atypical gender development A01

• Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria

  -          Characterised by strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one’s own assigned sex.

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• Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria

  -          People with gender dysphoria want to live as members of the opposite sex so often dress or use mannerisms associated with the other gender.
• Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria

  -          Gender dysphoria is recognised as a psychological disorder in the DSM- 5 – and to diagnose there must be a marked difference between the individuals’ feelings about their gender and their biological gender and this must last for at least 6 months – and in children the desire to be the other gender must be verbalised.
• Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria

  -          The condition must also cause significant distress or impairment on an individual’s social, occupational or other important areas of their lives.
• Gender identity disorder / gender dysphoria

  -          Some individuals who experience gender dysphoria have sex reassignment surgery.
• Biological explanation of gender dysphoria

  -          Transsexual gene

  A study by Hare et al looked at DNA 112 MtF( male to female) transsexuals and found they were more likely to have longer version of version of the androgen receptor gene than in a normal sample – the effect of this abnormality is the reduced action of the male sex hormone , testosterone and this may have an effect on gender development in the womb which explains the study’s findings – could cause an under- masculinising in the brain
• Biological explanation of gender dysphoria

  -          Brain sex theory

  Is a biological theory based on the fact men and women’s brains are different and perhaps transsexuals brains do not match their genetic sex
• Biological explanation of gender dysphoria

  -          Brain sex theory

  bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is a part of the brain that has been studied which is located in the thalamus and on average it is twice as large in heterosexual men than in heterosexual woman and contains twice the number of neurons – this explanation in connection to gender dysphoria is that the size of this part of the brain correlates with preferred sex rather than biological sex
• Biological explanation of gender dysphoria

  -          Brain sex theory

  2 Dutch studies found that the number of neurons in this part of the brain of MtF transsexuals was similar to that of the females and by contrast the number of neurons in a FtM transsexual was found to be in the male range