The Role Of GID In Childhood And Adolescent Development

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

Perhaps, you are asking yourself this question, what is gender dysphoria? I have the answer. Gender dysphoria is “ the diagnosis typically given to a person whose assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.” However, let’s not confuse this with sexual orientation, this does not mean they are homosexual, this means they do not identify who they are as their given birth

Although men and women have significant biological differences, the question whether gender-specific labels stems from these biological differences or are gender constructed remains a polarised nature versus nurture debate. Whether it is through the process of socialisation or genetic make-up, “gender identity” is given from a person’s birth, determining how a person culturally interacts and the expectations society places on them. Along with a “gender identity” comes a whole set of “norms”, “values” and so-called “gender characteristics”, which are supposed to define the differences between a male and a female. According to the World Health Organisation (n.d.), the term “sex” is often used to define the biological and physiological

Relevant Terminology: Gender identity: refers to an individual’s sense of gender, may be different from one’s assigned gender at birth

Environmentally, a child’s experiences impact gender identity. Depending on family values or morals, a child could be confused by their gender. When a baby is born, there is much control on colors (if boy or girl) and ideas of the parents on how they would want to raise their daughter or son. For an example, a father would treat his son in a rough or unemotional way, while a girl would be protected and nurtured. Known as traditional roles, a boy doesn’t cry or play with dolls, but he can roll

Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with

In class, we have learned and discussed how during the period of adolescence, it is known that this is the period of time where individuals are finding themselves and figuring out where they belong. It is during this time where individuals are the most sensitive and personal problems tend to arise more commonly during this stage. A major issue adolescents struggle during this stage is gender identity and sexuality. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are attracted to and how they perceive themselves to be. While the norm is to identify oneself as their biological gender, there are those who develop gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a reoccurring feeling that one’s biological gender is the opposite of one’s sexual identity (Cole,

Disorders of sex development (DSD) are cases where there is a discordance of genetic sex and internal and/or external sex organs at birth related to suppression of, or overexposure to sex hormones in utero. DSDs can also stem from insensitivity to androgens. When these hormonal abnormalities occur, the best general description is that either internal or external genitalia do not form or do not form correctly. In some cases, for example, female genitalia may have a more masculine appearance or the girl may present with both male and female external genitalia, but no internal components such as a uterus (Helgeson, 2012). Wisniewski specifies that study of DSD has provided a greater understanding and appreciation of the impact of hormones on behavior, which has in part caused a reassessment of DSD-related treatments. However, she also emphasizes that socialization and learning have significant influence on gender and gender-role development, but only when prenatal androgen exposure is not a factor. Wisniewski added that she would like to see a gender marker that could be identified from birth and used as part of the formula for predicting gender development. Unfortunately, her own research demonstrates far too much societal and cultural involvement in gender and gender-role development

Gender identity is defined as the identification of a human being as being male or female. The knowledge that we have about gender acquisition is still not as accurate as we would like. Biological and environmental factors are at play and not one or the other seems to be completely wrong. Biological views relating to gender identity are supported by chromosomal and hormonal based differences. Environmental perspectives emphasize on modeling and experience (individual and cultural) affecting gender acquisition. However, the only unbiased way to assess gender identity is by taking into account both biological and environmental factors (McCabe, 2007). This paper focuses on gender identity in early childhood development.

Kristen A. Burgess, Emory University School of Medicine and Charles F Gillespie M.D., PhD, department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, state that “gender identity disorder is a mental disorder in which gender identity is incongruent with anatomical sex”. Individuals experience different degrees of unhappiness with their sex at birth, which in turn causes them to pursue the life and body of the opposite sex (2010).

     Gender is a major cause of a person’s identity. People act the way the do because of the gender that has been assigned to them. Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s just their nature to act like that.” A sense of identity can be seen in many young children. When a child is ready to make the decision of what they are and who they want to be, they will do so. The child creates their own

The lack of correlation between anatomical sex and gender identity was referred to as gender identity disorder, making its first appearance in the DSM-III

Gender should not be intertwined with the term sex, which refers to the physical differences in individuals. Instead, gender is the idea of being male or female, and it is well understood by the time children reach the preschool years. Differences in gender become more pronounced as children age, and societal expectations are reinforced by parents and peers. Behavioral differences may be evident since parents may treat their child differently according to gender. A big example of this is how parents may react to a child’s first

Gender Identity Disorder can make a child; adolescent or adult feel awkward and alone. Gender Identity Disorder paired with either Gender Dysphoria or Transsexualism will disrupt the development of social skills and create more problems behaviorally. Normative studies present evidence of the co-morbidity through parent report data revealing that children with Gender Identity Disorder have on

It is normally thought that gender is something that is developed at birth and is something that is set in stone. More recently in time, people have started to express that they feel that their gender identity is different and separate from their sex at birth. Egan and Perry are considered very important researchers in the field of gender identity and psychology. The two proposed that gender identity is multi-faceted and is made up of five different components that are generally independent of one another. The categories are as follows: knowing one belongs to one gender or another, how much they feel they belong to the category, how happy they are with that gender, how much pressure they feel to conform to gender stereotypes and how much they feel their sex is superior to the opposite (Carver, Yunger & Perry, 2003, p. 95). All of these relate to adjustment in different senses. Egan and Perry found that by middle childhood, most have a fairly stable idea of their standing on all of these categories. Their perception thrives most when they are confident in themselves and when they feel that they are not constricted in their freedom to explore other