Writing in 2015

The definition of writing in the Oxford Dictionary is "the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text". In 2015 we no longer restrict our writings to paper. The innovation of writing and the emergence of new writing platforms brings about new opportunities and challenges. For example, my blog. My blog is a writing platform that gives me the opportunity to have my writing be viewed by anyone when ever they feel like it and also gives me the freedom to choose what I write. The challenge freedom and accessibility cause, is one of bias and how to present your thinking. You do not want to be too  black and white with the stances you take and you want to also make your work entertaining.

Celebration of Student Writing responce

     Last week at EMU our class attended the 27th semiannual celebration of student writing. The celebration is a gathering of all of EMU's writing classes. Each person and each class presents something different.Our class did presentations on topics in our research papers ( see mine above). The prompt for our presentations was to:

 "Create a 5-7 minute multi-modal presentation in which persuade your audience to take some action. (Select from the options on the next page.) (Students may work in pairs, but they must document contributions to project and timeline.)

Components of your presentation should include:

·      identifying a problem,

·      explaining the exigency (the urgency, the “why and why now” of the problem)

·      defining terms,

·      explaining history on the problem

·      describing reason for action

·      describing effect of action

·      summary

·      takeaway"

 

        I decided to use Photostory as my medium for creating this multi-module presentation because I believe that audio and visuals are the most effective ways of gaining the interest and understanding of an audience.Photostory is a program that allows you to create a slideshow of pictures and record narration over the pictures.

 

         Overall I had a great experience at the celebration. There was a wide variety of presentations at the celebration. One class did presentations on ways to improve EMU. There is a value in seeing and sharing ideas with people of different walks of life. In college writing courses it is easy to start to believe that you know all there is to know about how you are "supposed to write" and the topics you write about. This celebration breaks that misconception and encourages students to keep an open mind.

Project two: Problem statement draft

The lamb in the lion cage is bound to die. When Pre-op transsexuals are incarcerated a plethora of questions and decisions go unasked and neglected. The biggest question of them all being where do you send them? It is undefined when or where it is inappropriate to send a transgendered prisoner to serve their sentence. To begin to set precedents for this process many questions need to be asked and thoroughly answered. Will they be allowed to continue treatment? Will their mental state worsen? Will they be tormented and violated more than other inmates. Is the treatment of prisoners  flawed? There are biological, psychological, and judicial opinions to every question.

Defining your terms: Project 2

 

 

When it comes to academic writing it is extremely important to define your terms. When I say that I do not mean you need to write your paper like a vocabulary list, but is very important to explain your terminology and the way in which you use it.

 

 

For example if you are writing an essay about plants you need to make it extraordinarily clear that you are talking about manufacturing plants instead of foliage. Also terminology changes discipline to discipline . The word 'table' can be used one way in math or science and in a completely different way in an English or engineering course.

 

In an attempt to explain this I will define/explain the terms I frequently use and find in my research.

 

Trans: Transsexual

 

Transsexual: umbrella term that refers to all people in the trans community.

 

Transgendered: someone who actively accepts and embodies their chosen gender identity (cross dressers, androgyny, sex change, etc.)

 

Gender Dysphoria: Disorder (undecided if mental or physical) in which you identify more with the opposite sex instead of your born sexual identity.

 

sex-change: operation to change your gender.

 

 

 



Project two: my writing process

 

The image above is a drawing of my personal writing process. This image depicts the actions I make while working on a writing project.

 

1) As soon as I get the assignment I begin to jot down ideas I have for the paper.

2) I will then take some time to think about the project and how to overcome any barriers I am faced with while writing.

3) After I have a solid idea for my paper I will talk it over with my mother or my aunt.

4) After I talk out my idea everything usually falls into place.

5) While I type out my paper I usually watch a movie or listen to music.

6) When I complete the draft I read it allowed and edit.

