Ovesey and Person - gender dysphoria is caused by a child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity is established
Boy fantasies about a 'symbiotic fusion' with mother to relieve anxiety and 'become' her and adopts a female gender identity
Stoller - gender dysphoric bio males described overly-close mother-son relationships that would lead to greater female identification and confused gender identity long-term
Social constructionist theory of gender development
Gender confusion arises as society forces individuals into either socially constructed category of male or female
Gender dysphoria is not pathological, but rather a social phenomenon
Gender performativity - the way we are judged on our ability to adhere to gender norms; if we don't adhere, we sense dissonance - dysphoria