1 Stigmas and Stereotypes Anu James Social Service Worker, Fanshawe College SOCW-1054 Social Work in Mental Health l Prof. Alisha Stubbs May 10, 2022 2 I have been raised in a religious family where both my parents are dedicated catholic and the bible their law. My parents have always ensured that they have taught us everything that we ought to know about this faith and how to ignore the contradictions that arise with the modern world. This being said, I have always had a problem or bias with the fact that there are more genders other than the basic two. One of the foundational tenets of our binary Western mentality is the belief that there are only two distinct genders. Transgender individuals reshape our whole concept of reality. And as a result, they are made to bear the brunt of our bafflement (OHCR, 2018). It is hard for me to accept the fact that transgenders exists in a sexual gender different from that which they were born in. When I think of gender as a Christian, I tend to go back in time. God created humans in his likeness, in his image, and made them male and female in the book of Genesis, which tells us two tales about how things came to be (Genesis 1:27, NRSV). As a child, I was exposed to tales about transgender persons and lived with people who appeared to fit into these gender boundaries. Though their gender identification is distinct from their sexual orientation, transgender persons are often depicted as "confused" and homosexual or lesbian in the media. 3 References OHCR. (2018). 4. Bias and prejudice. Retrieved from Ontario Human Rights Commision: https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-preventing-discrimination-because-genderidentity-and-gender-expression/4-bias-and-prejudice
