This summer I was given a promotion to help manage an outdoor pool. Pool being minimal, it was more like a miniature water park. We have a lot of camps come in through our facility. One of the camps that comes in is our link program for parents who work full time but their children are enrolled in our city schools. As I walk around the pool deck, I noticed a child whom I knew previously.
Back a few years ago I worked in a Montessori daycare. I worked with all age groups. There was a little girl who at that point identified as a girl. Identity is the concept of who we are (Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 168). While she identified as a girl, she always hung out with the boys. She wanted to play sports and hang around in the mud.
Fast forward to now, the child now identifies as a boy. Gender identity is defined as the identification with the cultural norms of masculinity and femininity (Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 184). Now this child and her parents do not have a problem with not identifying based on the cultural norms. The child is now what we consider transgender. Transgender is the identification with a gender that does not match one’s biological gender (Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 186).
I see the child from time to time at my mom’s work. I see that the child uses the bathroom inside the office because they are not accepted. I see that the child has very little friends sitting with them at the lunch table. All of which affects the way they communicate with others. When we are not valued or appreciated, we typically end up becoming isolated and withdrawn. The children now need to address the child with different pronouns causing confusion between each other. The transgender child may be offended if called by the wrong pronoun.
References
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2018). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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