Contextual Research

Identity 

•Identity is a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations.
•Identity may be defined as the distinctive characteristic belonging to any given individual, or shared by all members of a particular social category or group.
•Many people gain a sense of positive self-esteem from their identity groups, which furthers a sense of community and belonging.

Gender Identity 

•Gender identity refers to a person's private sense of, and subjective experience of, their own gender.
•This is generally described as one's private sense of being a man or a woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people: male or female.
•Each of us has a biological sex — whether we are female, male, or intersex. Our gender is our social and legal status as men or women.
•Each of us has a gender and gender identity. Our gender identity is our deepest feelings about our gender. We express our gender identity in the way that we act masculine, feminine, neither, or both.

Gender Identity Disorder

•Most children begin to identify themselves as either a boy or a girl between the ages of three and four years old. They engage in play that their family and friends connect with their gender; what psychologists call the 'gender role'. Some can seem to take longer than others to understand and embrace their gender role.
•For a very small number, this passing uncertainty and discomfort, known as gender dysmorphia, can develop into gender identity disorder.

•A major difficulty with gender identity disorder is that it's a rare condition.
•Estimates vary from one or two people in every 100,000 to about one person in every 12,000 . This means that people who have gender identity disorder can experience profound loneliness.