a typical gender development

• define gender dysphoria

  a psychiatric condition where a person feels distress with the gender assigned to them at birth (this does not include intersex conditions)
• what are some biological explanations of gender dysphoria?

  transsexual gene

  brain sex theory

  phantom limb and cross wiring

  environmental effects- pesticides
• how does the transsexual gene explain gender dysphoria?

  Hare et al

  • looked at DNA of 112 MtF transsexuals
  • found they were more likely to have a longer version of the androgen receptor gene than the control group
  • the effect of this longer gene = reduced action of testosterone which may have an effect on pre-natal gender development
• what is brain sex theory?

  the idea that male and female brains are different and that maybe transsexuals brains do not match their genetic sex

  
  

  Zhou et al

  • found that the number of neurones in the BSTc (and therefore its size) correlated with a persons preferred sex rather than their biological one
  • FtM transsexuals had a number of neurones in the male range and vice versa
• how does phantom limb + cross wiring explain gender dysphoria?

  Ramachandran and McGeoch

  • suggested that phantom limb syndrome occurs because the brain is 'cross wired' and the part of the brain receiving inputs for an amputated part of the body is taken over by another part such as your cheek, thus you feel sensation where you do not have a limb
  • in gender dysphoria: the sex organs are innately hardwired into the brain which are opposite to a persons biological sex
  • 2/3 of FtM transsexuals report the sensation of a phantom penis from childhood onwards
• how do environmental effects explain gender dysphoria?

  environmental effects eg pesticides which contain oestrogen which may mean that males are prenatally exposed to high levels of female hormones which cause a mismatch between genitals and hormone levels
• what are the social explanations of gender dysphoria?

  mental illness

  mother-son relationships

  father-daughter relationships
• how does mental illness explain gender dysphoria?

  belief that mental illness, related to childhood trauma or maladaptive thinking relates to gender dysphoria

  Coates et al

  • case of a boy who developed gender dysphoria + proposed that this was a defensive reaction to his mothers depression after an abortion
  • the trauma occured when he was 3
  • suggests the trauma led to a cross-gender fantasy to resolve his anxiety
• how do mother-son relationships explain gender dysphoria?

  Stoller

  • observed that people diagnosed with gender dysphoria had overly close mother-son relationships, leading to greater female identification and confused gender identity
• how do father daughter relationships explain gender dysphoria?

  Zucker

  • suggested females identify as males due to severe paternal rejection in early childhood
  • they unconsciously think that if they become males they might gain acceptance from their father
• criticism of the brain sex theory

  Chung et al noticed that differences in BSTc volume did not develop until adulthood

  • most transsexuals report feelings of gender dysphoria from early childhood
  • suggesting that instead of being the cause, a difference in BSTc is as a result of transsexualism
• support of brain sex theory

  Rametti et al

  • studied brains of FtM transsexuals before hormone therapy
  • in terms of white matter, FtM individuals had more similar patterns to Males than females (gender identity vs biological sex)
• support for cross-wiring

  Ramachandran and McGeoch

  60% of non-gender-dysphoric men with penile amputations experience a phantom penis

  30% of gender dysphoric men experience phantom penis after an amputation, suggesting there was no wiring to a 'penis representation' in their brain in the first place

  10% of FtM patients experience phantom breast sensations after surgery
• problems with gender dysphoria research

  socially sensitive

  • could have social consequences on transsexuals
  • are they better off with or without the research?
  • if a biological cause is identified, people may be more accepting of them but it may harm individuals because they may assume it is inevitable and determinist
• support for social explanations

  zucker et al

  • 64% of boys with gender dysphoria were also diagnosed with separation anxiety compared to only 38% of boys who had gender concerns but symptoms were subclinical
• evidence against social explanations

  Cole et al

  • 435 gender dysphoric individuals and reported the range of mental conditions was no greater than in a 'normal' population
• a problem with research into gender dysphoria

  more research is needed because different types of gender dysphoria seem to be apparent

  • blanchard suggested 2 groups:
  • homosexual transsexuals who wish to change sex because they are attacted to men (MtF)
  • non-homosexual transsexual who wish to change sex because they are autogynephillic