Gender Issues

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Gender Issues

• Varying perspectives on what it means to be a
  male or female

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Big Confusing Questions

• What does it mean to be a male or female in our
  society?
• Are the behavioral preferences of males and
  females based on biology or culture?
• Do our societys attitudes and expectations hurt
  or help our sexual relations?

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Definitions

• SEX biological maleness or femaleness
• genetic determined by chromosomes
• anatomical obvious physical differences
• between males and females
  

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• Gender psychological aspects of maleness or
  femaleness
• Gender Identity the subjective sense of being
  either male or female
• What sex you think you are, or really should be.

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• Gender Role attitudes and behaviors considered
  appropriate in a specific culture for people of a
  particular sex
• Expectations we should fulfill
• Masculine or Feminine
• Vary widely from culture to culture but rapidly
  evolving

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Forming a Gender Identity

• Does it simply flow from anatomy?
• For some of us, its not always that easy
• For all of us, it all starts in our mothers
  womb, at the instant of conception, as prenatally
  we begin the tortuous path of sexual
  differentiation.

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Chromosomal Influences

• We receive 23 chromosomes from each parent.
• Of these, 22 pairs are identical in structure.
• The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, determines
  whether we are genetically male or female.

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More Chromosomes

• If we receive an X from both parents, we will be
  female (XX).
• A y from our father, and we are male (Xy).
• One gene on the y (SRY) leads to testes
  development.
• Perhaps one gene on X (DSS) leads to the
  development of female characteristics. If so, we
  are not inherently female.

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The Gonadal Stage

• Males and females have identical gonads
  (reproductive organs) until about 6 weeks after
  conception when SRY or DSS spur their development
  
• Once the testes or ovaries become functional
  their release of hormones controls further
  differentiation

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The Crucial Role of Hormones

• The gonads release the sex hormones into the
  blood stream
• Ovaries produce
• 1) estrogen a hormone which develops
  female sexual characteristics and regulates
  menstruation, as do
• 2) progestational compounds

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• Testes release androgens which promote the
  development of male genitals and secondary sexual
  characteristics
• Another hormone released by the testes,
  testosterone, also promotes sexual motivation
• Both males and females produce the sex hormones
  typically associated with the other (testosterone
  and estrogen) but in much smaller quantities

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Internal reproductive structures - males

• At about 8 weeks after conception
• Males androgens stimulate the woffian
  ducts to develop into the plumbing which will
  allow semen creation and transmission
• another hormone causes the
  mullerian duct system to vanish

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Female reproductive organs

• Without the influence of androgen, mullerian
  ducts develop into female structures and the
  woffian duct system fades into nothingness

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External reproductive structures

• A product of testosterone DHT causes portions
  of the undifferentiated sex organs to fuse and
  form the scrotum and penis
• Without DHT this fusion does not take place and
  the clitoris, labia minora, and labia majora form
• By the 12th week, its all done and our sex is
  apparent

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Brain Differentiation

• For males, in the Hypothalamus, testosterone
  exposure leads to insensitivity to the effects of
  estrogen, preventing the establishment of the
  menstrual cycle at puberty
• Also, some of its regions are much larger in
  heterosexual males than females

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The Cerebral Cortex

• Are differences between the sexes on verbal and
  spatial cognitive skills caused by differences in
  their cerebral cortexes?
• Men appear to often rely on just one hemisphere.
• Women have a thicker corpus callosum facilitating
  the use of both hemispheres

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But theres more

• Are there other reasons why men perform better on
  spatial tasks while women shine in verbal
  measures?

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The power of Expectations

• Recent research highlights the importance of
  psychosocial, not biological, influences.
• Social Expectations girls do just as well as
  boys initially in science and math, but falter in
  high school.
• Where they discouraged ?
• Changing Expectations by the late 90s, the gap
  had largely vanished.

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Atypical Differentiation

• How, and why, do things go awry?
• Hermaphrodites/Intersexed people who possess
  biological attributes of both sexes
• Very few have both ovaries and testes, most have
  ambiguous anatomy but their gonads match their
  chromosomes and they are called pseudo
  hermaphrodites

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Problems at the Chromosomal Level

• Turners Syndrome
• Just one sex chromosome X
• Left with 45 rather than 46
• Normal external female genitals but little or no
  evidence of ovaries/hormones
• Despite that, feminine in interests and behavior
• 1 of 2000 births

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Faulty Chromosomes cont.

• Klinefelters Syndrome
• XXy occurs in 1 of 500 births
• Anatomically male
• Presence of extra X stops development of male
  structures, resulting in sterility
• No interest in sex, no testosterone
• Tall, rounded, feminine, but content as males

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Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome

• An otherwise normal male, unaffected by prenatal
  exposure to androgen
• Results in female genitals, including a shallow,
  but nonfunctional vagina
• Raised as girls, they assume a female gender
  identity and thrive as females

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Fetally Androgenized Females

• Chromosomally normal females exposed to excessive
  androgens
• At birth genitals appear to be male
• Corrected by minor surgery, most still reject a
  female gender identity with some assuming a male
  gender identity and behavior

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DHT-Lacking Males

• Males who cannot produce crucial DHT
• Result female appearing external genitals, at
  least initially
• Typically raised as girls, they suddenly sprout
  into males at puberty
• In one study, 16 of 18 cast off their female
  gender identity and happily assumed male sex roles

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The Puzzle of Gender Identity

• Why do we think we belong to one sex, even though
  our anatomy tells us differently?
• Evidence, both cross-cultural, and otherwise,
  points to the importance of social-learning
  forces.

