What it Means to Have a Gender Identity Crisis

Gender identity crisis is a social issue that many people deal with. The definition of an identity crisis is “A psychosocial state or condition of disorientation and role confusion occurring especially in adolescents as a result of conflicting internal and external experiences, pressures, and expectations and often producing acute anxiety”, as well as “distress and disorientation (especially in adolescence) resulting from conflicting pressures and uncertainty about and one’s self and one’s role in society”, as listed in Webster’s Dictionary. Gender identity, therefore, is the struggle to understand one’s gender via internal struggles and experiences. There is however, a large difference between gender and sex.

Sex is the biological make up of a human being. This meaning someone of the male sex has a penis, while someone of the female sex has a vagina and breasts. Gender, however, is the social expression of masculinity or femininity. In our society, gender and sex have somehow become synonymous, while in reality, they are two completely different things.

A person expresses the male gender via actions. This is generally referred to as performance of gender. For example, someone who is perceived to be male might work out a lot, drink mass amounts of beer, and exude cockiness. The performance of gender via these actions and characteristics shows the ideal of masculinity. This then shows that this person is a man, since they are exuding masculine ideals. This could also be female masculinity, in which the person biologically is a girl, but exudes masculine ideals. Therefore, what constitutes calling this person a “man”? Their biological make-up, or the ideals that they are exuding? Thus the onset of gender identity crisis.

In the movie Boys Don’t Cry, Brandon Teena is a biological girl who dresses, walks, talks, and exudes masculinity. Since this person is biologically a girl, we should say then that “he” has not masculinity, but female masculinity. Brandon is a young man who has a police record, is a strong person, brave, and also looking for love and acceptance. Brandon sees himself as a man. To him, yes, he has female body parts, but his real inside, psychological person is a man. Through his feminine masculinity, he entices a local girl names Lana. It is assumed that she is attracted to him because he is not the “typical” guy (cocky, rude, insensitive). Instead, Lana is drawn to him because of his sensitive side and the fact that he knows how a woman wants to be treated, as well as how to please her. This might reflect a bit of his feminine side.

The media has portrayed those that do not conform to their “assigned” gender are abnormal and that they are then unnatural. Society also then punishes these people via hate crimes and the media. In reality, gender identification problems are extremely difficult. Transsexuals have to work very hard and concentrate on passing themselves off as their new and desired gender. The ultimate goal for that person is to be accepted as a member of that gender, preferably a natural member.
Gender and sexuality face us with putting behavior versus orientation. Meaning that, people of certain orientations, (gay, straight, etc), are expected to exude certain behavioral patterns. Gay/Lesbian people have the behavioral pattern of being attracted to a person of their same sex. They sometimes also might exude heightened masculinity or femininity.

Heterosexuals follow the behavioral pattern of being attracted to the opposite sex. Transgendered people, such as Brandon Teena, have specific physical as well as behavioral ramifications. They’re physical transformation is a huge part, because this is the way that they will ultimately convey to people that “yes, I am a male”. Interestingly enough, transgendered people do not associate themselves with being gay or lesbian. They truly feel that inside and out, minus the genitals, that they are that certain gender. Brandon Teena even justifies this point by saying that his genitals are ” a mistake by God”. Thus he feels that he is truly a male, he just ended up with the wrong parts.

Some doctor’s are now considering transgendered behavior as a normal variation of the human condition, rather than as a “disorder”. Gender dysphoria is what it is still sometimes called, which is derivative of the actual meaning of the Greek word dysphoria, which means “hard to bear”. The name itself shows the emotional variants one must go through everyday. Imagine going through life everyday feeling like you are not what you are supposed to be? Even though their sex says one thing, their gender tells them another. And with most people using the words gender and sex synonymously, it makes much more confusing and difficult for the person who is actually dealing with it.

Ultimately, sex and gender usually coorolate with each other. However, there are some in this world who do not have a gender and sex that agree with each other. This often brings on high emotional stress, as well as susceptibility to violence and discrimination. Brandon Teena seemed to epitomize this lifestyle. Even though he was going through this emotional struggle and eventually was killed as a result of his issue, he exuded happiness, kindness, and hopefulness for the future.