Nurturing A Child's Natural Sexual Gender Analysis

In “Parents Keep Child’s Gender Secret,” Jayme Poisson describes how one family choses to raise their child genderless. They are also keeping the child’s sex a secret, although it is not clear if they are trying to allow the child to define its sex. Gender and sex are two different distinctions that are often mistakenly seen as the same thing. Society places gender expectations based on sex, so it’s easy to see why they are looked at as the same thing. It’s important to remember that gender represents a choice, while sex is determined before you are born. The option of choosing is important when considering the ethics of raising a child. It’s why I believe that it is ethical to allow a child to define their gender and unethical to allow a child to define their sex.

Both sexual orientation and gender identity cover the areas between the male-typical and female-typical poles. These can also be classified as the binary genders. Homosexuality can be considered to be associated with gender-atypical behavior. At birth, a child’s sex is usually identified by the external genitalia and serves as the basis for the child’s life and gender role. There are those that wish to cross over the gender line completely by changing one’s legal gender status to the other, desired gender, or those who wish to conform one’s body to the desired gender by cross-gender hormone treatment and genital surgery. In many countries, some legal regulations for government action and insurance coverage require the proof of a clinical or psychopathological

Sex refers to the physical traits of male and females. Gender refers to the cultural behaviors,social behaviors, and attitudes learned through socialization with being male and female. The two-party sexual system of this article was apart of the nature theory discussed in our textbook. Nature refers to biological, physiological, heredity of an individual which can be fairly fixed. Many teenagers decide that they want to change their gender and become attracted to the same gender. For example, a female who dresses like a boy and dates another female is considered a transgender. Also, a lot of teenagers or older adults start to feel that they were born in the wrong body and decide to have a sex change (transexual). Most families do not accept the new change and therefore abandon their children. There have been many issues with parents wanting a certain gender, and dress the child according to the gender they would rather have. This situation makes the child question their gender/sexuality as they get

     The question is raised as to whether a child needs a mother and father role model. Conservatives say ‘yes,’ but all of the research that they have acquired is based “fellow conservative groups.” (Neff 2004). “Nearly 50 studies show there are no significant developmental differences between the children of gay parents and the children of straight parents.” (Neff 2004). In fact, gay parenting is supported by many psychological organizations like the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychological Association. Children tend not to be confused by their gender role. In a study, research showed that 20 of 21 children correctly identified a favorite toy consistent with their gender. (Patterson, 1992). There is no more male hormone in a lesbian than in a heterosexual female. This was proven by a study done with 12 heterosexually parented children and 12 homosexually parented children. The study showed that the children “did not differ in masculinity or androgyny.”

The question on whether gender identity, which is a person’s perception of their own gender, is defined by nature or nurture has long been debated in the scientific community. For decades in the scientific community, it was stated that the child’s upbringing determined their gender identity. According to the scientific community, the environment and the way the child is treated during growth are the only factors that determine a child’s gender identity. One member of the scientific community who believed that a child’s gender is constructed through nurturing was Dr. John Money. Dr. John Money was a psychologist who specialized in research on the biology of gender and sexual identity. Dr. John Money spent his lifetime studying how a person is affected by societal constructs of

Intersexuals are seen as being deviations from the "norm" and seen as people "who need to be 'fixed' in order to preserve a two-gender system, are also studied to prove how 'natural' the system is to begin with" (Fausto-Sterling, p. 74). Even though intersexual births occur with high frequency, medical technology attempts to render bodies male or female to insist they are either male or female are prevalent, rather than having the individual admit the social nature of their ideas about sexual differences. In many cases with intersexual children who have surgical operations to be male, it is not how his sex organ can function, but rather

In the words of Albert Einstein, “Everybody is a genus. If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will go through life believing that it is stupid”. Einstein’s point is valid, especially when applied to human children and their development. Consequently, the nature and nurture of a child are vital in order for it to thrive as well as mature into an adult so it can one day pass on its genetic makeup to the next generation. When a child acquires improper nurture, homosexuality has been known to plague the adolescent into forfeiting their potential to preserve their genes by means of reproducing.

Sex and gender throughout history have been used interchangeably. A man was simply a male, a woman was simply a female. It was a simplistic system that simply ignored anyone that fell outside the traditional gender binary. In this essay, I will discuss the relationship between sex and gender by exploring the psychosexual development theories of Sigmund Freud that seeks to explain how women and men develop gender roles. To Freud, a man is born a male and develops his masculinities from a struggle with his father. To challenge Freud’s theories, we analyse the case of David Reimer, who from near birth was raised as a woman on the advice of Dr John Money who believes that a woman is not born, but made through cultural experiences. Freud and Money argue both sides of the essentialist versus constructionist debate. Through observing how gender relates with biological sexual identity, we look at how Intersex and Transexuals break the male/female gender binary and the challenges they face in both official and cultural recognition.

