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A Boys Life by Hanna Rosin

5 Pages 1346 Words November 2014

In the article, “A Boys Life,” featured in "The Atlantic," in 2008, author Hanna Rosin leans toward the idea that transgender self-identity is caused more by biological factors then by human nurturing. Rosin develops her thesis by following the journey that Brandon’s mother Tina takes as she learns more about the conversations and research surrounding transgender identities. As Tina learns more, she is becoming more understanding and accepting of her son, but still struggles with his identity and the social stigma that follows. As a society we look through the rhetorical frame given to us that sees trans- gender as being a disorder or a defect that should not be allowed to happen.
Rosin’s technique of following the mother through her journey allows the audience to follow along and share in the experiences as Tina finds out the truth about transgender. Tina’s initial resistance came from the fact that she came from a strong military background and strong community where god made you a certain way and that was what you were.
The author starts out by giving us a brief explanation of Brandon and his family dynamics. Brandon lives in a small trailer with his mother, stepfather and half-sister. Brandon is described as young, cute, energetic boy of eight years old that is happiest when wearing girl clothes and prefers Barbie’s over monster trucks. Rosin has asked to follow this particular family at this time because the family represents the average blended family at a crossroads in their life as they try to unravel and answer the questions connected to the transgender phenomenon. Rosin approaches the subject of transgender very carefully throughout her article. Her ethical appeal works because she is persistent on not calling transgender a disorder. Rosin does not want to call it a disorder, because she knows soon as you label something a disorder, it puts a negative stigma on it. The way she structures her article by following...

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