All humans posses gender identity; most though match
their anatomic appearance. Gender
identity is either male or female or in some cases, both. Does gender define who we are or does who we
are define our gender? Culbertson
states, “If it is not created, then the child will be assigned a grammatical
gender (in the Western world, all children must be either a boy or a girl),
which may or may not match that child's social gender as it evolves over the
course of childhood” (Culbertson, 2009, para. 14). Is this a fair statement to make? How would one explain a hermaphrodite then? What about accident related sex
operations? In the case of David Reimer
for example. He was born a boy accident
occurred and was transformed into a girl. Spent twenty years as a female only
to find out he was a male from the beginning.
This led to emotional problems and eventually led David to take his own
life at 38 (New York Times, 2004).
David’s story expresses the importance of ones own
gender. It also shows that there is more
than one contribution to gender than just sex organs. Hopefully there will be an understanding into
how gender identity occurs by the end of the paper. The use of biopsychology and the environment
will aid in a complete understanding of gender identity. Hopefully there will be a deeper
understanding of the subject regarding gender identity as well as a deeper
understanding of one’s own individualism.
Many references have been made about women’s moodiness,
usually around her menstrual cycle and menopause. But, mood disorders are serious and should be
taken as such. Many identifying factors
occur when looking at one’s mood. Factors
such as environmental, and psychosocial interact with each other and create
vulnerability in both men and women. Any
one of these factors stem from biological and or environmental.
Biological factors show that pre-puberty rates of mood
disorders are similar in both boys and girls.
Most gender differences in mood occur after the women have successfully
had their menstrual cycle. This combined
with the hormonal ups and downs that occur sure shows signs that sex hormones
and mood walk hand in hand.
Female gender is always connected with the presence of
ovaries versus gonads and the male gender is associated with testis not present
in females unless one is a hermaphrodite phenotype. Behavior
affects hormones changed by one’s environment regardless of if it is physical
or social. Social environment is random
because people respond differently and have the ability to select one’s own
environment. This selection occurs based
on prenatal androgen exposure.
For example a female joins the service, in basic they are
taught many different things from how to make their beds exercise and eat. As the soldier matures through basic training
and the other various schools for training the female has adapted to the military
regimen. She has become a part of her social environment. The question is, does this make her more
influenced to change her gender because she wears men’s size boots, Battle
Dress Uniforms that are designed for men?
The great debate still lingers is homosexuality based on
environment or a result of biological factors.
This topic will continue to be debated because the side that says it
stems from the environment has supporting documentation and experiments as well
as the side that states it is from biological factors.
Human sexuality experimentation began in the 1930’s when
Alfred Kinsey came up with two hypotheses.
The first is to understand the amount of males who participated in
homosexual activity. Not surprising that
most asked replied with no. When then
asked if they had had sexual relations with the opposite sex the percentage of
males who responded doubled. The
result of this experiment shows that 30% of males claim they had at least one
orgasm during the homosexual act (Kula &
Slowikowaska-Hilczer, 2000).
Karen Hooker received a grant from the National Institute
of Mental Health. Her quest was to
discover how different heterosexuals and homosexuals are. The experiment was divided into groups after
the heterosexual and homosexual main category; Intelligence quotient (IQ) and
level of education. Each group was given
three psychological tests the Rorschach, which is an inkblot test. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which is
a picture interpretation test finally, the Make-A-Picture-Story
Test (MAPS). Each answer that the
participants gave were then submitted to a panel of psychologists and the
calculated. Surprisingly there were
little differences annotated between the two groups. Because of this “score”, Hooker deduced that
there was no direct correlation between environmental or social sexuality (Modi, Sarna, Sharma, & Marfatia, 2008). In 1973 American Psychological Association
(APA) because of her experiment removed homosexuality from Psychological
Disorders. APA then released a statement
that followed up their choice by saying that homosexuality was not a mental
disorder.
