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How Has Society's Attitudes Towards Transsexuals Changed Since 1950?

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How Has Society's Attitudes Towards Transsexuals Changed Since 1950?
Amanda Greenall
Independent Studies Part One: Gender Sexuality and Society

How has society's attitude towards transsexuals changed since 1950?

A transsexual is defined as
"1) a person who feels that they should have been the opposite sex, and therefore behaves and dresses like a member of that sex
2) a person who has had medical operation to change their natal sex" (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2004). In the context of this assignment I investigated the views towards transsexuals described in the latter definition, as a person who has undergone a medical operation to change their natal sex. The essay is an analysis of the changes in attitude of society towards transsexuals since 1950, in an attempt to identify what may have contributed towards this change and how the modern society now view transsexuals. For the purpose of this essay I chose to concentrate on society's attitude towards transsexuals in the UK. Many examples in the media and key events have influenced a change in modern society's views towards transsexuals. Changes in legislative rights of transsexuals have also influenced this change which this essay will be looking at in the hope to find a correlation between such events and the change in society's views.

One of the first acknowledgements of transsexuality in the …show more content…
On the basis that they were born a certain gender, even though that gender may have now been corrected to reflect their true, inner gender and personality, the law does not see give them equal treatment. The law's lack of recognition of the transsexuals as human beings has caused discrimination and thus the attitude of the society has reflected this discrimination offered by the law. If even the law cannot recognise them as equal human beings, there is little hope of living their lives with dignity and respect and less chance of changing society's attitude towards
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