Gender and sex are commonly used as interchangeable terms yet when applied to interchangeable lifestyles, history has shown there are great delineations and disparities between individuals who overlay their biological and social identities. Sex is referred to as a person’s biological status comprised of internal organs, external genitalia, and chromosomal composition. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) In contrast, gender refers to feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of cultural gender-normative, expectations, and congruent conformity between sex and gender roles (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals that do not align with standard definitions have been classified as having a Gender Identity Disorder (GID) or as Gender-Variant (GV). Since the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) was published in 2013, all gender related diagnosis have been categorized under Gender Dysphoria (GD) (Zucker, 2009). To gain an in-depth understanding of gender dysphoria this paper will cover the history, criteria, treatment approaches and goals, as well as cultural and environmental issues related to the diagnosis.
Description and History of Gender Dysphoria Disorder
The first introduction of gender related disorders was in 1980 in the DSM-III, divided into two categories, transsexualism and gender identity disorder of childhood (Kamens, 2011). The later diagnosed as a child having a “strongly and persistently stated desire” or “insistence” that one was the opposite sex (Zucker, 2009; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). Revised categories in the DSM-III-R (1987) included: gender identity disorder of adolescence and adulthood nontranssexual (GIDAANT), and not otherwise specified (GI...
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... meet criteria from group A for GD but must also meet group B which specifies that the incongruence experienced surrounding issues of gender, identity, sex, and orientation is a “clinically significant distress” and impairs several areas of important functioning such as school and education, career and occupation, and social or relational (APA, 2013). Children, adolescents and adults may be specified further under GD with a disorder of sexual development and adults may also have a specification of post transition or having undergone some legal, permanent, or lifestyle change to their desired gender and sex (APA, 2013). The DSM-V also recognized two categories, other specified gender dysphoria which meets criteria B and only some of the symptoms under criteria A, and unspecified gender dysphoria, used when there is insufficient evidence of a GD diagnosis (APA, 2013).
The medicalization of transgender tendencies, under what was Gender Identity Disorder, was demoralizing to all transgender people. This resulted in a form of structured and institutionalized inequality that made an entire group of people internalize their problems, making them question not only their own identity, but also their sanity. Therefore, the removal of this disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 2013 and the newest editions was important in that it shows society’s recognition and acceptance of the transgender
Based on her 2004 book Transgender Emergence: Therapeutic Guidelines for Working with Gender-variant People and Their Families, Arlene Istar Lev developed two models to describe sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The first is a binary model. According to Patton et al. (2016), in this binary system “sex, gender identity, gender role (the enactment of gender), and sexual orientation are assumed to align and lead to the next” (p. 176). As Lev (2004) states in her book, the binary model assumes that “if a person is a male, he is a man; if a person is a man, he is masculine; if a person is a masculine male man, he will be attracted to a feminine female woman; if a person is female, she is a woman;
What is Gender Dysphoria? A clinical definition may be, “The condition of feeling one 's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one 's biological sex.” There is a growing amount of scientific research that suggests gender identity develops at a very early age. So, what are the ethical considerations of gender-reassignment treatments for minors suffering from gender dysphoria? Children can be diagnosed with GD as early as age five. Following, most girls start puberty when they are between the ages of eight and thirteen years old. Then, most boys start puberty when they are between the ages of ten and fifteen years old.
This review by Desire Chilwane is for the book “Recognizing Transsexuals: Personal, Political and Medicolegal Embodiment” by Zowie Davy. This book outlines the history of transsexualism in the medical world and medical terms, such as GID (Gender Identity Disorder). This book also includes studies and interviews performed on both male-to-female transsexuals and female-to-male. This is rare and extremely helpful towards my research, because most research on tr...
The American Psychological Association states that they recognize that gender nonconformity itself is not a mental disorder and what makes it a disorder is the presence of significant distress associated with the condition. As we have learned in class, something becomes diagnosed if it interferes with the patient’s everyday life. Gender Dysphoria has to be present for 6 or more months in order to be diagnosed and there must be a “marked difference between the individuals expressed/experienced gender and the genders others would assign him or her (DSM-V, APA).” Gender Dysphoria was added to the DSM-V as an effort to remove some stigma associated with the diagnosis. Previously called “Gender Identity Disorder,” Gender Dysphoria is “intended to
According to the textbook, the term Gender Dysphoria means “biological sex and gender identity do not match, thus leading to distress and impairment” (Chapter 8, pg.279). The textbook also discusses how “children with Gender Dysphoria is apparent in repeated statements that the child wants to be the opposite sex or is the opposite sex; cross-dressing in clothing stereotypical of the other sex and how the child has persistent fantasies of being the opposite sex such as; pretend play or activities associated with the opposite sex” (Chapter 8, pg. 279). However; the textbook also mentions how “people with gender dysphoria have persisted discomfort with their own sex” (Chapter 8, pg. 279).