More
recently, D.F. Swaab from the Netherlands conducted a study on male sexual
differentiation of the brain. Based on
his research it was noted that in human
subjects with genetic and other disorders show that direct effects of
testosterone on the developing fetal brain are of major importance for the
development of male gender identity and male heterosexual orientation (Swaab, 2004).
He also annotated that the homosexual’s hypothalamus was shaped
differently as apposed to that of a heterosexual male. The suprachiasmatic nucleus was found to be twice that the size of
someone desiring the opposite sex as a partner.
Researchers can suggest
that biological factors give the impression that they are the strongest when
looking at sexual differentiation and gender identity. With the psychological adaptively of humans,
one’s own natural instinct and the knowledge scientist gain by studying the
brain both homosexuals and heterosexuals have a strong biological fight when
stating what influences them to be who they are. Environmental is controlled by that person’s
mind basically stating that it is the mind over what they chose for themselves. One’s instinct, hormones and biological
programing create more challenges only because these forces come from within
the body.
Since humans differ from each other, so do each one’s
individual influences. If someone was
introduced to the prenatal hormones that determine sexuality but then are
surrounded by an environment where their mind is influenced that person has the
ability to change completely. That said,
it is hard to say truly what has the greater influence. There are cases where a female is raised as a
female should determine their sexuality.
But we all know it does not always happen this way. If the answer were clearer, then there would
be a better understanding why female homosexuals have a higher level of testosterone. Does it come from the environment or her
body? Most likely, it is contribution of
both that lead to the cause.
Because someone looks a certain way there are many
contributing factors that will determine their sexual orientation. Fining a clearer answer to one’s gender will
aid researchers understanding human nature.
Until that day, all must take into account that everyone has a choice to
be who they want to be and regardless of
one’s sexual preference that does not make them ill or sexually
‘confused’ as the term has been coined.
Sexuality makes everyone individuals. A good person is based on his or
her deeds in their own life not who they chose to spend their life with. A saying that was spread though out the
military states that every soldier puts their BDU’s on the same way regardless
of color, creed, nationality or sexual orientation. If
society would make this a standard practice and eliminate the sexual
profiling possibly, just possibly, it will not matter of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” but a matter of if
that person can complete the what is asked of them.
References
Berk, L. (2003). Development Through the Lifespan 3rd Ed. Boston:
Pearson Allyn and Bacon.
Burr, C. (1993). Homosexuality and Biology. The Atlantic Monthly ,
272 (3), 47-65.
Culbertson, P. (2009, February 1). Bobbittizing God: on the importance
of the divine genitals
remaining unmanageable. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from HighBeam Research:
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-195919638.html?key=01-
42160D517E191D6C1A0B0B1905664B2E224E324D3417295C30420B61651B617F137
019731B7B1D6B39
Kula, K., & Slowikowaska-Hilczer, J. (2000). Sexual differentiation
of the human brain]. Retrieved
May 16, 2011, from
PubMed.gov: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10907369
Modi, M., Sarna, J., Sharma, A., & Marfatia, Y. (2008). Homosexuality:
Nature or nurture.
Abstract from current
literature: Homosexuality , 29 (1), 54-56.
New York Times. (2004, May 12). David Reimer, 38, Subject of the
John/Joan Case, Dies.
Retrieved May 16, 2011, from New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/us/david-reimer-38-subject-of-the-john-joan-
case.html
Pinel, J. P. (2009). Biopsychology
Seventh Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Susiarjo, M. (2009, February 18). BPA changes hormones that control
puberty, ovulation.
Retrieved May 16, 2011,
from Enviornmental Health News:
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/BPA-affects-early-puberty-
ovulation-in-rats/
Swaab, D. (2004, December 19). Sexual differentiation of the human
brain: relevance for gender
identity, transsexualism
and sexual orientation. Retrieved May
16, 2011, from
PubMed.gov:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15724806
No comments:
Post a Comment