Saturday, January 25, 2020

U.S Attitudes Towards Transgender People

U.S Attitudes Towards Transgender People In the United States, there are unassigned â€Å"rules† and standards of which people are expected to conform to, gender being one of them. Throughout history people have only known two types of sex, female and male, but what about other gender identities?   People tend to develop attitudes about those who identify themselves as the opposite gender. These attitudes are influenced by a variety of factors: religion, morals, political ideology, just to name a few. I wanted to see what really influences the attitudes the nation holds towards transgender people. The articles I discuss address U.S. attitudes towards those individuals and provide insight of why they feel have those attitudes. The article, â€Å"Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Towards Transgender People: Finding from a National Probability Sample of U.S Adults,† by Aaron T. Norton and Gregory M. Herek, introduces a study that describes the correlations of men’s and women’s attitudes towards transgender people. They surveyed 2,281 participants, and the survey focused on five hypotheses, each hypothesis focusing on different aspects that contribute towards heterosexual men and women attitudes towards transgender people. The first, â€Å"heterosexuals’ attitudes toward transgender people are positively correlated with their attitudes toward sexual minorities† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.5). The participants attitudes were measured with a series of feeling thermometers, and the participants were told, â€Å"using a scale from zero to 100, please tell us your personal feelings toward each of the following groups†¦ The warmer or more favorable you feel toward the group, the higher the number you should give it,† vis-versa. (Norton & Herek, 2010, p. 6). If the participant felt neither warm or cold toward the group, they would rate it 50 (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 6). The participants were also told to use a 5- point scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, for Attitudes Towards Lesbians (ATL) and Attitudes Towards Gay Men (ATG) (Norton & Herek, 20102, p.6). The higher the scores indicated higher levels of sexual prejudice. The results for this hypothesis show that transgender people are highly correlated with the four sexual minority groups: gay men, lesbian women, bisexual men, and bisexual women, and they are also negatively correlated with the scores of the ATG and ATL. (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.7). Like the first hypotheses, the four-other focus on similar aspects that correlates towards the negative attitudes people have towards transgender people. The second hypothesis states, â€Å"they [attitudes] are more negative among men than women,† was proven to be true (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). According to the study heterosexual man have more negative ratings to all â€Å"men† targets (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.8). Men also scored higher than women, meaning greater prejudice on both the ATG and ATL scale. Hypothesis three stated that â€Å"to the extent heterosexual respondents endorse a binary, conception of gender, their attitudes toward transgender people are more negative† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). 46.5% agreed that â€Å"there is not enough respect for their natural divisions between the sexes,† while 19.5% disagreed, and 34.0% reported they were â€Å"in the middle.† In all the results concluded that attitudes towards transgender people w ere correlated with endorsement of gender binary beliefs (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.8). â€Å"Transgender attitudes are correlated with the same social psychological variables that have consistently been observed to correlate with heterosexuals† attitudes toward sexual minorities, is what the fourth hypothesis stated† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.4). This hypothesis looks at four different correlations: authoritarianism, political ideology, religion, and personal contact with sexual minorities of attitudes toward transgender people. I focused on three of the four, political ideology, religion, and personal contact with sexual minorities. 48.2% described their political ideology was moderate, while 26.5% were liberal and 30.7% were conservative (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 9). The conservative respondents gave lower thermometer rating (25.39%), followed by moderate (32.18%), then liberals (39.23%), thus meaning that conservative individuals had more negative, prejudice attitudes toward transgender people (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.9). The second of the four correlations I focused on was religion. It was found that women who have â€Å"a great deal† of religious guidance in their day-to-day living, had transgender ratings that were significantly more negative (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 9). The results also concluded that prior contact with gay or lesbian people meant that thermometer scores were higher, less prejudice, than respondents who had lacked such contact (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.9). The fifth and last hypothesis that the survey tested was, â€Å"men’s attitudes toward both groups are linked I similar ways to the variables specified in hypotheses 3 and 4 If sexual prejudice is controlled, between those variables and men’s transgender attitudes should be reduced to no significance consistent with previous findings.† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 4). While hypothesis five had little support, it concluded that heterosexual menâ€⠄¢s attitudes toward transgender people and their political and gender beliefs reduced when their attitudes toward gay men were statistically controlled (Norton & Herek, 2012, p. 110). It also concluded that with ATG scores controlled, women’s attitudes were predicted by â€Å"authoritarianism and anti-egalitarianism,† and so were men’s; showing gender differences in the psychological roots of transgender attitudes were not observed (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.11).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aaron Norton and Gregory Herek’s article about the attitudes heterosexuals have about transgender people was very interesting, I found that the study focused on some of the main aspects that influence heterosexuals’ attitudes towards transgender people in the U.S. I also gained knowledge about why people may have such attitudes. I feel that the content included throughout this article is very relevant with some of the topics we have discussed in class, such as, ‘ethic, religions, and sexuality’, and gender identity as a whole. The article included many finding that I agree with. One being that, â€Å"attitudes towards transgender people were more negative among heterosexual men than heterosexual women† (Norton & Herek, 2012, p.1). I believe that to be true, statistics prove it, but also though out the community I live in. I have observed the attitudes and stigmatizations transgender people face in my community, and I have witness more negative attitu des coming from the heterosexual men that I have contact with. I also agree that being exposed to more sexual minorities, leads to people having less sexual prejudice toward transgender people. I have found that by having contact with those who identify as lesbian or gay, makes me more accepting of transgender people. I believe that the survey as a whole helps readers gain more knowledge about the prejudice attitudes people, especially heterosexuals, have towards transgender individuals within the Unites