Gender Identity

Many students struggle with gender identity and fitting in with social expectations.  There's pressure at school to fit in with their peers.  There's pressure within the family to follow expectations set out by parents or other members.  There's pressure within society, for example shopping in boys' sections or girls' sections and when participating in activities primarily considered boy-centered (i.e, hockey, football) or girl-centered (i.e, gymnastics, going to the spa).

This powerful video depicts the difficulties a young individual faces when understanding their own identity and how they fit into their own communities.


How do we, teachers and parents, work together to help develop a healthy sense of being in our students who struggle with gender identity?

We need to be sensitive to not only presenting our students with culturally relevant, up-to-date resources, but also to gender identity and the stereotypes that young children are learning about.
A few great children's books that promote positive body image are:

William's Doll
Ballerino Nate
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

This resource supports transgender and transsexual students in the education system from K-12.  The story on page 17 describes the difficulties a student has in focusing on school and becoming withdrawn from activities when they are worried about fitting in with their peer groups.  It also describes how parents and educators can support a student to accept their own feelings and encompass their bodies with a positive mindset.