Gender Identity: Beyond Pronouns and Bathrooms

Detailed Book Description

What does it mean to think of gender as being a range instead of simply male or female?

Gender Identity: Beyond Pronouns and Bathrooms invites readers to consider the cultural significance of gender identity in the United States and beyond. Middle and high schoolers learn about the history of LGBT rights, with a particular focus on transgender rights and the rights of gender-variant people, while engaging in research activities to help put what they have learned into context. These activities encourage teens to form their own, well-informed opinions about public figures, historical events, and current news regarding gender identity.

Busting the myth that the gender identity movement is a new phenomenon, this book teaches teens about some of the first openly transgender public figures in history, such as Lili Elbe, the first recorded person to ever medically transition in the 1930s, and Christine Jorgensen, who medically transitioned and rose to fame in the 1950s. The stories of activists and other important public figures are highlighted throughout the book and offer plenty of opportunity to connect with the history of the gender identity movement on a human level. From the Stonewall riots to the institution of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, teens will gain a rich understanding of how gender identity fits into culture, past and present.

Readers learn concepts that are crucial to understanding the basics of gender identity, such as how gender identity differs from physical sex and sexual orientation, why drag queens and transgender women are not one and the same (although transgender women can be drag queens!), and the importance of gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns. Teens also discover works of fiction featuring or starring transgender characters, from television shows to novels to award-winning films.

Gender Identity includes critical-thinking activities and research exercises to encourage readers to dive deep into the topic and consider viewpoints from many different identities. Fun facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the past, present, and future of gender identity.

Gender Identity is part of a set of four books called Inquire & Investigate Social Issues of the Twenty-First Century, which explores the social challenges that have faced our world in the past and that continue to drive us to do better in the future. Other titles in this set are Feminism, Immigration Nation, and Race Relations and Civil Rights.

Try these critical-thinking activities

• Explore cultural expectations of gender
• Research the life of Lili Elbe
• Compare and contrast fictional characters from two works of fiction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Timeline

Introduction
What is Gender Identity?

Chapter 1
The Struggle for Recognition

Chapter 2
The Birth of a Movement

Chapter 3
Challenges and Changes

Chapter 4
Violence and Progress in the 1990s

Chapter 5
A New Era of Connectedness

Chapter 6
Gender-Variant Characters in Fiction

Chapter 7
The “New” Revolution

Glossary
Resources
Index