 

 

This is a drawing of where I write. I write in the living  room of my apartment. I like to sprawl out on the couch and turn off all the lights and open a window to let the sun in. My dog will usually lie at my feet while I type.

 

Here is a link to an article that debates the writing process:

http://wac.colostate.edu/books/selves_societies/prior/

Project two: Research problem

My research problem involves the confusion over what gender dysphoria (transsexuality) is. It has been debated whether gender dysphoria is a physical or mental disorder.

This topic is very important. If it is unknown what causes gender dysphoria the treatments of it could be faulty.

I have gathered information from a handful of credible sources that cover this topic. They all had conflicting opinions over the diagnosis and treatment of gender dysphoria. My research will seek to get some clarity on this topic.

I have included some links that can give you some insight into the issues.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dean-eastmond/transphobia_b_6594674.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/us-rights-gender-idUSKBN0L323K20150130
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/02/us/study-links-brain-to-transsexuality.html

Project one: language is changing

    A lot of  things about the way you look and act change situation to situation and setting to setting. Today I am going to discuss language change. Everyone is saying that '"language is changing", this saying could mean many things. Language changes gradually over time with variations in writing, pronunciation, and lifestyle.

An example of language change is the difference in how you text your friend and how you write an essay for school. You wouldn't use the same dialect in those two situations. Even though I change the way I write when I am in an academic setting I stay true to myself by finding alternative words and phrases that have the same meaning.

 

Here is a slam poem I love that tackles some topics such as staying true to yourself in a world where language can be used to determine social status.

 

 

Another example of language change comes from my personal life. I do not speak to teachers the same way I would speak to my best friend. My tone, vocabulary, and conversation topics change drastically.

Here is a video that goes in-depth about language change.

Project one: genres in my research

While doing my research I drew information from many different genres of writing. Writing genres are basically the different forms of writing. The main difference between the types of writing genres are the rules that go along with each. For example, the rules for writing an article for a scholarly journal would include using academic voice. You would also have to provide facts and evidence in place of your opinion.

 Below I embedded a video that further explains writing genres.

 

 

The different writing genres I encountered while doing my research were: blogs, peer-reviewed articles, and newspaper articles. The three genres are very different in terms of organization, length, focus, and accessibility.

The blogs I used for research were very accessible and relatively easy to find. The information was sporadic because there are no ridged organization guidelines for blogs. The length of the blogs varied because some post more than others. The blogs remained focus on the main topic usually.
 http://www.thegirlinside.com/
http://transitioningfamily.blogspot.com/
 http://t-central.blogspot.com/
The peer-reviewed articles I read were not easy to come by. Some were published too long ago to be relevant to my search. All of them were found in a database that required membership. There was clear organization and the focus remained throughout. Almost all of the articles were over 50 pages long.

Finally the newspaper articles. This genre was accessible but hard to find credible. There was some organization. The articles were not extremely long. The focus remained constant in all of them.
http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/32456-Psychiatrist-Works-Include-Transgender-Issues-Residency-Training.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution-1402615120

Project one: Research

Famous retired American basketball player Dennis Rodman that occasionally wears drag.

 

 In order to get more background for my research I found a faculty member on my campus that does work that relates to my field of research. I found the webpage of Dr. Nina Nabors. She is a Professor at my university that teaches courses in women's studies, gender studies, and sexuality. Her interests include: psychology of women, women with disabilities, and multicultural psychology.
 
Dr. Nabors field relates to my topic, because it deals with the aspects of gender. All of the resources I have found so far have the central topic of gender and identity similar to Dr. Nabors work. Another topic that Dr. Nabors literary works seem to be focused on empowerment and equality.

This inspired some questions:
1) Why are there no classes that deal directly with transsexuality in gender studies?
2) Is transsexuality a topic in other fields? 

I have a mild interest in Sexuality and women's studies because I enjoy learning how to combat inequality, but psychiatry will always be my passion.



