atypical gender development

• transsexual gene

  o potential biological explanation for gender dysphoria looks at potential genetics being the cause. Hare et al (2009) examined the DNA of 112 male to female transexuals and found they were more likely to have longer versions of the androgen receptor gene compared to a 'normal' sample of people. The effect of this genetic abnormality was the males had reduced action of the male sex hormone testosterone and this may have impacted gender development in the womb as testosterone is linked to the masculinisation of the brain in men
• Brain-sex theory is another biological explanation for gender dysphoria. This theory assumes male and female brains are different and those suffering from gender dysphoria have brains that do not match their biological sex. One area of the brain that has been studied is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc) which is located in the thalamus.
• BSTc is on average twice as large in heterosexual men as in heterosexual women and contains twice the number of neurons. Brain-sex theory proposes that for people with gender identity disorder, the size of the BSTc correlates with preferred sex rather than biological sex. Supporting evidence comes from two dutch studies (Zhou et al, 1995 and Kruijver et al, 2000) both of which found that the number of neutrons in the BSTc of male to female transsexuals was similar to that of the females. In contrast, the number of neutrons in a female to male transsexual was found to be within the male range.
• Phantom limb and cross-wiring is another biological explanation offered for gender dysphoria by neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran (2008). Ramachandran highlighted how people who have limbs amputated often report they still feel like the limb is there, often feeling itches in the limb or attempt to pick things up with the missing hand. The explanation for this is the part of the brain that received input from the amputated limb is taken over by a different part of the body, such as the cheek. 
• When applying this to gender dysphoria, the theory proposed by Ramachandran and McGeoch (2007) is that the image of the sex organs is innately hardwired into the brain in a manner that is opposite to the persons biological sex. Therefore, in cases with males with gender dysphoria, they feel they should not have a penis and some females feel they should have one. It is estimated that two-thirds of female-to-male transsexuals report the sensation of a phantom penis or phantom erections from childhood onwards.
• environmental effects - pesticides

  the pesticide DDT contains oestrogens which may mean that males are prenatally exposed to high levels of these female hormones causing a mismatch between genetic sex and hormone influences
• biological explanations


  • transsexual gene
  • the brain-sex theory
  • phantom limb and cross-wiring
  • environmental effects - pesticides
• social explanations


  • mental illness
  • mother-son relationships
  • father-daughter relationships
• mental illness


  number of psychologists proposed that gender dysphoria is linked to mental illness, which is linked to some childhood trauma or maladaptive upbringing. Coates produced a case history of a boy who developed gender dysphoria proposing that this was a defensive reaction to the boy's mother's depression following an abortion. the trauma occurred when the boy was 3 a time in a development when a child is sensitive to gender issues
• mother-son relationships

  in clinical interviews with individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria, stoller observed that they displayed overly close and enmeshes mother-son relationships. this would be likely to lead to greater female identification and confused gender identity
• father-daughter relationships


  in the case of FtM transsexuals, zucker suggested that females identify as males because of severe paternal rejection in early childhood. unconsciously, they think that if they become males, they might gain acceptance from their father