Gender Difference: Is it Simply a Matter of Choice?

When you’re having a baby, it’s not uncommon for people to have a preference for the sexual selection of the unborn baby. Obviously, the main thing that all new parents are interested in is the wellness and wellbeing of the baby, but secondary to that, it’s quite common for parents to long specifically for a little son or daughter.

 

Fuelling this are all kinds of old wives’ tales about how to influence the gender of your baby. Some say that if you want a boy you need to eat meat, for example, and if you want a girl you need to eat lots of sweet foods. There are times of the month that are supposed to be better for conceiving each gender, and positions that you should use.

 

In these modern times, there are also ways to scientifically choose a specific gender. There are clinics that can screen fertilised embryos to see if they have genetic diseases, and these clinics can also pick up whether an embryo is male or female, allowing parents (in theory at least) to choose the gender of their unborn baby.

 

What many parents don’t realise, however, is that whilst they may be able to choose the biological sex of their baby, they are not actually able to pick the gender. Sex is determined by chromosome alignment and type of genitalia, but gender is a social construct, meaning a state of being male and female.

 

Societies have different rules about how men and women should act, dress and behave. People who don’t fit into the societal norms for gender behaviour can make others uncomfortable (such as men who like to dress up in women’s clothes). As a result of these societal rules, gender identity is not well understood. Some think that gender is fixed at a very young age, whilst others think that it remains fluid for a long time.

Categories: Baby, Gender, identity, nbsp, Parents, pick, Sex, unborn baby

Jargon Busters: Understanding Gender Identity Disorder

How do you know that you’re a woman or a man? Does it just come down to the genitals you have, or did you work out your gender identity on more factors? Gender is not a cut-and-dry sexual health issue; it’s not just a case of penises for boys and vaginas for girls. Rather, there is a number of people for whom the body doesn’t match up with what’s going on in the mind, which is commonly known as gender identity disorder. Usually, struggles with gender identity begin in early childhood, but it can happen at any age. Gender identity disorder can be confusing, both for those whose wellbeing is affected by it, and their friends and family. So, let’s clear up the jargon.

 

1. Transexual: The community of people with gender identity disorder is commonly described as “transsexuals” by medical professionals. This term was coined Dr. Harry Benjamin, one of the pioneering doctors to research and work with gender identity disorders, using the research of Magnus Hirschfeld, of the Institute for Sexual Science, and Alfred Kinsey, of the Kinsey Institute, as his springboard.

 

2. Transgender: “Transgender” is used as a general, non-medical term to describe anyone whose gender identity is different from their physical sex at birth. If you’re transgender, you may wish to live as a different gender than the one you were born with, and may put your physical wellbeing at risk to do so. You may undergo gender reassignment surgery – or a sex change – to transform your body to reflect who you are underneath. However, you might not think your gender wellness merits these types of surgeries, and that’s OK too.

 

3. Transman or Transwoman: If you were born as a biological man but you identify as a woman, you are known as a transwoman, or transgender woman. A biologically born woman who identifies as a man is known as transman, or transgender man.

 

4. Third Gender: You might not want to refer to yourself as male or female, but rather find that your identity lies somewhere along a spectrum. This is sometimes referred to as “third gender”, but some people prefer no label at all.

 

5. Transvestite: You may have head someone who dresses in clothing more typically worn by the opposite sex labelled as a “cross-dresser,” “transvestite,” “drag queen” or “drag king”. However, the important distinction to make here is that these words don’t describe a person’s gender.

 

6. Transition: Instead of sticking to the sex you were assigned with at birth, you may decide to move towards the gender you perceive yourself to be. This shift is described as “transition”. Sex reassignment surgery may be part of your transition, but this isn’t always the case.

 

So how do you know if you have gender identity disorder? Diagnosis involves a consultation with a mental health professional, who performs sessions of psychotherapy and formulates a diagnosis. The DSM-IV breaks gender identity disorders into several types: Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood, Gender Identity Disorder of Adolescence or Adulthood and Gender Identity Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Additionally, the ICD-10 provides five diagnosis types for GIDs: Transsexualism, Dual-role Transvestism, Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood, Other Gender Identity Disorders and Unspecified Gender Identity Disorder. The ICD-10 states that you are diagnosed as transsexual when you have a desire to live as and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, along with the desire to transform your body with gender reassignment surgery or hormone therapy. Your gender identity needs to be present for at least two years, and the desire for gender change cannot be a symptom of another disorder or a chromosomal abnormality.

Categories: Disorder, Gender, gender identity, gender reassignment, identity, identity disorder, identity disorders, nbsp, reassignment surgery, transgender, transsexual

Your Sexual Health Questions, Answered: What is Transgender?

For most guys and girls, gender isn’t something that really gets questioned. Most guys feel perfectly normal being male, and most girls feel very natural being female. However, this isn’t true for everyone. Some people who are born male feel as though they should have been born female, and vice versa. These people are known as being “transgender” and it’s a serious wellness issue. Feeling like you’re living in the wrong body isn’t just a matter of sexual health, but really your mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as your relationships.

 

What society thinks of as being intrinsically male or female will play a role in how you feel about yourself. These expectations can include things like hairstyles, clothing, and jobs — and how people should act or behave. These aren’t often spoken rules but rather cultural norms which cause you to grow up believing men should act a certain way and women should act a certain way, and you don’t really give this much thought. These assumptions, however, don’t fit with your gender identity if you’re transgendered. Somehow, you know you feel “different” from the time you’re young, from puberty or even later in life. This mismatch may make you feel confused and emotionally conflicted.

 

As a result of this conflict, you may decide to physically change your body to match your gender identity. This can be done through surgery or taking hormones, but either route you take can be a long, complicated, and expensive process. For this reason, and others, some transgender people decide to keep things as they are, but dress as the opposite gender instead. Then there are those who decide to use a different name and pronouns that go with that name. If your birth name is Anthony, for example, you might ask people to call you Amanda and refer to you as a “she”. You might find you aren’t completely sure what you want to do yet. If you do decide to start living like someone of the opposite gender, it’s likely for certain issues to arise. Filling out forms that ask for your gender and choosing which public toilets to use can suddenly become very complicated decisions to make.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that being transgender is not the same thing as being gay. Rather, being transgender is about your gender identity, or the way you see yourself and the gender you most closely identify with. Being gay or lesbian, on the other hand, is about your sexual orientation, or the gender you are attracted to. Many gay and lesbian people are completely comfortable with their gender; they are simply a man who is attracted to other men, or a woman who is attracted to other women. However, because sexual orientation is a different thing from gender identity, a transgender person can be straight, gay, or bisexual — just like other people can.

 

Another important distinction to make is that dressing in clothes typically worn by the opposite sex does not automatically mean you are a transgender person. People who dress in clothes that are usually associated with a different gender are sometimes called cross-dressers or transvestites, and these people can make these clothing choices for a variety of reasons. Yes, this may be because of their gender identity, but people who dress as the opposite sex can also be making a clothing choice for fun, comfort, or as a way to express their personal style — not because they see themselves as the other gender. To find out more, look online for more information, as well as support groups for people going through the same things you are.

Categories: feel, Gender, gender identity, identity, orientation, people, sexual health, sexual orientation, transgender, transgender person