 

 

In an effort to be unbiased while doing my research on gender identity disorder (GID) I am evaluating all my sources. I found helpful information in a article written by Dr. Paul McHugh published in The Wall Street Journal. (http://www.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution-1402615120)

Dr. McHugh is the retired Psychiatrist-in-chief of John Hopkins University. His main argument is that Sex reassignment is not possible and therefore not a acceptable treatment for those with gender identity disorder.

This articles takes on the tone of a public service announcement. His intended audience is not his peers, but instead the general public. He does this because he intends to influence those who have GID and those who have family members with the disorder. He stresses his belief that GID is a mental disorder akin to bulimia and anorexia that needs to be treated by psychotherapy instead of being "encouraged" by sex changes.

If this article had taken on a different genre such as a medical analysis it would have been different and possibly more believable. Dr. McHugh would have backed himself with more scientific evidence had he been writing something that his fellows doctors would review.

The main argument my research is covering is whether GID is a mental disorder or a physical disorder. Dr. McHugh strongly supports the latter. Since he believes that GID is a mental disorder he believes psychotherapy is the only means of treatment.

 To the counterargument of GID being a physical that can be treated with sex reassignment surgery Dr. McHugh writes; "the first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken—it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes...Sex change is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder." 


The weakness of this article is a lack of evidence. There is a lot of theory and not much fact.

The author also debates the civil rights aspect of being transgendered. He believes that looking at the situation from a liberty standpoints overshadows the idea that this is actually a mental disorder instead of an expression of sexuality.

Below you will find a video on adolescent GID.

Project one: Ngrams analysis

In an effort to get a better understanding of my research topic of people with gender dysphoria I conducted a Ngrams analysis. The Ngrams viewer is a creation by Google that deals with the use and appearance of words in texts that date from today to the year 1500. You can click this link to watch a video that will tell you all about it (http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Ngrams-Applesauce-and-Billions;search%3Agoogle%20ngram)

The phrases I typed into the search were: transsexual, sex reassignment surgery, gender identity disorder, and cross dressers.

You can view the interactive version of graph my search generated by using this link(https://books.google.com/ngrams/interactive_chart?content=Transexual%2Csex+reassignment+surgery%2Cgender+identity+disorder%2Ccross+dressers&year_start=1000&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTransexual%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csex%20reassignment%20surgery%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cgender%20identity%20disorder%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccross%20dressers%3B%2Cc0 )

The data I gathered from the graph inspired a lot of questions. I wondered why the word transsexual had never been used in a book in the English language before 1956? What happened in 1956 that caused this word to be used?

I found that the words "sex reassignment surgery" had been first used in 1927. Why did this word appear in literature before all the others in my search? Had sex reassignment surgery been practiced before gender dysphoria had been studied?

This search has made me realize that this topic is fairly new in this society. This could mean that society has advanced in a short period of time and also become more active towards the topic. This data could also mean that maybe in the last 70 years those with gender dysphoria have become more bold and accepting of who they are, so they began to seek treatment.

Project one: rhetorical analysis of "Surgical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria in Adults and Adolescents: Recent Developments, Effectiveness, and Challenges"

 

The article "Surgical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria in Adults and Adolescents: Recent Developments, Effectiveness, and Challenges" by Luk Gijs and Anne Brewaeys debates the current treatments for Gender Dysphoria (a discontent between a persons physical gender and the gender they identify with).

The authors aim to evaluate all the treatments used on those with gender dysphoria. The treatments are tested by following those who underwent the treatment a year after the process. The two main treatments covered in the article are sex reassignment (sex change) and psychotherapy. There are flaws in both treatments.

The problem the authors face is determining the effectiveness of the two treatments. Psychotherapy is a treatment chosen by therapists and doctors who generally believe that gender dysphoria does not exist and that it is a mental disorder. It is usually debated that sex reassignment is impossible and by performing it we are supporting a mental disorder. Those who support sex reassignment generally see gender dysphoria as a physical disorder that can be "cured" by sex reassignment.