States. The article, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† by Hogler Elischberger, Jessica Glazier, Eric Hill, and Lynn Baker-Verduzco present a survey study that examines the attitudes U.S. adults have toward transgender children and adolescents. There were 281 individuals (128 male, 152 females, and 1 missing information) that participated in the survey and reported that had â€Å"generally favorable attitudes toward transgender minors† (Elischberger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco, 2016, p. 199). The survey first assesses the attitude adults had toward transgender people by asking a series of questions. It then assesses their behavior intentions with two hypothetical situations. The study concluded with the ‘presumed causes of gender atypicality, where the participants were asked to indicate how strongly biological (nature) and environmental (nurture) cause affect atypical behavior (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p .203). The article, â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† by Hogler Elischberger, Jessica Glazier, Eric Hill, and Lynn Baker-Verduzco presents a survey study that examines the attitudes U.S. adults have toward transgender children and adolescents. There were 281 individuals (128 male, 152 females, and 1 missing information) that participated in the survey and reported that had â€Å"generally favorable attitudes toward transgender minors† (Elischberger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco, 2016, p. 199). The survey first assesses the attitude adults had toward transgender people by asking a series of questions. It then assesses their behavior intentions with two hypothetical situations. The study concluded with the ‘presumed causes of gender atypicality, where the participants were asked to indicate how strongly biological (nature) and environmental (nurture) cause affect atypical behavior (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203).      The survey first assesses the participants attitudes, with a series of attitude statements. The participants used a 10-point Likert type scale ranging from 1, completely disagree, and 10, completely agree to see rate their attitudes toward the list of statements provided.   The statements given included â€Å"Personally, I view this gender atypical behavior as a problem because Six of these statements were provided that differed in terms of the reason cited for the disapproval: it is against my morals, it contradicts my religious views, Bit will hurt the child’s [teenager’s] current relationships with their peers, Bit will be a bad influence on other children [teenagers],it may have an effect on the child’s [teenager’s] sexual orientation it goes against nature. A seventh option, the child’s behavior is not wrong for any one specific reason, it is just inappropriate† (Elischberger et. al., 2016 p.201). These statements allowed the participants to express their attitudes without giving a specific reason. The attitudes result for this part of the survey, although relatively low, showed that attitudes were less positive in the participants who had religious affiliation, conservative social-political views, and stronger conformity to certain traditional gender norms; however, the endorsement level of participants was highest (7.34 out of 10) with the statement, â€Å"I do not find the behavior a problem† (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 202). Thus, meaning that the majority of participates did not have a problem with transgender people. The second part of the survey consisted of how participants might act in two hypothetical situations that involved a gender-atypical child or adolescent. The scenarios were (a) using the restroom appropriate for their gender opposed to sex, and (b) sharing a cabin/room on a school trip with peers of the same gender (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). The participants were asked to put themselves into the positions of the: parent of the nonconforming child, the parent of one of the child’s peers, the child’s teacher, and a school administer (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). The response ranged on a 1(lowest and 10 (highest) possible scores, with higher numbers indicating a â€Å"stronger intent to limit gender expression in each scenario† (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 203). On average, all the average results ranged between 4 and 6. In the restroom scenario, the results indicated that if the participant was the parent of the transgender child they would more than likely want their child to use the restroom of which they identified with, however, if they were in the administrator position they would be less likely to want that child to use their assigned restroom (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p.203). In the third part of the survey was ‘Presumed Causes of Gender Atypically.’ This part consisted of asking the participants to indicate how strongly they believed different factors cause gender atypical behaviors. The participants determined whether biological (nature) causes genetics, hormones, and brain development, or, environmental (nurture) cause: mother, father, media, and other environment caused gender atypicality (Elischberger et. al., 2016, p. 203). The results showed that on average the participants agreed that environmental factors played more of a role in gender atypicality than biological factors. It shows that the participants believed other environmental factors and media were the highest causes of gender atypicality.   I find the research done in the â€Å"Boys Don’t Cry’ or Do They? Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth,† to be very interesting. I believe that I am, and am becoming, more open to allowing transgender people express their gender identity. I agree that the media and environmental factors play a key role in gender atypicality, but I also believe that it comes from within. This article includes some stuff that we have discussed in class, but we have yet to go into depth about transgender people, so I am not able to find a lot of connections between the class content specifically. Discussing the research that is found in this article would be beneficial for a larger population because it assesses the attitudes of people who believe that they are â€Å"okay† with transgender children and adolescence, and determine if they actually are. Overall, both articles included information that was accurate to how the U.S. populations feel towards transgender people. They both state that being more religious and having more conservative values correlate to people having more prejudice attitudes towards transgender people. If I were able to conduct my own study or include a category, I would include children’s point of view. I know they would not fully understand all the factors that go into nonconforming or transgender individuals, but I believe it would be interesting to do a study that focused on how their mindset changes over the years about the topic and what, if any, biological and environmental aspects contribute to their attitudes.   References Elischberger, H. B., Glazier, J. J., Hill, E. D., & Verduzco-Baker, L. (2016, March 22). Boys Dont Cry-or Do They? Adult Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About Transgender Youth. Retrieved March 23, 2018, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-016-0609-y Norton, A. T., & Herek, G. M. (2013, June 01). Heterosexuals Attitudes Toward Transgender   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People: Findings from a National Probability Sample of U.S. Adults. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/heterosexuals-attitudes-toward-transgender-people-findings-from-a

