Rape And Masculinity Essay

Brandon tried to conform to the socially constructed visions of the male figure and external expectations of masculinity rather than sticking to the assigned gender and lady-like manner, the desire to fit in and be treated as an equal in a male dominated society, to be accepted as a male trapped in a female’s body. The risk of violence faced by trans genders because of limitations of gender binaries which are built upon assumptions that gender is linked to biological sex, transgressors become a threat to the natural order of things and also to the law and masculinity. Brandon’s rape serves as a reminder for other trans people that hegemonic masculinity reigns supreme in the gender hierarchy. Brandon had to pay for gender transgression through rape and assault and then a symbolic re- rape by the criminal justice system and law enforcement personnel. The insensitivity to the emotional need of rape survivors, on the part of police personnel is

In early 1990’s, Brandon was tricked by his mother into visiting a General Hospital’s psychiatrist where he was diagnosed with a sexual identity crisis, this example of medical community’s handling of Brandon’s identity as a form of disease conforms to society’s objective to cure or manage whatever deems abnormal. Although amidst all this chaos, Brandon described himself either a male, an individual with a sexual identity crisis, or a hermaphrodite. On several occasions, he had confessed in front of his family members and friends that in order to obtain sex reassignment surgery, he went through counseling and it was required of Brandon to live like a man for some time. The counselor who had several sessions with Brandon states that Brandon believed she was a man, a man trapped in a woman’s body. She didn’t identify herself as a