopted. This formular towards gender can cause many individuals to experience an identity crisis, especially since gender is considered such a fundamental part of the western culture. (Hozid, 2013)
This could be your story......
"Alex was a 14-year-old biological female with who was part of a large family in a deprived area which had lost its major industry over the past two decades. His emotional needs struggled to be met amongst the family’s impoverished and chaotic lifestyle, where he and each of his siblings required significant support from his parents day-to-day. Alex’s gender feelings had been recognised and acknowledged by the family at a young age, but Alex became increasingly distressed at the physical developments of puberty and had no outlet or support with this. Various members of the family experienced verbal and physical abuse from their neighbours as a result of Alex’s outward appearance. His behaviour deteriorated at school and he expressed suicidal ideation, each of these putting additional strains on parents who already struggled to manage". (Wiseman & Davidson, 2011, p. 534).
YOU DO NOT NEED TO FEEL ALONE:
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Online Peer Health Support Community - Heathful Chatroom - http://www.healthfulchat.org/gender-identity-disorder-chatroom.html
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Open Doors Youth Service - Pride for life - Townsville
http://www.opendoors.net.au/?page_id=263
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Beyond Blue - Anxiety, Depression
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
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Lifeline Australia
13 11 14 - Available 24 hours, 7 days a week
“Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the worlds of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt,
The Great Question, 1958