Transgender

Question 1

What is gender dysphoria?

Answer 1

Gender dysphoria is a term that describes a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This sense of unease or dissatisfaction may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life.

Question 2

Who defined gender as a social construct?

Answer 2

According to World Health Organization, gender is a socially constructed trait, conduct, position, and action that a given society considers suitable for men and women.

Question 3

Does Judaism have six genders?

Answer 3

Jewish law, or halacha, recognizes intersex and non-conforming gender identities in addition to male and female. Rabbinical literature recognizes six different sexes, defined according to the development and presentation of primary and secondary sex characteristics at birth and later in life.

Question 4

What is the Judaism six genders?

Answer 4

Zachar: A person with male characteristics
Nekeivah: A person with female characteristics
Androgynos: A person with male and female characteristics (149 references to this in Mishna and Talmud; 350 in classical Midrash and Jewish law codes)
Tumtum: A person with indeterminate characteristics (181 references in Mishna and Talmud; 335 in classical Midrash and Jewish law codes)
Ay’lonit: A person classified as female at birth, develops male characteristics at puberty and is infertile (80 references in Mishna and Talmud; 40 in classical Midrash and Jewish law codes)
Saris: A person classified as male at birth who develops female characteristics at puberty and/or lacks male characteristics (156 references in Mishna and Talmud; 379 in classical Midrash and Jewish law codes)

Question 5

What are Two-Spirit people of the First Nations?

Answer 5

Traditionally, Native American two-spirit people were male, female, and sometimes intersexed individuals who combined activities of both men and women with traits unique to their status as two-spirit people. In most tribes, they were considered neither men nor women; they occupied a distinct, alternative gender status.

Question 6

Do Native Americans believe in two souls?

Answer 6

Despite the uniformity of the views among the majority of North American Indians on the presence of two souls in man (the Pueblo, Algonquin, Shoshone, Northern Paiute, Tlingit and others), there are tribes who believe that there are four souls (the Sioux, Yuchi, Condo).

Question 7

Do Native Americans believe in two souls?

Answer 7

Native Americans believe there are five genders: “female,” “male,” “two-spirit female,” “two-spirit male,” and “transgendered.” LGBT Native Americans adopted the term “two spirit” from the Ojibwe language in 1989, according to Duane Brayboy in Indian Country Today. Brayboy notes that “the Navajo refer to two spirits as Nádleehí (one who is transformed); among the Lakota is Winkté (a male who behaves as a female); Niizh Manidoowag (two spirit) in Ojibwe; Hemaneh (half-man, half-woman) in Cheyenne; to name a few.”

Question 8

What does it mean to be intersex?

Answer 8

Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies”.Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies”.

Question 9

What are the neuroanatomical signatures of transgender

Answer 9

Fractional anisotropy (FA) can be used to measure white matter connections in the brain that differ between the sexes. The researchers say, “The only exception was the right inferior fronto-occipital tract, connecting parietal and frontal brain areas that mediate own body perception. Our findings suggest that the neuroanatomical signature of transgenderism is related to brain areas processing the perception of self and body ownership, whereas homosexuality seems to be associated with less cerebral sexual differentiation.”

Question 10

What does the term sexual differentiation refer to?

Answer 10

Sex differentiation involves a series of events whereby the sexually indifferent gonads and genitalia progressively acquire male or female characteristics.

Question 11

What does sexually dimorphic mean in humans?

Answer 11

Sexual dimorphism refers to differences in size and shape between females and males of the same species. The term sexual dimorphism is usually used only for the secondary sexual characteristics, which are unrelated to reproduction.

Question 12

Is sexual dimorphic brain is considered an anatomical substrate?

Answer 12

In particular, the sexual dimorphic brain is considered the anatomical substrate of psychosexual development, on which genes and gonadal hormones may have a shaping effect [11]. Growing evidence shows that prenatal and pubertal sex hormones permanently affect human behaviour and heritability studies have demonstrated a role of genetic components.

Question 13

Is there masculinsation found in transmen?

