Gender Identity is defined in The Gale Encyclopedia of Children’s
Health: Infancy through Adolescence as “a
person’s sense of identification with either the male or female sex, as
manifested in appearance, behavior, and other aspects of a person’s life”
(Wells, 2006). Gender Identity is not fixed at birth;
both physiological and social factors contribute to the early establishment of
a core identity, which is modified and expanded by social factors as the child
matures ("Gender Identity," 2013).
However there is a thing called basic gender identity, where the concept
of “I am a boy” or I am a girl” is normally recognized by the time the child
reaches the age of three and is very hard to change once established. In the encyclopedia Britannica it stated that
“In cases where biological sex was ambiguous at birth and errors in sexing were
made, it has been almost impossible to reestablish the proper identity later in
childhood or adolescence. Furthermore, a
secondary gender identity can be developed over the core identity, as
sex-associated behaviours may be adopted later in life; heterosexual or
homosexual orientations also develop later” ("Gender Identity," 2013).
The perception of an individual’s sex role develops like gender identity
by the examples parents set, social reinforcement, and language. Parents teach sex-appropriate behaviour to
their children from an early age by distinguishing to the child the different
types of things boys/girls do and this behaviour is reinforced as the child
grows older and enters society. As the
child begins to learn language, they also learn at an early age the difference
between “he” and “she” and understand which pertains to him-or herself
("Gender Identity," 2013). In
addition to me defining gender identity I plan to explain the interaction
between hormones and behavior, and how these interactions affect the
determination of gender identity. I will
address the roles of biological factors, nature and environmental influences,
nurture on sexual differentiation and gender identity. I will share whether I believe nature or
nurture has the greater influence on gender identity and I will discuss the
current arguments about sexual identity and how evidence from biopsychology may
help resolve the argument.
In the Encyclopedia of social psychology a hormone is defined as “something
produced in the body that circulates in the bloodstream and then influences the
activity of living cells that are far from where it was produced. Because hormones travel to their target
tissue, they are sometimes referred to as signaling molecules. For example, estrogen is produced by the
ovaries, but effects the functioning of cells in the heart, uterus, breast,
liver and brain. Any molecule produced
in the body that travels to another tissue via the bloodstream for its effects
is classified as a hormone” (DeSoto, 2007).
Hormones are responsible for allowing chemical reactions in the body to
take place therefore they play an important role in determining the behavioral
patterns of an individual. Many hormones affect social behavior, often by
having direct influence on some aspects of brain function, although there are
certainly other routes to influencing behavior.
Hormones can only affect tissue that has receptors for them. If there is no receptor for a hormone in the
brain, it cannot affect brain function.
However, many hormones do have receptors in the brain (DeSoto, 2007).
Testosterone and estrogen, steroid hormones, are some of the most
researched hormones in social psychology as well as vasopressin and
oxytocin. Testosterone is a male sex
hormone responsible for the development of make secondary sex characteristics
and necessary for spermatogenesis.
Testosterone secreted by the fetal testis masculinizes the fetus
stimulating the formation of the penis, scrotum, and other portions of the male
anatomy, as well as inhibiting development of the breast primordia
("testosterone," 2002). Estrogen is the female sex hormone: actually,
a small family of closely related female sex steroids. It is produced by ovarian follicles as well
as other cells and is responsible for the development and maintenance of female
secondary sex characteristics. Estrogen
enables the development of the mullerian ducts into the uterus, oviducts and
upper end of the vagina ("estrogen," 2002). Even though it is stated that testosterone is
the male hormone and estrogen is the female hormone, it must be understood that
both men and women have each other’s hormones, it’s just the amount that each
individual has that differentiates male from female.
Pre-and post-natal hormone levels along with genetic makeup are
biological factors that may influence gender identity. Before humans are born gender is determined
biologically, but the gender identified with is based on feminine or masculine
characteristics. Hormones and
lateralization of brain function are biological factors believed to affect
gender distinctions, Hormones linked to sexual characteristics and reproductive
functions are found in different levels in males and females from infancy
through adulthood. Puberty further
triggers the tendency toward a specific gender, normally attraction to people
of the opposite sex (Hetherington & Parke, 2002).
According to an article on human behavioral “sex differences
sexual differentiation may involve several dimensions, and different models may
apply to different behaviors. Gonadal
hormones appear to influence development of some human behaviors that show sex
differences. The evidence is strongest
for childhood play behavior and is relatively strong for sexual orientation and
tendencies toward aggression. The
article also states that high levels of hormones do not enhance intelligence,
although a minimum level may be needed for optimal development of some
cognitive processes” (Collaer & Hines, 1995).
There are many psychological and behavioral sex differences in
adults and children. Some of these
differences are learned and some are based on the cultural background of an
individual. There are four psychological
explanations that exist to define gender-linked behavior models. Sigmund Freud developed a theory using the
process of identification, cognitive social learning theory and gender schema
theory. Robert Kohlberg used the
cognitive developmental theory in which he state children use physical and
behavior evidence to distinguish the difference in gender roles to gender type
at an early age (Hetherington & Parke, 2002).