The main finding of the article is that sex reassignment is beneficial and appropriate treatment for those who have extreme gender dysphoria and psychotherapy is beneficial for those with mild dysphoria. This decision will lower the number of people dissatisfied with their lives after their chosen treatment.

The authors of the article did not yet gather enough evidence to debate the psychotherapy and sex reassignment treatments of adolescents with gender dysphoria. This topic will have to be debated when more cases occur.

This article caused me to create more questions like:
1) How does sex reassignment effect prepubescent children?
2)Does cross dressing suppress the desire for sex reassignment?
3) Is there a heightened suicide rate in those who have had sex reassignment?

Project one: Research topic

Today there is a lot of controversy and debate in the transgender community. Some of the topics of debate I found the most interesting were whether transsexuality was a mental disorder or a physical disorder and whether a sex change is "biologically possible". I found a blog that gives a very vivid and heartfelt look inside the life of a transgendered person(http://www.thegirlinside.com/). This blog is full of personal stories from transgendered people and those who have already underwent a sex change operation.This interests me because I would love to work with the transgendered community as a psychiatrist and aid in their transition.

Some questions I would like to ask on this topic are:
1) Is transsexuality a mental disorder or a physical disorder?
2) How do the post-op patients feel emotionally after the sex change operation.
3) How does the prison systems way of sorting transgendered prisoners into male or female prisons effect the transgendered persons mental state.
4) Is a sex change Biologically possible?
5) Should a sex change be considered a cure or is it just prompting a mental disorder?

Project One : MLK letter analysis

The famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail" (http://www.uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/king.pdf) was written by Martin Luther King Jr. while he served time in jail for organizing a march in Birmingham. The letter was written in response to news paper articles written by his white counterparts who believed that MLK's actions were not well planned. The letter includes a lot of issues that are still valid in society today.

The two elements of the letter that I think would be altered in modern times is the target audience of the letter and the type of issues it tried to remedy. The Black community today is faced with problems concerning racism just like the generations before them, but they are different in how intense the racism is and how it is acted upon. Today racism is hidden. To the untrained eye racism seems to have dissipated from this society, but racism and hate crimes occur everyday.

The other element of King's letter that may have been different had it been written today is who it was written to. There is a disconnect amongst the Black community today. King's letter stressed how the Black community was working as a unit to end segregation in the U.S. but in modern times we are severely divided. We divide ourselves by class, skin tone, educational background, and pedigree.

     
 

My dream career is in Psychiatry. I am not sure as to what population I want to work with yet. I have found some great blogs in the field:
1) http://mancpsychsoc.blogspot.com/

The Manchester Psychiatry Society Blog takes a playful approach to the science/medicine of psychiatry. The articles are fun and colorful but also give you great information.  

2) http://real-psychiatry.blogspot.com/

This blog is written by George Dawson, MD, DFAPA. He posts things about his personal life, medicine and science, and also psychiatry.

3) http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/

This blog is very helpful for people in medical school or planning to apply to medical school. Its posts are usually centered around the mechanics of being a medical student.

This is a speech by Chimamanda Ngozi Adicie. The topic is the danger of knowing only single stories. A single story is a story that only gives you one point of view and causes you to form one biased opinion. This can be applied to recent popular cases such as Ferguson. A single story point of view of the case could be that Michael Brown or the police officer were completely innocent or completely guilty. This view disregards all the factors that play into what happened.

A single story a person could gather from viewing my life at its surface is that I am very quite. A lot of people have this misconception about me. In reality I talk a lot and am very opinionated. enjoy the video 

Hi, my name is Maya. One reason that I am making this blog is because it is a school assignment ;my second reason is to share my interests with whoever wants to learn them. I named this blog after my favorite movie in the world "Girl Interrupted". It seemed fitting because it also deals with what I want my career to be.