How does it feel to be transgender?https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender
In the TED Talk “What it feels like to be transgender” by Lee Mokobe, the author displays the various emotions he faced as a tomboy when he was younger. While he felt more boy than girl, the people surrounding him disagreed; even his own religion did. As Mokobe puts it, “I asked Jesus to fix me, and when he did not answer, I befriended silence in the hopes that my sin would burn,” (Mokobe) showing that because of the expectation of his family and religion, he started to feel he was wrong; his identity clashing with his beliefs started a confusion of who he is and what he should be. While his family found his tomboyish attitude as a child as cute when he was younger, it seems as all hell broke loose when he turned 12. This tomboy mentality became a concern to his family; Mokobe says: “It was met with nostalgic aunts who missed seeing my knees in the shadow of skirts, who reminded me that my kind of attitude would never bring a husband home,” (Mokobe) and this really displays the expectation held upon him; to later become a child bearing Christian woman, and not the boy he truly wants to be. His mother becomes ashamed of her daughter’s decision to be a boy, and anxious that she will be an easy target to bullying and slander in society. As his mother feared, he starts to be called names like “lesbian” at school and discovers that many transgender people like himself cut their lives short due to the extreme societal pressure they would rather not face. Lee even begins to be plagued with social media and society saying, “My body is a feast for their eyes and hands and once they have fed off my queer, they’ll regurgitate all the parts they did not like,” (Mokobe) painting a picture that he is seen as a spectacle, and not a person, and how people don’t truly care about his feelings as much as they care about their own entertainment. Lee’s transgender identity caused a plethora of obstacles: confusion of what he should be, expectation opposing his personality, and danger of being a target to society. Being transgender feels confusing, stressful, anxious, worrying, and dangerous; it is a true test of the lengths you will go to truly be yourself.
Works Cited
Mokobe, Lee. What it feels like to be transgender. May 2015. March 2018. <https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender>.