atypical gender development

• gender dysphoria

  • mismatch between biological sex and gender identity
  • source of stress and discomfort so is recognised as a psychological disorder in DSM-5
• biological explanations - brain sex theory

  • GD caused by brain structures incompatible with a persons biological sex - particular attention paid to dimorphic brain areas
  • Zhou studied the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis which is 40% larger in males - post-mortem studies of 6 transgender females - their BSTc was similar size to that of a typical female brain
• Psychoanalytic theory

  • Ovesey and Person argued that GD in bio males is caused by child experiencing severe separation anxiety before gender identity has been established
  • child fantasises of symbolic fusion with mother to relieve anxiety
  • consequence is that child becomes the mother and adopts female gender identity
  • supported by Stoller who found in interviews with GD males that they displayed overly close relationships with their mothers
• social constructionism

  • gender confusion arises because society forces people to be either man or woman and then act accordingly
  • rather than pathological condition, is a social phenomenon which arises when people are required to choose one of two
• W - contradictory evidence for BSTc

  • found that transgender hormone therapy affects the size of the BSTc
  • differences may be due to hormone therapy rather than being the cause of GD
• W - bio explanations oversimplify a complex concept

  • criticised for tendency to reduce complex conditions and behaviours to a simple genetic level
  • danger is that other factors occurring at a higher psychological or social level may be ignored
  • an interactionist combination of several different levels of explanation may be especially relevant in case of GD, as it is so complex and unlikely to be explained by a single influence