Gender Research Study 1 Flashcards
physical transition
- using hormones and/or surgery
- ideally begins in adolescence, and is unnecessary for pre-pubescent children whose hormones haven’t yet caused their bodies to look male or female
social transition
- changing gender roles and gender expression
- ideally begins in childhood
female affirmed
male-to-female
male affiermed
female-to-male
why use the terms female-affirmed and male-affirmed?
- trans people proposed them
- recognizes that one never identified with gender they were assigned at birth, so rather than moving from one gender to the other, they are affirming the gender they’ve always known themselves to be
- more descriptive, doesn’t pathologize
gender dissonance
- incongruency between sex of one’s body and one’s gender identity
- ex. “I’m not really a girl”, “everyone just thinks I’m a boy”, “I’m not a boy or a girl,” etc.
- not the same as gender variance
gender-variance
- when the way you behave/express yourself is cross-gender
- cultural construct that depends on milieu and cultural norms that aren’t consistent across time
- not the same as gender dissonance
why is the inclusion of gender identity disorder in the DSM problematic?
- pathologizes gender dissonance -> labels children with psychiatric disorders just because they don’t fit into gender norms
- our definition of “normal” is unstable and arbitrary -> gender norms change with history, culture, etc.
- gender dissonance isn’t a required criterion for diagnosis -> kids could be diagnosed solely on gender variance
- creates double-standard where we hold kids to more rigid standards of gender conformity than adults
- children with traditional parents may be over-diagnosed
Is gender identity a protected human right across Canada?
- No
- protection for discrimination against gender dissonance/identity and gender expression only exists in 7 provinces and 1 territory (AB, SK, MN, ON, NS, NL, PEI, NWT)
What assumption do parents commonly make about trans children?
- that their child is gay or lesbian
- reflects common misunderstanding that trans people represent an extreme form of homosexuality
“Nip it in the bud” philosophy
- discouraging incongruent gender identity and gender expression as early as possible
- assumes that gender identity is not innately fixed, but is malleable during childhood and can be changed (gender adjustment model)
Why would older gender-referred boys have more mental health issues than younger ones?
- they’ve lived with gender dissonance for longer periods of time
- they’re dealing with the effects of puberty on their bodies
- they’re dealing with the social milieu of adolescence
gender identity actualization model
- realizing that a child’s gender identity is what it is
- encouraging child’s self-exploration and self-acceptance rather than trying to steer child’s gender identity in a particular direction
2 dysfunctional family patterns that may cause kids to appear to be trans
- parents who wanted a boy instead of a girl (and vice versa) -> may cause child to act in a way consistent to parent’s desired gender in order to win parent’s approval
- child who’s been sexually abused -> may actualize different gender identity in attempt to become someone else and escape the abuse
2 ways family dysfunction may inappropriately be taken to the extreme
- blaming parents for not setting up proper models for masculine/feminine behaviour (a dichotomous view of gender)
- blaming parents for being too permissive and not correcting gender-dissonant behaviour
