LGBT+ Scientists #LGBT #Scientist #Discrimination #Inclusiveness #CauseAChatter

Many campuses across the globe, specifically in the United States and Europe, are fully supporting LGBT+ community by becoming inclusive institutions. The faculty cards issued show that the wearer is a member or ally of the LGBT+ community. For instance, Susan Rosser, a synthetic biologist at the University of Edinburgh, is a lesbian. She is also the director of the Edinburgh Mammalian Synthetic Biology Research Centre. This is a clear example of No Discrimination. Susan Rosser develops tools in synthetic biology and has an expertise in using techniques like genome editing and synthetic transcription factors. She is happy for the changed environment for betterment and inclusiveness. Like her, there are a number of other LGBT+ academics who are living their lives there and progressing well in their careers. This indicates clearly that society there has changed. Policies are well in place for any kind of abuse, bullying, or harassment.

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Institutions have started taking such incidents more seriously. Nathan Shaner, who is a gay, finds cities like San Diego having improved a lot to become safe havens. Nathan is a flourophore developer in the Department of Neurosciences, University of California. But still one needs to be cautious and careful, he opines. He joined Oberlin College for undergraduation after confirming it was going to be a safe place for him. He ensured there's no discrimination. While many universities highlight inclusivity and no discrimination but yet they're having no clarity towards LGBT+ community. Any potential student, fellow, or faculty applicant would always try to get a realistic sense of a university’s inclusion practices to ensure no discrimination towards LGBT+ community. For that purpose, usually, the best way of to look into the LGBT+ community networks and check for inclusive human policies in that regard. And that's very important too.

Stephen Wallace, a gay, is a senior lecturer at University of Edinburgh holds a UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship. This Fellowship is awarded to a select few early-stage researchers for high-risk projects. All this success would not have been possible without getting an inclusive and no-discrimination environment around them. For more insights read this article by Vivien Marx.

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Women Empowerment #CauseAChatter #pebbleinwaterswrites

Women empowerment is a problem too, so is the solution.  One thing is true.  Half of the people in the world who speak or write in favor of women empowerment do not actually want to see this happening.  And the other half don't know what it means, or its possible solutions.  In fact, the moment a woman starts thinking that her only real job is to please a man, she takes herself a step down.  On the other hand, the moment a man tries to convince a woman that the woman is always behind or below the man, and a woman accepts it silently, the decline of our society begins there and then only at that very moment.  The society in which women are given a high status and respect, that society progresses on the right path with ten times the strength and momentum.

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Woman has that power which no one else in this world has.  It's her strength and power of being a mother. No man can beat that strength and power. The status of mother is considered above even God.  So in such a situation, it would be a big mistake and unwise to wrongly assess the power of a woman, to make her feel inferior, or to consider her weaker.  It is because of a woman, that this world exists.   How would the world progress if there were no women?  In such a situation, if a woman thinks that she has to be equal to a man, then this is also wrong.  Because woman is already above any man right from the beginning, in every respect.  Now if we talk about family, society, and country, then women should be given equal rights in terms of respect, status, and opportunity, in every house.

Actually,  it should start happening in every part of the society. As nothing will happen with empty feelings and showy slogans.  It is put in the mind of the child from the very beginning that the boy has a free hand and all the bonds are there for the girl.  A family loves the boy more, it's less for the girl.  Expensive stuff for the boy, not for the girl.  If this unfortunate discrimination is inculcated in the hearts and minds of both the children from the very beginning, then even if we talk about equality going forward, it will have no meaning.  The good thing is that slowly this awareness has started increasing all over the world.  The families where it was taken care from the very beginning that all rights of girls and boys are equal, children have progressed more in that place.  Girls lacked ability, it was never like this.

But how do girls progress when they are not given equal opportunities? The whole world has witnessed when a girl or woman is given the right opportunity, they demonstrated it by going ahead of the boys and men respectively.  A termite is still there in our society.  Even if girls are given equal opportunities to an extent, they end up coming at one place.  Still nowhere are girls considered worthy of the highest position.  No matter how many times the girl is ahead of the boys in her ability. We have to get rid of this societal curse or evil. 

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this post are personal and for reading purposes only. They’re not medical advice. Each individual’s experience may vary. Please consult a professional if you need help.

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Gender Dysphoria #pebbleinwaterswrites #myfriendalexa #causeachatter #gendertalk

Before I jump to this very important topic of Gender Dysphoria, let me give you some gender statistics. It is very interesting to note how significantly different ways are adopted by men and women to be productive. Women are much capable of running productive meetings. If they keep a meeting of 60 minutes, they are not only successful in finishing it in time but also finish it on a conclusive note and with a crisp agreement of the next steps. Men, on the other hand, are quite capable of finding the most important messages in a high message volume despite looking less at their emails. They have a natural calibre of bypassing messages of low value.

Let's talk a little about Gender Stereotypes before coming to Gender Dysphoria. We all are well aware that weight training is very important for strengthening our body muscles and this has nothing to do with gender. Now, women produce less testosterone in comparison to men do on average, and hence testosterone has a crucial role in determining the strength of muscle. Fine, now, let's come to the main topic. What is Gender Dysphoria? A slightly higher age boy in my neighbourhood during school days had a strange passion of playing old Bollywood female dance songs, wrap a cloth around his body and head, and dance. It was never taken seriously by his family at that time. 

