Atypical Gender Development Flashcards
Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) - distress caused by a mismatch of a person’s sex and the gender they feel they are.
DSM-5 specifically excludes atypical gender conditions with a biological basis (e.g. Klinefelter’s syndrome).
Biological Explanations - Brain Sex Theory
1) The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) is involved in emotional responses and male sexual behaviour in rats.
2) This area is larger in men than women and is female-sized in transgender females (Kruijver et al. 2000).
3) People with GD have a BST which is the size of the sex they identify with, not the size of their biological sex.
Genetic Basis
1) Coolidge et al. (2002) studied 157 twin pairs (MZ and DZ) and suggest that 62% of these cases could be accounted for by genetic variance.
2) Heylens et al. (2012) found that nine (39%) of their sample of
MZ twins were concordant for GD, but none of the DZs were.
Social Explanations - Socialisation
1) Believe gender identity is ‘invented’ by societies. Gender confusion (dysphoria) arises because people have to select a gender.
2) Therefore dysphoria is not pathological (a mental disorder) but due to social factors.
Socialisation Example
E.g. McClintock (2015) studied biological males in New Guinea born with female genitals due to genetic condition. At puberty genitals change and accepted as kwolu-aatmwol - females-then-males.
However, after contact with West kwolu-aatmwol are seen as abnormal instead of normal.
Psychoanalytic Theory - Separation Anxiety
1) Ovesey and Person (1973) suggest GD in biological males is caused by a child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity has been established.
2) The boy fantasises about a symbiotic fusion with his mother to relieve his anxiety and remove his fear of separation.
As a result the boy ‘becomes’ the mother and thus adopts a female gender identity.
Limitation of Brain Sex Theory
ASSUMPTIONS CRITICISED
1) Researchers scanned transgender individuals’ brains during hormone treatment - size of BST changed significantly.
2) Other researchers examined the BST post-mortem and after transgender individuals had received hormones during gender reassignment treatment.
–> Suggests differences in the BST may have been an effect of hormone therapy, rather than the cause of gender dysphoria.
Strength of Biological Exp
MAY BE OTHER BRAIN DIFFERENCES
1) Researchers analysed brains of both male & female transgender individuals, crucially before they began hormone treatment as part of gender reassignment.
2) The distribution of white matter corresponded more closely to the gender the individuals identified themselves as being rather than their biological sex.
–> Suggests that there are early differences in the brains of transgender individuals.
Evaluation of Atypical GD
SOCIALLY SENSITIVE RESEARCH
1) Classifying dysphoria as a medical category risks characterising them as ‘ill’ or ‘sick’ rather than merely ‘different’.
–> Suggests that researchers and clinicians should avoid reinforcing damaging stereotypes where possible.
Strength of Atypical GD
EVIDENCE OF MORE THAN 2 GENDER ROLES
1) Some cultures recognise more than two genders, e.g. fa’afafine of Samoa, challenging male versus female.
2) Increasing numbers of people now describe themselves as non-binary, showing cultural changes now match the lived experience of many.
–> Suggests gender identity (and dysphoria) is best seen as a social construction than a
biological fact.
