Sex/uality Artifacts

Hi, my name is Heather Andrews, and I did my first artifact based on the TV show, I Am Jazz. I Am Jazz airs on Wednesday evenings at 10pm, on TLC. So far, there has only been 1 season, but I look forward to many more.

Jazz Jennings is a transgender teenager. She is 14 years old and has one sister and two twin brothers. At the time of her birth, Jazz was pronounced a male with the name Jared Jennings. However, that is not how she identifies herself today. From a very young age, Jazz always preferred wearing dresses and high heels. She has also been socialized as a girl since she was very little. Jazz was just a toddler when she first identified verbally that she was a girl. At the age of five, she was officially diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder. Currently, Jazz is now on hormone therapy to halt male puberty. When she turns 18, she plans to undergo the surgeries necessary to transition fully to a female.

My artifact was an interview that I found on YouTube (first 3 minutes). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Gm3giHLGM). I had a very hard time narrowing it down to just one clip because Jazz has so many great videos out there. The video featured Jazz and her mother, Jeanette Jennings, on The View. In summary, the interview highlighted how extremely supportive and accepting Jazz’s parents have been for her. Jazz stated that she has had such loving parents and an incredibly welcoming family that helped her live her life exactly how she wanted to.

I tied this back to our class discussion and class reading “Healthy Sexuality Development and Gender Roles in Early Childhood.” Throughout the reading and our class lecture, we discussed how important parental and school reactions are. The article stated that children’s healthy sexual development is based on positive interactions and relationships with adult caregivers, siblings, and peers. In Jazz’s interview and in many different clips, Jazz has stated over and over again how fortunate and blessed she is to have such a supporting family.

Although she is just a teenager, Jazz is already making a huge difference in our world today. She has recently come out with a children’s book titled, “I Am Jazz.” She says that with the book she hopes to encourage not just the LGBTQ community to be happy and comfortable with themselves, but every individual. In addition to this, her and her family have founded the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation (TKPRF). This is a way to raise awareness and receive donations for the LGBTQ community. Again, this is a great example of how supportive her family has been throughout this process.

Because there are so many great clips of Jazz Jennings and her story on the internet, I encourage everyone to YouTube them and look more into her story. She is a strong, independent teenage girl who is motivated in helping individuals find their true self and happiness.