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If a male experiences a feeling of distress because of a mismatch between his biological sex and gender identity, then he is facing with Gender Dysphoria. The same is applicable to a female. Therefore, it's very important to notice it at the earliest and find out the best possible solution. We would see below the possible solutions below. This is generally also termed as transgender. Now, once this distress develops in a person because he or she is suffering from Gender Dysphoria, it can further deteriorate when he or she gets misgendered, isolated, and stigmatized. The best kind of treatment in such cases is transitioning and proper therapy. This is a kind of Mental disorder. It's diagnosis is well defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

One of the most important part of treatment in Gender Dysphoria is Gender Transitioning. In Gender Transitioning, a transgender undergoes to align with its gender identity. There are multiple dimensions to Gender Transitioning. First is Social Transition that is about changing their gender expressions. Second is Medical Transition that involves changing their body. Medical Transitioning further involved two therapies. One, Hormone Therapy. Two, Gender Affirmation Surgery.

Education, Respect, and Acceptance /Validation is important in society for giving a right place to people suffering from Gender Dysphoria.

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Bodies With Vagina #CauseAChatter #GenderTalk #MyFriendAlexa #PebbleInWatersWrites #TheLancet

We all know how prestigious and reputed Lancet general medical journal is among not only medical fraternity but otherwise also. It is a weekly journal and is one of the world's oldest and top-read across the globe. Founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley, an English surgeon, it got popular in no time because of its quality of content and gravity of relevance. Its name was derived by its founder from a surgical instrument with the same name. After the release of its latest volume 398, No. 10306, there is a huge furor across the globe because of an article published by Sophia Davis under 'Perspective' section of the journal on pages 1124-1125. The objection is on the phrase "Bodies With Vagina" used in place of "Women". The article titled "Periods on display" talks about an exhibition entitled Periods: A Brief History at the Vagina Museum in London, UK.

Source: The Lancet

This article by Sophia Davis, Senior Editor, Lancet is very well researched, nicely structured, and interestingly driven starting with the silence, shame, and stigma associated with the menstruation and how the societies and cultures are opening up, challenging it, and boldly accepting it. In this regard, it refers to one of the best books busting taboos about menstruation by Emma Barnett titled as It's about Bloody Time. Period, published in 2019. It also talks about Period Poverty, i.e. lack of access to sanitary products and safety and hygiene issues associated with it. How period poverty combines with shame and lack of knowledge about menstruation, thus causing complex situations leading to missing schools, etc. hampering growth of girls in a calm and healthy manner. A number of initiatives are being taken across the globe by various agencies, organizations, activists, individuals, educationists, and governments.

I have read this 2-page intense article by Sophia Davis, and have understood the intent, gravity, and concerns raised by the author. Even when this phrase has been used, it is in a very different context, not at all demeaning or derogating women in any manner. I am a hundred percent sure that all those people and new agencies raising objection over it across various social media platforms are doing it without even reading this article or understanding it. What they are doing is just for their personal benefits. Coming back to the article that has a plenty of important and useful information, it talks about how a new wave of activists in their individual capacities, and at some place, in a collaborative manner are addressing various issues related to periods and menstruation.

Like, Rayka Zahtabchi, director, and Melissa Berton, producer, have been well acclaimed for their Oscar-winning documentary film titled "Period. End of Sentence." released in 2018. The movie is about a group of young women in an Indian village, learning about a machine that makes low-cost sanitary pads. In wake of this, Anita Diamant authored a book titled "Period. End of Sentence. A New Chapter in the Fight for Menstrual Justice" in 2021. This is just a bit of that excellent article. Now, coming to the controversial phrase "Bodies with Vagina", let me just quote the exact content used by Sophia Davis in her latest article only once and in a very relevant manner. You will be the right judge to say whether it is with an intent to insult women in any manner or it is used rightly. Do write below in comment section to give your views on it.

Historically, the anatomy and physiology of bodies with vaginas have been neglected—for example, the paucity in understanding of endometriosis and the way women’s pain has been seen as more likely to have an emotional or psychological cause, a hangover from centuries of theorising about hysteria. This
exhibition and the Vagina  Museum as a whole aim to redress this lack of attention.

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Salute To Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal And All Mothers On This Earth @CauseAChatter #GenderTalk

Least would have Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal thought of grabbing any reward while creating a painting. He is a 9th Standard student and is just 14. But with this painting he has become a global entity. The title of the painting is “ente ammayum ayalpakkathe ammamarum” That means “My mother and mothers in neighbourhood”. Anujath belongs to Thrissur, Kerala. He got tired of hearing his mother doesn't work, he created this painting that shows her doing her various chores. This painting when he submitted in his school, impressed his teacher so much so that they submitted it to the government. And now, the painting is the cover for the State's 2020/21 gender document. Unfortunately, his mother passed away in 2019, a few months before Anujath won this recognition for his fabulous work.

This painting is so powerful in conveying a lot of daily chores a woman performs so silently and without expecting any appreciation in return. It is poor at the other end how we ignore so much of the efforts and energies a woman puts in, in managing a family and making a house a home. Unfortunately, none of these activities shown in the painting she does for her own purpose. Every activity depicted is for the family and home. That is the greatness of a woman. In fact, a woman is the biggest warrior in the family. I think despite contributing any amount of help to her will be minuscule in comparison to what the women at home do. Is this by default of design? Do we just take it for granted just to ignore all what she does at home? Just because it is being done so silently and without any hype?

 

On the other hand, I think, it is just a matter of consciousness to take every bit of effort in account. Especially when we, the men, boast so much about our works, deeds, and efforts which become negligible if we look at the broader picture of life a little minutely.

This post is part of #CauseAChatter with Blogchatter