Sigmund Freud’s research of childhood development is composed of five stages, (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital), if one of these issues is not resolved then fixation can occur where the child will stay in the stage throughout adulthood. For instance, if a child becomes fixated on the oral stage then they will be dependent on external things such as smoking, and drinking. Another Psychologist to consider is Erik Erickson whose developmental theory is eight stages, (Trust Vs. Mistrust, Autonomy Vs. Shame, Initiative Vs. Guilt, Industry Vs. Inferiority, Identity Vs. Confusion, Intimacy Vs. Isolation, Generativity Vs. Stagnation, and Integrity Vs. Despair). Erikson stated that everyone will develop either/or as they pass each stage. There are some similarities and some differences between the three different theories. There is a parallel between the psychosexual stages of Freud, and the Psychosocial stages of Erikson such as the similarity of anal stage to the autonomy vs. guilt stage where a sense on independence is learned as a child learns to keep things tidy and maintained. Even though the three Psychologist reach similar conclusions, Harlow’s methods of research is very different from Erikson and Freud. Harry Harlow’s attachment theory centers on the relationship between people such as a parent-child bond, in particular the effect of love. In early concepts to understand love the idea that the link between a mother and a child is a

It may not be until maturity that a child realizes that their gender identity and physical assignment do not match. Parents may not realize there is a difference due to the fact that they naturally follow the gender role for the physical assignment of their child. At a young age, children learn and follow leads given by children of the same sex during playtime. Most parents are naturally driven to raise a boy to be rough and tumble, giving him masculine toys and teaching him how to play sports. While raising a girl to be a caregiver, giving her dolls and plastic kitchens in preparation to raise and nurture a family. “People use femininity and masculinity to claim and communicate their membership in their assigned, or chosen, sex or gender.” (458)

From the moment that we are born, our lives are being shaped by our biological identity. This is known as our sex. From being newly born till we reach adulthood, we are constantly being influenced by social forces. Without even knowing it we are giving into are socially constructed genders, through our goals, attitudes and behaviors. By the time we reach late childhood and into our adolescence or gender identity and sexual orientation is deeply rooted in us. Although this is the case, through clearly understanding the meaning of sex and gender, how gender is constructed since birth, and the various roles associated with our sex and gender, we will be able to see the distinct differences they bring.

Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents by Charlotte J. Patterson is a literature review that seeks to answer the question of “does parental sexual orientation affect child development (Patterson, 241)?” This question roots from legal issues with adoption, child custody and visitation, but the answer to it is also helpful in the society in general as it can help prevent possible deterrence of human development. It should be noted that this paper does not have an explicit hypothesis, but it seeks to answer a question that will either prove or disprove the theory of sexuality of parents having a significant impact on their children’s behavior.

Psychologists and everyday people alike have always known that suppressing a kid from doing something just because of their sex or “gender” can have a lasting and very deep psychological impact on them. However Alice Dreger, a leading historian of science and medicine, stated in a 2010 TED Talk “We now know that sex is complicated enough that we have to admit nature doesn’t draw the line for us between male and female… we actually draw that line on nature”. With this statement Dreger attempts to guide society to grasp a better understanding of the concept of gender. The existing heteronormative gender norms that are embedded among all societies are outdated because in the modern world “traditional roles/households” do not exist. Traditional gender stereotypes are too binding on a socially as well as emotionally for many. For children, the pressure of feeling succumbing to these gender roles/pressures can have a lasting psychological impact.

In the second essay of his Three Essays on Sexuality (1905), Freud theorized that every child is born with innate sexual impulses that develop as the child grows. He proposed stages of psychosexual development that each child goes through until he or she reaches puberty. This chapter investigates if these stages of development are in fact, universal and the nature of their presence in the cultural society of Hindu-India.

This paper focuses on the intensity of preference for sons over daughters in anticipation of old age security both physically and financially, and its impact on the care and support/ well-being of the elderly in Nigeria in general, and in particular among the Yoruba of Southwest. The paper examines the impact of social change on child sex preference as old age security. Before delving into the theme of the paper, the concept of social change was briefly discussed. The reasons for having children generally are discussed, child sex