Introduction
Human society has always been functioning in terms of specific rules impacting human interactions and their perspectives on various issues. However, these regulations have always been altered following human thought and scientific development. As a result, new generations acquired new perspectives on specific attitudes, while the past ones became obsolete, biased, or even dangerous for society.
It is a normal process vital for the development of society and its survival. For instance, nowadays, individuals discuss issues that seemed fundamental in the 20th century, such as gender and identity. The traditional division implying only two genders becomes less relevant because of the increased importance of trans and intersex people. The National Geographic documentary Gender Revolution revolves around this issue.
Documentary Analysis
The movie offers a deep investigation of the problem of gender in the modern world. Katie Couric (2017) introduces the idea that the world is not as simple as it was in her childhood, when society was organized to ensure that boys and girls lived different lives. Nowadays, things are different, as many people do not fit into a sex or gender binary (Couric, 2017).
For me, the movie emphasized the critical importance of the problem and its topicality. I knew about transgender people and the issues they might have because of the incongruity of their anatomic and self-identified gender. However, I did not realize the scope of the problem and the diverse challenges people from this cohort face.
The documentary touches upon various aspects of transgender people’s lives and the main problems they might face. Thus, I think individuals from this group might have specific health issues. First of all, they might acquire mental health problems because of the stressors emerging from the incongruity between the anatomy, self-conceptualization, and society’s unreadiness to accept the choice (Cicero et al., 2019). It can contribute to the development of depression, anxiety, and suicidal inclinations among individuals (Cicero et al., 2019). At the same time, hormonal therapy and gender transformation surgery might have numerous complications and cause severe damage to the health of an individual (Tangpricha, 2021). For this reason, transgender people’s decisions to start the transformation might imply numerous health risks.
Moreover, the discriminative attitudes towards transgender people and the absence of a clearly defined legal status might create the basis for health issues. First, there is a significant barrier to acquiring the necessary care because of the lack of specialists who understand the topic and can help individuals from this cohort (Cicero et al., 2019). Additionally, transgender adults report higher rates of smoking tobacco and using addictive substances because of the stress caused by the inability to find a place in society and interact with others (Tangpricha, 2021). Finally, the lack of cultural competence among providers and tolerance might be a serious issue impacting the lives of transgender people (Cicero et al., 2019). The documentary proves this idea by showing examples from real life.
Conclusion
Altogether, the film Gender Revolution touches upon an essential theme of transgender people’s lives and their place in society. The documentary shows that the problem becomes more topical because of the growing importance of human rights issues and new opportunities for people to speak about their problems and attract attention. The documentary is a critical source showing the barriers transgender people must overcome to achieve inner peace and integrate into society. It can improve others’ awareness about the topic and help to discuss it from various perspectives.
References
Cicero, E. C., Reisner, S. L., Silva, S. G., Merwin, E. I., & Humphreys, J. C. (2019). Health care experiences of transgender adults: An integrated mixed research literature review. Advances in Nursing Science, 42(2), 123–138. Web.
Couric, K. (2017). Gender revolution [Film]. National Geographic.
Tangpricha V. (2021). Health disparities in transgender people. The Lancet. Diabetes & Endocrinology, 9(10), 641–643. Web.