People tend to be less conscious of how they daily use their bodies to express gender and how their bodies generate their identities. Dieting, makeup, nail polishing, wearing high-heels and body movements are one of the examples of the body self-disciplines, which the female unconsciously performs as a part of their gender identity every day. Foucault wrote that identity is a form of subjugation and exercising the power upon individual or society. As a part of identity, gender identity can be considered as a limitation of personal freedom, which prevents individual from moving outside fixed gender boundaries. The society establishes gender boundaries on different social levels according to existing norms and values prescribed to masculinity and femininity. Disciplining as “a political anatomy of detail” is one of the hidden mechanisms of power, which society uses to form ‘docile
Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the “norm” that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question “am I a true man or woman?” After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s.
It is important to understand the difference between gender and sex. The English language defines “sex” by using the anatomy that an individual is born with. In other words, the reproductive organs that makes someone female or male. “Sex” also includes the chromosomes that someone obtains to make them male or female, the different gonads, sex hormones and the inner and outer genitalia. When defining gender dysphoria and its connection to sex. Within the gender dysphoria disorder, which is a sex disorder, there are other developments that affect the normal and natural indications of each sex assignments. The use of “cross-sex” hormones, are very popular when someone is trying to masculinize or feminize the individuals original gender.
When it comes to gender identity, one’s perception on which gender they would prefer has a sociological effect on them. The minor details in our environment can have a major effect on a person such as television shows, books, and many other things. What people are unaware of is this spectrum called a gender continuum that can help show the different ways people identify their selves; a gender continuum is an extension of the gender spectrum that includes various types of “genders”. Many people struggle with gender identity and they are thought to have gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is deemed as a mental illness in which a person feels distressed at the fact of them not being able to express their inner identity (web m.d.). Many people that suffer with this disorder go searching for a way to “treat” themselves, but there isn’t a treatment for GID. Psychologist often suggest the best way to help you deal with your gender identity struggles is to go have a talk therapy session with a therapist. It takes a conscious mind to deal with gender identification
Clinically speaking, a person who was assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man is referred to as a transsexual man, or transman, or female-to-male (FTM); a male-to-female (MTF) person is a transsexual woman or transwoman (Glicksman). Some people drop the transgender label after they have transitioned to their new gender. However, they want to be referred to only as a man or a woman. But what if our gender identity, our sense of being a boy or being a girl, does not match our physical body? From a very early age we will start to feel increasingly uncomfortable. For some this is a mild discomfort, for others it is so traumatic they would rather die than continue to live in the wrong body. Unfortunately as transsexual people are a small minority of the population the condition has been labeled by Psychiatrists as "Gender Identity Disorder". With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s sex and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision whether accidental or genetic can effect that child’s life style views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors.
Gender is such a ubiquitous notion that humans assume gender is biological. However, gender is a notion that is made up in order to organize human life. It is created and recreated giving power to the dominant gender, creating an inferior gender and producing gender roles. There are many questionable perspectives such as how two genders are learned, how humans learn their own gender and others genders, how they learn to appropriately perform their gender and how gender roles are produced. In order to understand these perspectives, we must view gender as a social institution. Society bases gender on sex and applies a sex category to people in daily life by recognizing gender markers. Sex is the foundation to which gender is created. We must understand the difference between anatomical sex and gender in order to grasp the development of gender. First, I will be assessing existing perspectives on the social construction of gender. Next, I will analyze three case studies and explain how gender construction is applied in order to provide a clearer understanding of gender construction. Lastly, I will develop my own case study by analyzing the movie Mrs. Doubtfire and apply gender construction.
Social Construction of Gender Today’s society plays a very important role in the construction of gender. Gender is a type of issue that has raised many questions over the years in defining and debating if both male and female are equal. Today, gender is constructed in four different ways. The The first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised.
In order to discuss the biology of gender identity and sexual orientation, it is necessary to first examine the differences between multiple definitions that are often mistakenly interchanged: sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Sexual orientation is defined by LeVay (2011) as “the trait that predisposes us to experience sexual attraction to people of the same sex as ourselves, to persons of the other sex, or to both sexes” (p. 1). The typical categories of sexual orientation are homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Vrangalova and Savin-Williams (2012) found that most people identify as heterosexual, but there are also groups of people that identify as mostly heterosexual and mostly gay within the three traditional categories (p. 89). This is to say that there are not three concrete groups, but sexual orientation is a continuum and one can even fluctuate on it over time. LeVay (2011) also defines gender as “the ...