According to an article titled
Freud, the Father of Psychoanalysis “Freud
theories about gender identity begin around five years old based on the
perception of their bodies. Boys begin
to have sexual love for their mothers and rival their fathers for love known as
the Oedipus complex. Boys understand the
powerfulness of their fathers and absorb his features. In contrast girls realize the lack of a penis
and feel inadequate. Freud believed
children come into the world psychosexually neutral and study their same sex
parent to learn appropriate behaviors” (Bland, 2009).
The first environment that a child has experiences with is its
family and that is what has the greatest impact on gender identity because of
the way we are treated by our parents.
Once a baby is born they are treated and dressed in clothing according
to their gender. As a child grows the
father influences their behavior. Boys
are treated with less compassion than girls.
Father’s influence in their daughters’ feminine side is achieved through
their own masculinity and acceptance of her feminine role. The absence of a father upsets the gender
typing in pre-teen males as well as relationships with the opposite sex for
females. The father’s absence affects
girls throughout life including marriage decisions (Hetherington & Parke,
2002). I personally believe that the
relationship that a girl has or does not have with her father impacts her life
in a tremendous way.
There are environmental influences on gender identity outside of
the family like books, television, movies and movies. Children who watch television and listen to
music on the regular are more likely to have traditional gender related roles
that influence their decisions.
Based on the information that I have studied I believe that the
nature and nurture influence gender equally.
Nature has to do with the hormonal aspect and genetic makeup of an
individual. Certain genetic variations
may produce gender-variant identities;
Nurture which has to do with the environment may have a little more
influence because parents are the ones who create the values and behaviors that
their children develop. Almost all
parents surround their children with gender type toys and clothes which help
the child identify with their gender.
There has been a debate in regards to sexual identity much so much
is unknown; According to an article
written by Ryan D. Johnson on nature vs.nurture he states that the “APA
currently states that sexual orientation is not a choice, rather that “it
emerges from most people adolescence with no prior sexual experience”, social
theorists argue that an individual’s upbringing can directly influence an
individual’s sexual orientation. Also
tied in with many of these debates is the morality of homosexuality” (Johnson,
2003).
Biological theorists
have found substantial instances of anatomical, genetic, and endocrine evidence
to support their argument. Experiments
in biological research date back as far as the late 1930's, beginning with the
pioneering research of Alfred Kinsey (for the University of Indiana) on human
sexuality. Kinsey had two
goals for his tests: 1) to find out how many adult males engaged in homosexual
behavior, and 2) to suggest theories about it came to be. When asked if they had engaged in
homosexual sexual relations, a large percent of the population tested answered
"no", however when asked if they had engaged in same-sex sexual
relations, the percentage answering "yes" nearly doubled. The experiment yielded that 30% of
males had experienced at least orgasm in a homosexual act. The results of this research became
the widely popularized Kinsey Scale of Sexuality. This scale rates all individuals on a
spectrum of sexuality, ranging from 100% heterosexual to 100% homosexual, and
everything in between. While
establishing that as many as 10% of adult males reported having sexual
relations with a same-sex partner, this research did little more than to put
the word homosexual into common language (Johnson, 2003) .
My name is hoover, my 18 year old daughter, Tricia was diagnosed with herpes 3 years ago. Since then, we have moved from one hospital to another. We tried all kinds of pills, but every effort to get rid of the virus was futile. The bubbles continued to reappear after a few months. My daughter was using 200mg acyclovir pills. 2 tablets every 6 hours and 15g of fusitin cream. and H5 POT. Permanganate with water to be applied twice a day, but all still do not show results. So, I was on the internet a few months ago, to look for other ways to save my only son. Only then did I come across a comment about the herbal treatment of Dr Imoloa and decided to give it a try. I contacted him and he prepared some herbs and sent them, along with guidance on how to use them via the DHL courier service. my daughter used it as directed by dr imoloa and in less than 14 days, my daughter recovered her health. You should contact dr imoloa today directly at his email address for any type of health problem; lupus disease, mouth ulcer, mouth cancer, body pain, fever, hepatitis ABC, syphilis, diarrhea, HIV / AIDS, Huntington's disease, back acne, chronic kidney failure, addison's disease, chronic pain, Crohn's pain, cystic fibrosis, fibromyalgia, inflammatory Bowel disease, fungal nail disease, Lyme disease, Celia disease, Lymphoma, Major depression, Malignant melanoma, Mania, Melorheostosis, Meniere's disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis, Multiple sclerosis, Muscular dystrophy, Rheumatoid arthritis Alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, vaginal cancer, epilepsy Anxiety Disorders, Autoimmune Disease, Back Pain, Back Sprain, Bipolar Disorder, Brain Tumor, Malignant, Bruxism, Bulimia, Cervical Disc Disease, Cardiovascular Disease, Neoplasms , chronic respiratory disease, mental and behavioral disorder, Cystic Fibrosis, Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma, Autoimmune inflammatory media arthritis ed. chronic kidney disease, inflammatory joint disease, impotence, alcohol spectrum feta, dysthymic disorder, eczema, tuberculosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease. and many more; contact him at drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com./ also with whatssap- + 2347081986098.
ReplyDelete