Are Gender Issues Still a Problem in Modern America?
By: Gabriella Miernik
Tags: LGBTQ, Gender Identity, Gender Roles, Gender, Gender Equality

Growing up in rural areas around North Florida, I really wasn’t aware of the issues with gender or anything pertaining to gender because that wasn’t a topic that was really talked about much. It wasn’t until I went off to college and started living in South Florida that I really started to, not only come to terms with how gender plays a role in my life but, how it can impact a lot of different people in various ways. When it comes to cisgender straight white males, to them it may play little to no role in their life. When it comes to every other person, especially BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), and their intersectional identities, on the other hand, gender issues are still a problem. While looking at the improvements that have been made specially to women over the past 50 years we are definitely making progress but not on all fronts. Especially when we look at gender identity in the scope of how it impacts members of the LGBTQ+ community from the cis-gendered, heterosexual community. They expect us to be assigned certain gender roles, the constant attacks and discrimination on people in the transgender community, and how American culture reinforces the notion that gender exists as a strict binary when we know there is so much more to it.

The LGBTQ+ community has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years but, it wasn’t until President Obama’s last term that we finally were able to have legalized marriage across the United States. This alone should tell you that there are still attacks on gender in modern America, especially in the scope of people wanting to keep to the traditional values of being with the opposite gender and nothing in between. This long road towards equality has been a very tough road if you look throughout history and everything that we’ve had to overcome to just get where we are today. Looking throughout our history you will always see that people have used insults attacking women and men with words that attack gender expression whether that be through feminine or masculine characteristics. These types of attacks have been what has hindered progress for so long in our community. It also leads back to a lingering problem which is that people expect certain gender roles in same-sex relationships. In Stephen May's essay, What about Gender Roles in Same-Sex Relationships? he starts the essay by saying “Imposing gender roles on gay couples is even more ridiculous than doing so with straight couples.” The author really hits this statement on the head and even elaborates more throughout the article. Just because one person in the relationship presents qualities that make them more feminine doesn’t mean that people should say things like asking if they are the woman in the relationship and just because that person’s partner presents more masculine such as having a beard or is muscular doesn’t make them the guy in the relationship. It’s also wrong for people who identify as heterosexual because, despite someone’s sexual orientation, people can simply demonstrate more masculine qualities or feminine qualities, even with them not liking the same sex. These types of standards are unrealistic considering that in same-sex relationships, it’s either two men or two women, neither of which one would be a man and one would be a woman. These types of tropes and stereotypes really hurt our community from making progress when straight people like to assume who is who because none of those traditional gender roles play in effect and they shouldn’t be in straight relationships either. Arwa Mahdawi’s article, states that “research suggests that same-sex couples have more equal relationships than their heterosexual counterparts and share more childcare responsibilities.” This research is accurate because, in traditional heterosexual relationships, they like to assign tasks that their parents did and their parents before them have done and don’t like to break out of those traditional roles to make the words even amongst both partners. It’s called a relationship for a reason and there shouldn’t be one person doing only household tasks while the other person is just working and focused on “manly” chores.

When it comes to addressing whether gender is still a problem in America, we need to include the transgender community in this discussion. Across the United States for decades since Stonewall, they have been victimized and even treated as less than any other member of the LGBTQ+ community. According to the National Resource Center Domestic Violence, “Transgender individuals and communities experience shocking amounts of violence and discrimination. While data is limited, there is still some information on the staggering rates of violence that trans and non-binary people face. In addition to experiencing high rates of domestic and sexual violence, trans and non-binary people are often the targets of transphobic hate crimes and state violence.” This quote within itself just shows how lowly transgender people are treated because there haven’t been a lot of resources that have enough information on just how much violence and discrimination they face. Looking throughout history especially since 1969 and through the AIDS epidemic, transgender people were not treated fairly. A lot of gay men would look down upon them as less than and not to mention that the traditional family, especially those with Christian values, would look at them like they are monsters. I think that the harsh treatment from, not only the heterosexual community but, even people that are supposed to be within their own community has led to the slow delay of progress within the transgender community. You can also look at the National Center for Transgender Equality survey that showed, “26% of trans people lost a job due to bias, 50% were harassed on the job, 20% were evicted or denied housing, and 78% of trans students were harassed or assaulted.” If you look at these statistics for the transgender community, they are being murdered at an astounding rate which has only risen over the past 10 years across America. Even here in Florida, we were the highest state for Trans murders last year and there are no local or federal investigations being done to help these victims and their families. You can even look at Trump’s transgender military ban from 2017 where he wanted to prevent transgender people from joining the military because he felt they only joined to get their surgery for free. How can the leader and Commander of our country criticize people that are doing more than myself and others to put their life on the line for a country that won’t even protect them or their rights? This is a clear example that gender is still under attack in America if people who would die for this country can’t even receive protections or certain rights.

Finally, we also need to look at the non-binary community as well which is sometimes encompassed under the transgender community when it comes to gender being a problem in America. Many people like to believe that the non-binary community is something that has just recently sprung about but this isn’t true at all. There is evidence of this if you look across different cultures where nonbinary or similar terms are used to describe these people. Native Americans use two-spirited to describe non-binary people within their community so clearly, this is nothing new. Something people like to believe to criticize and attack this gender identity is that non-binary people are confused about their gender identity or following a new fad which is absolutely not factual. Non-binary is used to describe people who feel their gender cannot be defined within the margins of the gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or a woman. Some non-binary people may feel comfortable within trans communities and find this is a safe space to be with others who don’t identify as cis, but this isn’t always the case. According to a 2016 study from The Journal of Sex Research, one of the most common themes of discrimination for genderqueer people is the incorrect use of preferred gender pronouns. The study labeled this as ‘non-affirmation’, and it occurs when others do not affirm one’s sense of gender identity. Participants within this study also reported experiencing gender policing. While many people may use pronouns such as she/her for women or he/him for men there are other pronouns that people may use. One of the biggest ones for the non-binary community is using they/them pronouns. Just using the right pronouns for people can really impact the validation that they need. We also have to look at access to documents that allow individuals to change their gender identity or have it marked whenever individuals are born which isn’t the case all across the United States and even in some places depending on who you deal with they may make your life harder to try to get necessary documentation that fits you. This can also affect non-binary people when it comes to their work environment because they can face discrimination in that setting or even look towards other aspects of their life such as banking information, getting a house, or even adopting children. According to the Transgender Law Center, “70% of transgender people are not able to update their identity documents and one-third of have been harassed, assaulted, or turned away when seeking basic services.” It’s really all aspects of life that are at an impasse for people that are non-binary and even other gender identities and sexual orientations that fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

In conclusion, when it comes to gender being an issue in America, anybody can come to their own conclusion that the answer should be yes. Gender is still an issue for women who are paid less than men and, through a lot of laws, still have to rely on men to do even things such as adopting a child. But looking outside of the typical two genders that most people want to focus on we really need to look at the transgender and non-binary communities that are also a part of the LGBTQ+ community because we have been overlooked for too long and normally are not even mentioned when it comes to issues pertaining gender. The LGBTQ+ community has a long way to go before we have all of the rights and protections as cisgender and heterosexual people. In order for us to move towards total equality for all genders, there is definitely a lot of progress that needs to take place not just on the presidential level that a lot of people only like to focus on but more so on the state and local level that affect everyone’s day-to-day lives not just every 4 years when we need to vote for a new president.