The role of chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender AO3

Question 1

Name a first AO3 point:

Answer 1

Reductionist at a biological level

Question 2

Name a second AO3 point:

Answer 2

• Chromosomes have found to affect brain development
• Quadango et al 1977 found that female monkeys who were deliberately exposed testosterone during prenatal development later engaged in more rough and tumble play than other females and were more aggressive
• Eisenegger et al 2010 observed women playing a bargaining game
• those who believed that they had a dose of testosterone behaved in a more unfair manner than those who believed they were given a natural placebo therefore demonstrating the effects of expectation
• this shows that hormones do affect brain development

Question 3

Name a third AO3 point:

Answer 3

• There are other explanations
• culture and social influences can influence gender and sex development
• the case study of the Batista family from the Dominican republic (Imperato-McGinely et al 1974)
• four children were born with female external genitalia and raised as girls
• the large amount of testosterone produced during puberty caused their male genitalia to be produced as well
• the children were genetically XY but the male external genitalia did not appear because of an inherited gene that caused testosterone insensitivity
• it is said that the girls accepted their new male role without any difficulty
• it has been suggested that the ease of transition from male to female highlights the importance of culture
• in a community prepared to accept more fluidity in gender roles it seemed easy to move through roles which is different in western culture

Question 4

Name a fourth evaluation point

Answer 4

• real world applications
• a greater understanding of intersex conditions has led to real-world applications
• the intersex society of north america recommends that babies with such conditions should be assigned a gender but no surgery should be conducted until the individual can make an informed decision by themselves.
• genetic testing enables certain individuals such as those with Turner’s syndrome to be identified early so they can be given supplements to help them develop secondary sexual characteristics