GWS related event: women living with HIV

I went to the exhibition women living with HIV. 14 Chicago women with HIV were interviewed and their stories told. All of them participate in the Women’s Interagency HIV study (WIHS) where they got HIV treatment and often found support. Every women has an assigned sign in the exhibition to mark comments, stories and sometimes even pictures. The women tell the audience how they got the disease, found out, live with it now and how it changed them. In addition to that, there are a lot of information about infection rates and how treatment for women has changed over the years. Before 1988, HIV was widely considered a disease mostly men, gay men, had. And while numbers of infected men were peaking, very few women were diagnosed and treated and “suffered disproportionately”. Since then, treatment has radically improved and there are also more foundations to help (women).

Many of the 14 women were hiding their diagnosis from their families, but very often it gave them the push they needed to fight for their own lives. Some of them got clean after being diagnosed to fight HIV. All of the women struggled with their diagnosis, but as the quote in the picture says, “I struggle and that is my strength”, many of them felt strong and inspired for fighting and living with HIV and turned their life around after the diagnosis.

Body Positivity

In four videos, Annie Elainey talks about body image, the corresponding disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder and body image healing and peace.According to Annie, she started being conscious about her body when she was ten, due to her fathers negative comment about her nose. Starting from that point, she felt worthless and self conscious. Body dysmorphic disorder means obsessing over one’s body, and (imaginary) defects of ones apprearance. Risks include low self esteem, anxiety and  depression. According to Annie, society puts pressure on people to be beautiful, or to feel worthless instead. Cutting negative people, magazines and social media out of her life improved Annies situation, as well as replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts and phrases. Saying positive things about your body, into the mirror for example, will eventually make you think and be confident about your body.

In her third video, she deals with intersectional body positivity. She is explaining to her YouTube audience that body shaming is not acceptable, whether it is attacking fat, old, disabled or colored people. In addition to body shaming, she states that the mentioned groups are underpresented in media which made her question where she belonged when she was young. Bodies and health come in a different forms and sizes, and it is not our job to judge or evaluate either. Annie gives a few great examples on sexism and other mentioned intersectional topics such as disability. In her last video, Annie shares how she learned to find body peace. In general, body peace doesn’t include hating your body. However, body peace can range from acceptance to loving your body, as well as just seperating your true value from apperences and not caring. Annie explains that she was able to separate her true self, her brain, from her physcial form and not think about her looks for days. In addition to that, she developped a phyosohpy that looks aren’t everything, “big and fat? So what?” and would go on with her life.

I learned a lot about body peace and self acceptance in those four videos. Even though I know that it isn’t true, I always deep down believed that self love means reaching the point in your life when you fully accept, love and appreciate your body and wouldn’t want to change anything. I never imagined that body peace could go so far that one doesn’t even think or bother for days.In addition to that, I appreciate the attention she gave to the intersectional body positivity. Even though I think that LGBTQ, disabled people and people of color are being more represented on TV  than ever, there is still so much more improvement for having role models and representaions in the media.

My Reflections - Post 11

After my research on familial and peer based acceptance of transgender teens, I can say that I have learned a large amount on the issue. Prior to this project, I had very little understanding of the transgender community, the oppression that is faced, and why this oppression is troublesome. This project has been very eye opening for me, because I feel that I have gained an understanding I previously did not have.

The years spent as a teenager are some of the most difficult years, dealing with many changes and a whole of awkwardness. During these years, most teens are thriving for acceptance from their peers and support from their families. Unfortunately, these are two things transgender teens tend to struggle with. From my research, I have found that more often than not, transgender teens are not something parents or teen friends welcome with love and acceptance. Transgender teenagers often face isolation from their friends who shun things they are not familiar with, or things that are “not normal”, while many parents refuse to accept that their child is different from the picture perfect teenager they had imagined. 

Both of these forms of rejection are just flat out wrong. In my opinion, the rift in information here comes from a lack of knowledge and understanding on the sexual identification of transgender. It is natural for people to fear the unknown, however transgender is not something unknown. With all of the research, therapies, literature on the gender, it has become something that has been identified as “okay”, instead of a medical condition.

It is my opinion, after my research for this project, that the rejection from parents and peers comes from a lack of understanding. In the first post I made, Analysis of a web source, we met a family who had a transgender teenage member. At first, like any family, they were shocked and slightly confused. To accommodate and aid their child, the family did large amounts of research, and afterwards were able and willing to accept the child for who he really was, regardless of gender. This is an example of the way knowledge can transform one’s opinions. It’s natural for people to reject what they do not understand, and that is what is continually happening with peers and families regarding acceptance of their transgender friends and children. 

The power structures I discussed in my earlier post could have a tremendous impact on the understanding of the transgender community. School systems should be teaching a form of sexual education that acknowledges every sexual orientation and identification. This way, we can create generations of understanding and accepting people who will not discriminate against members of the LGBT* community. 

Intersectional Issue - Post 7

Familial and peer acceptance of transgender teens is an intersectional issue in the way that it impacts various races/classes differently. While the acceptance of transgender teens via their family members and friends in an issue in itself, the impact of this acceptance on different races and classes varies greatly. This is an intersectional issue because the way transgender teens are treated can differ when discussing different communities. One example of race intersections is related to an example we discussed in class. We talked about how latino/a families tend to want their children and peers to adhere closely to gender norms, somewhat due to their strong conservative family values. The denial of a child’s identification may be extremely high in this culture due to religion or it may be widely accepted because of the way this community values their family and loved ones.  

The significance of the problem with the acceptance of transgender teens via peers and the family is extremely high. Due to the lack of understanding that currently surrounds transgender teens, there are great amounts of oppression and discrimination facing this community. The discrimination and hatred that has been created results from the idea of anything that differs from the heterosexual norm of straight people identifying with their gender at birth. However, as time moves forward, transgender has been identified as a community within LGBT and is not something that should be viewed as “wrong”.

Unfortunately, a vast majority of society still has uneducated ideas about transgender and discriminates against those who fall into this category. For my blog, I wanted to dig deeper into familial and peer based acceptance of transgender teens, to gain a better understanding of how these ideas impact transgender teens and those who surround them. My findings have showed me that in most communities there is a large lack of acceptance for transgender teens whether it is through their families or friends. Due to this lack of acceptance, many teens are bullied at school or in their social environment, and often continue to face these negative attitudes in their homes from their parents and other family members.