Friday, January 17, 2020

Intermolecular Forces Essay

Intermolecular forces exist between independent particles, such as atoms, ions, or molecules. They can be forces of either attraction or repulsion. The amount of charge, how it is distributed, and the length of time that a charge distribution exists can affect the strength of intermolecular forces. And despite having variable force strengths, all intermolecular forces are considered weak compared to chemical bonds, or intramolecular forces. Chemical bonds are not only stronger; they are also more permanent. The energy costs involved in breaking chemical bonds are much higher than ones needed to overcome intermolecular forces. There are five types of intermolecular forces: ion-ion forces, ion-dipole forces, ion-induced dipole/dipole-induced dipole forces, dipole-dipole forces, and London dispersion forces. Generally, we expect ion-ion forces to be the strongest, followed by ion-dipole, dipole-dipole, and then London dispersion forces. Of course, many exceptions to this hierarchy of strength exist. In order to properly differentiate between these forces, it is important to know what must be present in order for each interaction to occur. Ion-ion forces only involve ions in mixtures of substances. Ion-ion forces can be either attractive (cation-anion) or repulsive (cation-cation/anion-anion) and the strength varies depending on charge and size. Ion-dipole forces occur in mixtures between ions and polar molecules. The anions gravitate toward positive regions of dipoles while the cations gravitate toward negative regions. With dipoles, the strength of the forces depends upon the polarity of the molecule (or charge magnitude) and how compact the molecule is. If a molecule is more compact, there is better access to the center of charge and stronger attraction to its neighbors. Induced dipoles occur when nonpolar molecules come in the vicinity of polar or charged particles and become polar themselves. As an ion or dipole moves closer to the nonpolar molecule, a shift occurs in its electrons, throwing off its nonpolar symmetry and making it polar. Depending on what produces this change, it will have either attractive ion-induced dipole or dipole-induced dipole forces. These may occur in pure substances or mixtures. Dipole-dipole forces may occur between the polar molecules of a pure substance, or between two different polar molecules. The positive regions of one dipole will attract the negative regions of another and vice versa. The dipoles tend to align in a way that increases the number of attractions and reduces the number of repulsions. The strength of the force can vary with polarity: the more polar the molecules are, the more strongly they interact with each other. Hydrogen bonding is considered a special case of dipole-dipole interaction. While dipole-dipole forces are generally considered to be fairly weak, hydrogen bonding is unusually strong, especially in water. This particular type of bonding occurs when a hydrogen atom is involved in an extremely polar covalent bond, such as H-N, H-O, or H-F, and is attracted to the lone pair of a highly electronegative atom (either F, N, or O) on a separate molecule. These may also occur in pure substances. The weakest of the intermolecular forces are the London dispersion forces. These forces occur between atoms or molecules of nonpolar substances and are present in both pure substances and mixtures. A way to predict the types of intermolecular forces present is by looking at the chemical formula, specifically whether the interacting species are polar or nonpolar. Ion-dipole forces occur between ions and polar molecules. Dipole-dipole forces (including hydrogen bonding) only occur between polar molecules. Induced dipoles occur between polar and nonpolar molecules. If there were only nonpolar molecules, they would be London dispersion forces (but keep in mind that these forces also exist in every other kind of interaction). In the case of ion-ion forces, polarity does not matter in identifying forces, as it only involves ions and would be fairly obvious. Knowing what we do about intermolecular forces and their relative strengths, we can make a few assumptions about which forces would be present in different phases under standard conditions. Being that solids are the most difficult to break apart, we would assume that the strongest intermolecular forces (ion-ion, hydrogen bonding) would be found within them. Liquids have a greater ability to flow because the intermolecular forces are weaker than in the solid phase, so we would assume that these would involve ion-dipole and induced dipole forces. We would also assume that the weakest intermolecular forces correspond to the gas phase, meaning dipole-dipole and London dispersion forces. Intermolecular forces influence physical properties of each phase: gas, liquid, and solid. They can cause real gases to deviate from ideal gas behavior. They can also govern the motion of molecules; molecules in gases move constantly and randomly, they slide past each other freely in liquids, and vibrate in fixed positions in solids. The heats required to melt a solid (heat of fusion) and to vaporize a liquid (heat of vaporization) change depending on the strengths of the intermolecular forces. In liquids, water will form beads upon contact with waxed surfaces (e. . car hoods) because of the imbalance of how intermolecular forces act upon surface molecules and the symmetrical distribution of forces experienced by interior molecules. So, the stronger the intermolecular forces, the larger the surface tension. Capillary action is another example of the effect of the imbalance of intermolecular forces. If the intermolecular interactions between the particles of a liquid and a solid are stronger than the intermolecular forces acting between the liquid’s own particles, the liquid near the walls of the solid will rise. Other properties of liquids that can be affected by intermolecular forces are boiling point and critical temperature and pressure. In crystalline solids, the stronger the forces are, the more rigid the crystal is. This is because the stronger intermolecular forces in the solid fix the particles in place. Overall, understanding intermolecular forces is essential to understand gas, liquid, and solid phases, as well as the phase changes between them.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Earth Is A 1998 Indian Period Drama Film Directed By Deepa...

