2.4 Atypical Gender Development

Question 1

What is gender dysohoria?

Answer 1

When an individual experiences discomfort/distress, due to a mismatch between their sex assigned at birth and gender identity

Question 2

What does the brain sex theory suggest?

Answer 2

• Parts of the brain are sexually dimorphic (different in males and females)
• People with gender dysphoria have a BST which is the size of the gender they identify (not the size of their biological sex)

Question 3

Describe Heylens (2012) study on genetic factors on gender dysphoria

Answer 3

• Compared 23 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins, where one of each pair diagnosed with gender dysphoria
• Found 39% of MZ twins were concordant compared to none of the DZ’s

Question 4

What does social construction suggest?

Answer 4

• Gender identity is an invention of a society
• GD arises because society forces people to either be man or woman and to act accordingly
• GD is not pathological but a social condition which arises when people are required to choose one of two paths

Question 5

Describe McClintock’s (2015) study on social construction

Answer 5

• Refers to the case of individuals with genetic condition in New Guinea
• Causes some males to be categorized as females at birth
• At puberty, their genitals change due to an increase in testosterone (testes descend, clitoris enlarges into penis)
• Known as kwolu-aatmwol (females then males)

Question 6

Describe the psychoanalytic theory suggested by Ovesey and Person (1973)

Answer 6

• GD in males caused by boy experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity established
• Boy fantasises symbiotic fusion with his mother to relieve anxiety
• Boy becomes the mother and adopts the woman’s gender identity

Question 7

AO3 for biological explanations of gender dysphoria

Answer 7

1. Contradictory evidence (limitation):
- Hulshoff Pol et al (2006)=studied change in transgender brains during hormone therapy using MRI
- scans showed BST changed over the period
- in studies used to support the theory e.g Kruijver et al, BST examined using post-mortem after individuals had hormone therapy and gender reassignment
- suggests BST differences result of hormone therapy rather than GD

2. Other brain differences (strength):
- Rametti et al (2011)= studied white matter in brains (sexually dimorphic)
- regional differences in white matter depending on gender
- she analysed brains of trangender individuals before hormone treatment
- the amount/distribution of white matter corresponded closer to the gender the individual identified as
- suggests early differences in transgender brains

Question 8

AO3 for social explanations of gender dysphoria

Answer 8

1. Social constructionism (strength):
- some cultures recognize more than 2 genders
- challenges traditional binary classifications
- increasing numbers of people describing themselves as non-binary
- so cultural understanding is beginning to align with the experiences of many
- suggests GD/gender identity better viewed as social construction

2. Psychoanalytic theory (limitation):
- does not provide adequate account of GD in females
- theory only applies to transgender women
- Rekers (1986)=found GD in biological males more likely associated with the absence of a father than maternal separation
- does not provide a comprehensive account of GD

Question 9

What did Kruijver et al (2000) find in relation to brain sex theory

Answer 9

Size of BST is larger in men than women, and has been found to be female sized in transgender females