Dysphoria And Gender

Sexuality and gender identity issues have had a long history in the fields of mental health and public policy. There has been much debate surrounding the inclusion of issues related to gender and sexual identity in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual since its initial stages of development (Drescher, 2010). Debates in this field of interest have been fragmented between several stakeholders (Ehrbar, 2010). This fragmentation has created complications in the process of developing United States policies that are inclusive of individuals with gender identities that do not match the gender to which they were assigned at birth. Specifically, policies surrounding gender reassignment surgeries have been difficult to develop and

After watching the video and reading the chapter about David Reimer, I concluded that early on in his life, the environment he was raised in had more to do with his gender than his genetics did. His parents raised him as a girl, and he learned to act like a girl from the beginning of his childhood. David’s parents and his psychologists’ had a huge role in developing, and persuading him into liking female things and becoming a girl. He was definitely a product of his environment in his early childhood years. However, as time went on he felt more and more that something was not right. By the time he reached adolescences, he knew he was meant to be a boy. Genetics had eventually taken over and he was destined to become what he was born to be, a boy. The power of DNA had taken over, and no matter how strong the environment, I believe that nature trumps nurture because genetics contributes to the preconceived tendencies that an individual has.

Due to social conformity, along with the advancement of technology and surgical procedure intersexed persons are aimed to be "fixed" at birth.  Although otherwise healthy, there is a need to perform surgery on the baby in order to remove certain sexual organs that don't fit with the perfect idea of what a girl or boy should look like.  This often leaves scars, and the psychological and emotional confusion along with it.

Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism published an article by Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis and Daniel Klink titled Adolescents with gender dysphoria in 2015. The article discusses the increase of youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria and receiving medical treatment and possibly surgery as well. The authors stressed the importance for psychotherapy and/or family therapy. The article also discussed the factors that influence gender development psychological, social, and biological. There are not many studies on determinants of gender dysphoria, and no epidemiological studies in children younger than 15 exist at all. Although, more recently research has focused on histological and brain imagining studies on individuals diagnosed

Gender identity, as defined in Webster’s Dictionary is, “the totality of physical and behavioral traits that are designated by a culture as masculine or feminine” (Webster, 2014). The first words said in the delivery room are often “it’s a boy!” or “it’s a girl!” Intersex children, who fall in between the scientific gender spectrum for male or female, are put through genital mutilation surgery and hormone treatment to abide by one of the two categories. Children who are born with an intersex condition where reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not fit typical females or a typical male’s norms should not have sex assignment surgery performed. This should be decided by the child when they are mature enough to make that decision for themselves. This is morally wrong because the social and cultural need to place intersex individual’s into the category of one sex or the other can have negative impact on their mental and physical health and many of the surgeries done on intersexed infants were done more for the benefit of parents, healthcare practitioners, and society, than for the infant. In the long run, this surgery done at such a young age can cause an unstable quality of life filled with shame and a feeling of exclusion from society along with the possibility of losing sexual functions. I will be mentioning evidence of cases that demonstrate that it’s impossible for intersex individuals who have had sex reassignment surgery that it did not help them identify with the rest

In the case of David, it would seem that nurture seems to have lost in this case. David overcame his nurture to live in his true nature. David’s case supports transgender individuals, those who are born in the opposite sex’s body. Transgender individual born in the wrong body, experience dysphoria the same way David did, despite being socialized as the gender they were born into. Like him, these individuals experience intense confusion, anger, and depression about their gender identity.

