Lourd Andrew D.M.

Catipan BSA 2-1 Gender And Society Assignment

(interview)

So we are tasked to interview an individual who does not identify his/her gender as male
or female (LGBTQIA+). And these are the questions to be asked: (1) What gender do you
identify yourself? (2) How are you being described in the community or environment? And
(3) how did you discover your gender? identity?
My respondent is a biological male named JM, not his real name. He didn’t want to show
his name nor his face. However, he responded very honestly. I knew that he was sincere
because of two reasons; first is his tone of voice which clearly says that he is telling the truth.
And second is because I know him very well because we’re friends since our junior high
school.
On the first question, he did confess that he identify himself as a gender fluid who are
sometimes attracted to male, sometimes to female, and to an LGBTQIA+ member. He
occasionally feel that he is straight, but on other times he feel that he is homosexual.
For the next question, he answered that he, and other LGBTQIA+ members were
sometimes described as unwelcome. It's because there are still people, actually, there are
many people who are really holding tight to their beliefs about gender. JM justified it by
saying that there are religions that don’t believe on homosexuality, thus affecting people’s
beliefs toward such topic. Contrary to that, he still feel the sense of belonging because the
world is progressing and that there are those people who are fighting for social inclusivity in
terms of gender.
For the last question, he stated that his confusion about his gender identity was triggered
because of his break up with his ex-partner, which is a woman. He didn’t know if he’s still
straight because of the mixture of trauma and that his sexual attraction to any gender went
down the drain that time. But suddenly, he became attracted to a sex same as him. Through
the years, he admire men more. But don’t get him wrong, he's still attracted to female at the
same time. Now, he’s attracted to all genders.
To reflect on what JM shared, I think that no one can really tell who you are and what you
should be aside from yourself. Ourselves isn’t static and assigned, it was discovered through
experience and can change through socialization. You can’t define it based on your genitals
or your physical characteristics. You build it together with other people for two main reasons,
to express what you feel and to be happy.

Interview documentations:

If you want to watch my full interview of JM, here’s the video link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/182HSBcEkTMYTzr-EmifMMZS9gTEq6kU6/view?usp=drivesdk

Lourd Andrew D.M. Catipan BSA 2-1 Gender And Society

Assignment(reflection)

Based on the videos presented, most of them have an environment that's very supportive
about their gender. They were portrayed by the people around them according to who they
really are. They were loved and accepted by their love ones, especially those transgender
men, and I think that's the only thing they needed. Though I know that on the second video,
there are lgbtqia+ there that experienced discrimination against their chosen gender. I know
this because they are, or should I say, we are in the Philippines where many people can't still
accept the fact that gender is a social construct, and that each person have the right to
choose whatever they think should fit their true self. Based on what the gay & lesbian couple
said, they were sometimes questioned about their chosen partner. Even though they were
biologically male and female, they still experience discrimination so what's more to those
people who are in a relationship with the same sex. This kind of thing should stop. If only all
of us try to understand and give them equal acceptance, then gender discrimination would
cease to exist.

List of words or phrases that identify male, female, and transgender.

Male Female Transgender

Boy Girl Transman
Man Woman Transwoman
Mr. (Mister) Ms. / Mrs. (Miss / Misis) Mx. (Mix)
Son Daughter Transsexual
Him/He/His Her/She/Hers Cross dresser
Brother Sister Gender dysphoria
Father Mother Lesbian / Gay

These words may literally indicate and describe specific gender, but there are times that
these were used in more than one gender. For example, if a transgender woman prefer the
pronouns “his” or “her”, then we should use these pronouns to identify that transwoman.
Another example is from the second video were the gay prefer and describe himself as a
man, and express himself as a masculine. Though he is a gay, we can’t call him a woman or
a trans woman since he don’t consider himself like that. These words if not used properly
may offend people, especially transgenders and other LGBTQIA+ members who prefer
different identification. It’s all about considering other’s feelings and not making assumptions
on their gender identity.