course outline pre advertisement

I found my notes that I give to workplaces to get staff to come along to my courses.
I dont make them mandatory attendence as I dont agree with this theory.

And also my outline, this coukld change as I develop this session preparation.

Context

Society divides people into categories depending on the male or female appearance of an infant at birth. Reproductive organs, as well as brains, have distinctly different male and female characteristics. These physical differences define our sex, whereas gender identity describes the inner sense of knowing that we are men or women, and gender role describes how we behave in society. This is different from sexual orientation; that is, whether a person is sexually attracted to men, or women, or both or, very occasionally, neither.

Typically, sex appearance, gender identity and gender role are consistent. For a few people, the discomfort arising from the mismatch between the way they look and the way they feel may become extreme through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. In adolescence, stress is aggravated by the onset of puberty, when the body develops even further in opposition to the innate gender identity.

People experiencing gender dysphoria often live for many years in the gender role that society expects of them until, finally, their distress becomes intolerable and they undergo transition to live permanently according to the gender role that is more comfortable for them. When gender discomfort is this severe, it is referred to as Gender Dysphoria (Transexxualism).

According to figures provided by the Gender Identity Research and Education Service (Gires), one in 1,000 school children suffer from gender dysphoria: roughly one pupil for every secondary school: though not all of them will seek gender reassignment surgery.

It is now quite common for those experiencing and/or expressing gender variance to describe themselves as trans men (female to male) and trans women (male to female). However, many of those who live full time in the new gender role wish to be regarded as ordinary men and women. When trans people start to live permanently in the new gender role, they and their families, partners and spouses are likely to experience great stress. Many trans people suffer discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere at this time.

The session:

An informal lunchtime session which will gave a personal account of Lucy’s journey over a number of years, culminating in a decision to seek gender reassignment surgery. The session will cover issues around social change, and how change in social status, from being perceived as a heterosexual male to a transgender woman, can affect personal and workplace relationships. The presentation will also cover the sorts of pressures that Trans people are subject to such as isolation, fear of physical attack and being bullied, or treated as an object of fun.

Participants will then be asked to split into groups and engaged with, and then openly debate a questionnaire which is designed to challenge some of the myths and misconceptions that are often linked with transgender issues. This session also looked at attitudes and beliefs associated with gender, and how gender self identity shapes mind-sets in this context.