Prejudice results in discrimination toward individuals based on their group membership, regardless of their personal characteristics. Like members of other stigmatized and marginalized groups, people with a mental illness often experience prejudice resulting in increased lower quality of life. (Koenig and Eagly, 2014). The article studied is titled Gendered Mental Disorders: Masculine and Feminine Stereotypes About Mental Disorders and Their Relation to Stigma by Guy Boysen, Ashley Erbersole, Robert Casner and Nykhala Coston was written for The Journal of Social Psychology and McKendree University. The research founded indicated that stereotypes could intersect, especially when it comes to mental disorders and gender. Three studies were conducted;

In conclusion, my overall findings indicate that gender does affect attitudes towards mental illness. Male participants reported having more negative attitudes towards individuals with mental illness. This may be due to the fact that in in American society, males tend to be socialized to think and behave in ways that society has labeled as masculine which are then reinforced though the media and institutions. Males are expected to be strong, physically, and emotionally, thus any sign of weakness is seen as non-masculine and therefore, feminine, which is deeply looked down upon. Unlike the majority of physical illnesses, mental illnesses are often associated with weakness. My findings reinforce the existing research that mental illness is stigmatized,

While David’s fiance is away out of the country, this gives him the opportunity to explore with men a little more. David meets Giovanni, a bartender, who is the one he exchanges sexual relations with. Giovanni’s room is where this occurs. The theme of masculinity comes up consistently throughout the book. David is unable to deal with his sexual orientation and the expectations of masculinity. In other words, his insecurities are caused by him being unable to achieve flawless masculinity because of his sexual attractions to men. It’s unclear if David is bisexual or completely gay. He is engaged to Hella, but I’m not sure if she is there for him to cover

Gender can be characterized as the state of being male or female. It is not characterized by what an individual feels they should be considered as. Throughout the movie it is shown that Bree is not comfortable with the gender she was born with. She says “nothing is going to stop me from checking into that hospital next week. I’m not going to be dragged back into Stanley's old life.” She tries so hard to separate herself from the truth of her being a male. It is shown that she wants to receive acceptance from society by listening to voice records on how to have a higher pitched voice, and trying to schedule her vaginoplasty. Social factors contributed to Gender Dysphoria include culture, race,

Gender Dysphoria is one of the most important issues associated with problems people have with their gender identity. Aspects of Gender Dysphoria include

People all over the world believe the notion that men and women were created to become companions to procreate the earth. In fact, each person is initially the same sex until the reproductive organs begin to externally develop around thirteen weeks of pregnancy. Prior to organ development, sex is determined by the fetus having an X or Y chromosome. Around 38 to 40 weeks of pregnancy, a full-term baby is born with either male or female physical attributes. This all seems to be what most would consider to be normal, but what about those who grow up not feeling as if their bodies represent who they are psychologically? Furthermore, gender dysphoria has become increasingly common and/or more people in the LGBT communities are speaking out about

Since the world has come more and more tolerant of others and world views change, so do the conservations about how much is too much. Enter the child and todays subject. But before we get into the meat of the conversation, just what is gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is being uncomfortable feeling wrong about their body they are born in, and seek to change that (personify attitudes, dress and possibly stereotypes). There is more to it that that such as clinical proof of distress but that’s the most general of general overviews.

Gender Dysphoria can be defined as the condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological identity as a male or female to be opposite of one’s biological sex. During the 2013-14 school year, a transgender student at Gloucester High School named Gavin Grimm was diagnosed with gender dysphoria his sophomore year. As part of his treatment, Grimm’s mother informed the school administrators of her sons male gender identity. Her reason doing so was to help Grimm socially transition in all aspects of his life. The principal gave Grimm permission to use the male facilities. He used the male restrooms for almost seven weeks without a problem until parents and residents in the Gloucester area demanded there be a change. The school board enacted a

The biggest question asked is how it comes around, however there is not a solid reasoning or proof of one main causal factor. According to Lippa, exposure to testosterone during the second trimester of pregnancy, when the development of both male internal and external genitals and a male-typical nervous system forms, may influence gender identity. (98) Brown counters this argument by saying the formation of a secure unconflicted gender identity and gender role is influenced by social factors, such as the character of parent’s emotional bond or the relationship each parent has with the child; he asserts that the biological factors (genetic complement or prenatal hormones) do largely determine gender identity however they do not act alone, more or less just setting the stage to go one way or the other.