Earth is a 1998 Indian period drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. The story is set in Lahore in the time period directly before and during the partition of India in 1947. The film recounts the holocaust of Partition through the eyes of Lenny, a crippled Parsi girl. Lenny s parents live in Lahore with an army of servants, including the delectable ayah, a beautiful Hindu woman, Shanta. The movie starts with Lenny revisiting her childhood days as a student coloring her drawing, and remembering the downfall of British Empire in India as she states something which indicates the theme of story that it will portray for next 101 minutes and upon which the story will build around. The words she stated accounts as- â€Å"Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs who had lived together as one entity for centuries suddenly started to clamor for pieces of India for themselves. The arbitrary line of division the British would draw to carve up India in August of 1947 would scar the subcontinent forever.† This dialogue clearly states that India was very near to getting its independence from the British Rule and for the final time the nation might have to become a victim to British’s much famous â€Å"DIVIDE RULE† policy which will blow the nation into partition forming 2 separate countries- INDIA PAKISTAN and in the dialogue she clearly predicts the ill effects people will have to face at the time of partition as she says that it would scar the subcontinent forever. Such a line of difference would be createdShow MoreRelatedEarth Is A 1998 Indian Period Drama Film Directed By Deepa Mehta2714 Words   |  11 PagesEARTH Earth is a 1998 Indian period drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. The story is set in Lahore in the time period directly before and during the partition of India in 1947. The film recounts the holocaust of Partition through the eyes of Lenny, a crippled Parsi girl. Lenny s parents live in Lahore with an army of servants, including the delectable ayah, a beautiful Hindu woman, Shanta. The movie starts with Lenny revisiting her childhood days as a student coloring her drawing, and rememberingRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesopening decades of the twentieth century and a major break from the prevailing dynamics of the cold war. In addition to the problems posed for conceptualizing the twentieth century as a discrete era of world history due to overlap with the preceding period and disconcertingly radical shifts in the course of global development in the 1900s, contradictory forces and trends, which perhaps more than any other attribute distinguish this turbulent phase of the human experience, render it impervious to

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Political Scandals During The Twentieth Century - 986 Words

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