Answer 13

However, the total intracranial volume in transwomen resulted to be in between male and female controls [12]. Furthermore, sex differences have been observed in cortical thickness that is higher in ciswomen compared to cismen in several regions [16,17]. Studies conducted on transgender individuals reported signs of feminisation in cortical thickness of transwomen, while no sign of masculinisation was found in transmen

Question 14

What is the main sexually dimorphic areas associated with gender identity?

Answer 14

Regarding grey matter, the main sexually dimorphic areas associated with the development of gender identity are represented by the central subdivision of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH3).

Question 15

What does post mortem reported ?

Answer 15

Post-mortem studies reported that the BNST is smaller and with low somatostatin neurons in ciswomen and transwomen compared with cismen [22]. Regarding the INAH-3, which is involved in sexual and maternal behaviours and in the secretion of gonadotropins [23], one study reported this area to be smaller in transwomen than in cismen and to have less neurons [24]. However, the role of BNST and INAH-3 in the determination of sexual differentiation remains unclear because of the small size of the samples and because part of the subjects enrolled had received hormonal treatment previously.

Question 16

What is the white matter characteristics of gender?

Answer 16

Sex differences in the brain also emerged when focusing on white matter characteristics [13,26,27,28]. Indeed, white matter microstructure was evaluated via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that measures the functional anisotropy (FA) of white matter. This presents differently in men and women, with men usually having a greater FA value than women [13,26]. Studies conducted on transgender individuals described patterns of white matter microstructure to be more in line with the perceived gender (rather than the biological sex) [13,26,27,28]. However, to date, these limited data do not allow to provide a reliable conclusion.

Question 17

Was there behavioral shifts in female rodents after the administration of testosterone?

Answer 17

Some studies reported sexual and behavioural shifts in female rodents after the administration of testosterone during a critical period for foetal brain organization [52]. According to this theory, while the differentiation of sexual organs happens in the first two months of pregnancy, brain sexual differentiation follows in the last trimester of the pregnancy through permanent organizing effects induced by sex hormones on the developing brain [53,54]. These structures will be activated by sex hormones during puberty. In line with this hypothesis, some authors explain the origin of gender dysphoria as the result of the genital and brain differentiation not being in line.

Question 18

Is delay of sexual experiences, lower maternalism and higher prevalence of bi- or homosexual orientation higher in women with CAH?

Answer 18

Comparing women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) to female controls, more cross-gender typical role behaviour and patterns during childhood [72,73,74,75,76] with a preference for typically male toys [72,74,77,78,79,80,81] and playmates [81,88] was reported. Additionally, other studies showed a delay of sexual experiences, lower maternalism and higher prevalence of bi- or homosexual orientation in women with CAH compared to the general female population [80,82].

Question 19

What are the symptoms of CAH in females?

Answer 19

Females with CAH might have genitalia that appears different from what is expected for girls, early puberty, deepening voice, short height, acne, excessive facial or body hair, or menstrual irregularities. Both males and females with CAH may have infertility or adrenal crisis (only in classic form).

Question 20

What is CAH in a child?

Answer 20

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an inherited disorder of the adrenal glands that can affect both boys and girls. The adrenal glands are located above the kidneys and produce three types of hormones: Cortisol, which regulates energy, blood pressure and blood sugar and helps us recover from a sudden illness.

Question 21

What is the role of the androgen receptor pathway the development of gender identity?

Answer 21

Regarding the role of the androgen receptor pathway in the development of gender identity, interesting evidence may come from 46, XY individuals with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS). In fact, in CAIS patients, with complete lacking function of the androgen receptor, female gender identity is usually reported indicating that masculinization of gender identity depends of androgen exposure during foetal period.

Question 22

Does expressions of sex genes play a role in shaping anatomical differences?

Answer 22

Researchers have observed sex differences in the volume of certain brain regions in animals. Some studies suggest these anatomical differences are largely due to the effects of sex hormones on brain development. More recent research suggests that the activity, or “expression” of genes on the sex chromosomes plays a role in shaping these anatomical differences. Each cell in your body carries a pair of sex chromosomes, including your brain cells. Females have two X chromosomes, and males have one X and one Y.