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Social-Learning Influences

• Familial expectations (blue room vs. pink room)
  start before birth
• Familial perceptions/interpretations vary
• Familial responses vary similarly
• By 3, most of us have a firm gender identity, and
  reinforcement momentum builds as kids mimic
  same-sex parent

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Cross-Cultural Evidence

• Margaret Meads ground-breaking studies
• In Mundugumor, both sexes are aggressive,
  insensitive Masculine ?
• In Arapesh, both sexes are nurturing and gentle
  Feminine?
• In Tchambuli, we find a reversal of our customary
  sex roles
• Therefore, its more culture than biology

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Are We Sexually Neutral at Birth?

• In the 1960s, Dr. John Money at John Hopkins
  thought so
• Intersexed infants were surgically fixed to
  have female genitals, regardless of their
  chromosomal sex
• Its easier to make a functional vagina than a
  penis
• Initially, this approach seemed to work

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Chromosomes Win Out

• As these individuals matured, some of the
  children assigned a sex at odds with their
  chromosomes rejected their expected gender
  identity
• The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
• Since the social learning model obviously has its
  limits, now even John Money endorses an
  interactional model

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Transsexualism Transgenderism

• Transsexual (TS) someone whose gender identity
  is opposite to their biological sex
• TSs feel that their biological sex is mistaken.
  Many seek sex-reassignment, many do not.

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• Transgendered (TG) people whose appearance
  and/or behaviors do not match traditional gender
  roles.
• TGs behave in a way that flouts societys
  expectations. Often, they cross-dress.
• TGs do not seek sexual reassignment surgery.

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Gender Dysphoria

• Some, but not all, of TSs and TGs experience
  gender dysphoria unhappiness with their
  biological sex or expected sex role.

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Gender Identity/Orientation

• Sexual Orientation the sex we are emotionally
  and physically attracted to
• Gender Identity the sex we believe we belong
  to, even despite biology
• Most TSs are attracted/oriented to those who
  share (pre-surgery) their anatomy
• But some male to female TSs prefer females

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Gender-Identity Disorder

• According to DSM IV TR, to fit the
  Gender-Identity Disorder tag, individuals must
• 1) have pervasive cross-gender beliefs,
• 2) dysphoria
• 3) lack a physical intersex condition,
• 4) show great distress and problems
  functioning in society and at work

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Transsexuals Why?

• Most have no problems with chromosomes or anatomy
• 90 lack any hint of mental illness
• While at first 75 were male, this gap has
  narrowed
• Most develop their desire to change sexes in
  childhood
• Dating!

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Fine, But Why?

• We still dont know, two theories exist.
• Hormonal prenatal exposure to inappropriate
  levels alters brain differentiation But most
  are normal.
• Social Learning children are conditioned to
  behave in a manner consistent with the other sex
  and reinforced for mimicking other sex parent.

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OK(?) What Do We Do?

• Perhaps psychotherapy can alleviate the need for
  reassignment surgery. But often it cant, leaving
  no choice but
• SEX-REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

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PROTOCOL

• 1) Interviews
• 2) Living the life for a year or longer
• 3) Hormone therapy reverse secondary sexual
  characteristics, and, finally,

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The Surgery

• Works better for male to female switch
• Penis tissue becomes the vagina
• Some can even experience arousal and orgasm
• Additional surgery can change the pitch of their
  voice

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Female to Male

• Breasts, uterus, ovaries removed
• Vagina sealed, penis constructed but no
  erection from sexual arousal
• Does it work?
• Most report a significant increase in their
  overall adjustment to life

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Cultural Gender Roles

• Men assertive, logical, competitive, competent
• Women submissive, warm, nurturing, emotional
• Most psychologists argue that our gender roles
  arise from socialization our learning
  histories, through which we accept our societys
  expectations for our behavior

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The Socialization of Sex Roles

• Who and what shapes our assumed sex roles?
• Parents often have differing expectations for,
  and treatment of, boys and girls
• Encourage or discourage certain toys
• gender appropriate
  play
• But today sports are pushed for both

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Other Socializing Forces

• Peers
• Voluntarily segregation, even in pre-school
• Reinforces sex-typing in play
• Influence even increases in adolescence
• Otherwise face social ridicule
• Often produces stereotyping

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• Schools Textbooks
• From the 70s to the early 90s, girls and boys
  were treated quite differently
• Boys were encouraged to be assertive, received
  more tolerance when bad, more attention, help
  and praise
• Girls praised for neatness not substance,
  encouraged to be dependent and to avoid math and
  sciences
• Recently, these attitudes have shifted

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• Television
• Also perpetuates gender stereotypes
• Women are both underrepresented and presented
  stereotypically
• Hope springs from The Wild Thornberrys, Alias,
  and Judging Amy
• Marketing concerns should push this positive
  trend since women both watch and buy more

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• Religion
• Promotes males as superior God, Pope, Bishop,
  Priest, etc.
• Women portrayed as Eve, Virgin Mary
• Encouraged to model roles such as educators,
  nurses, charity workers
• Recently, many denominations have ordained women
  ministers and moved to eliminate masculine
  metaphors for God

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Gender-Role Assumptions

• Women as undersexed, mean as over
• women have been told that they should not
  desire or enjoy sex
• men should pursue every chance
• unfairly limits both

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More Assumptions

• Men initiate, women respond
• Men approach, ask out, pick up, make
  the move
• Women respond with submission or rejection
• Causes men to feel pressure and anxiety
• Women may wish to initiate but feel pressure

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Finally

• Men as unemotional
• Women as nurturing
• Do these assumptions still prevail?