Transgender Education

Gender is an issue that we are surrounded by constantly. Ideas about gender shape how a baby is treated from the moment of its birth.
Because gender is so omnipresent, it's also something that people take for granted and don't dedicate much time to trying to understand beyond the cultural norms with which they've been raised.

When confronted with transgenderism, people who have never had to deeply think about gender before might find themselves confused. Things that they took for granted may be questioned or challenged. This is one reason why many advocacy groups for transgender people focus on education.

What does transgender education mean?

Many transgender advocacy groups begin with the assumption that those they educating know little to nothing about transgender issues. Because these aren't topics that people regularly face in their daily lives, this assumption remained true for many years. Recently, education and visibility efforts have paid off and people are far more aware of what being transgender means. Still, there is a great deal of ignorance about the realities of life as a transgender person and this is what such advocacy groups are attempting to eradicate. There's no shame in ignorance and most people will have some to a certain degree.

Resources for transgender education often begin with a "transgender 101". There are numerous different versions of such an introduction to transgenderism. These will usually explain the definitions of transsexuals, transvestites, gender, sex and other concepts closely related to transgenderism. They will also quite often explain what it means for a person to be transgender.

Other resources in transgender education may include descriptions on how to be an ally for transgender rights. There are many different ways that a person who is not transgender might support gender variant people. There are also many ways that such a person could accidentally offend the people he or she is trying to support. These sorts of guides can be very useful for avoiding such pitfalls.

Transgender education may also cover transitioning advice, descriptions of surgery and treatments and more. Of particular use for someone who has just come out as transgender, many resources will give personal stories from others who are transgender. Being able to compare one's own story to that of others can help a great deal with figuring out gender identity.

Many people have found that relying on one source for education on transgender issues is not always enough. Because it is such a personal experience, each person will inevitably leave their own stamp on whatever they write about transgenderism. Some people may have very different views of which words are offensive or what the best treatment options might be for transsexuals. Because of this, keeping an open mind and looking over many different resources can help.

For example, if two websites disagree about some aspect of transgenderism it would be a good idea to look at other sources for information before making a decision.

tvChix has a number of different articles and resources for transgender education. While it may not answer all of your questions, it does cover a broad spectrum of ideas regarding transgender issues.

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