Atypical Gender Research Articles

Childhood Gender Atypicality, Victimization, and PTSD Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

This study examined childhood gender atypicality, lifetime victimization based on sexual orientation, and current mental health, including trauma symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among 528 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Nearly 80% reported verbal victimization, 11% physical, and 9% sexual, with males reporting significantly more victimization. Victimization began, on average, at age 13. Verbal attacks occurred as early as age 6, physical attacks at 8, and sexual attacks at 9. Youth who were considered gender atypical in childhood reported more victimization and more current mental health symptoms. PTSD was found in 9% of youth and was associated with past physical victimization.

Atypical Gender Development–A Review

ABSTRACT In 2003, the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) ran a small symposium in London, assisted by a Trans Group, founded in 1993, with the aim of moving transsexualism from its current categorisation, in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10), as a psychiatric disorder. GIRES was awarded additional funding for this project from the King's Fund-an eminent charity providing funds for medical and scientific work. The members of the symposium included physicians and specialists in the different areas pertinent to the understanding and the treatment of transsexualism, and also the Member of Parliament who chairs the Parliamentary Forum for Transsexualism. Transsexual people were represented within this group. Members came from the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan and the United States of America. Professor Milton Diamond (USA) chaired the group who collaborated in producing the following paper. The team endeavoured to provide a balanced and comprehensive review of what is currently understood, in the scientific field, regarding atypical gender development and transsexualism.

Atypical Gender Development: Why I Did Not Sign the GIRES-Review

ABSTRACT This article discusses the review on Atypical Gender Development, published by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) in the International Journal of Transgenderism 9(1), 2006, pp. 29–44. Although appreciating the initiative of GIRES, the author, who was invited to join the signatories of the review chose to not do so for five major reasons: (1) The phenomenology of transgenderism displays such a great variety that it can not be explained by any individual factor, be it constitution, morphology, hormones or psychology. (2) The role of the Bed nucleus of the area striata of the hypothalamus is overemphasized in the review. (3) Regrets after SRS challenge biological explanations of transsexualism. (4) Dwelling on biological explanations may, as the history of sexology shows, be used in favor as well as against subject. (5) Striving for legal and social acknowledgement of transgendered persons and improvement of treatment conditions does not need biology as an argument.

Commentary on “Atypical Gender Development–A Review”

ABSTRACT This commentary considers some of the limitations of the review paper spearheaded by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) that appears in this issue. Its most notable limitation is selectivity, i.e., the failure to cite papers that might challenge the general thrust of the argumentation that gender identity disorder (transsexualism) is caused primarily, if not exclusively, by biological factors. The covert idea that a biological etiology should somehow afford more human rights for trans people is likely a flawed one.

“Did I Have Blinders on or What?”

Retrospective sense making is a common practice necessitated by new appearances that contradict old ones. This article examines this practice by parents who have recently learned that their sons are gay. Eighty parents are interviewed, and the data are analyzed for recurrent themes. In efforts to make sense of the past, parents recall much atypical gender behavior in their sons and lack of interest in sports. The article suggests that these behaviors become apparent to the parents because of long-lived cultural scripts equating atypical gender behavior with homosexuality. Parents also reflect on why they had earlier misinterpreted their sons’ behaviors as heterosexual and do so through three methods (revelations, confirmations, and justifications). Theoretical implications as they pertain to the heterosexual presumption and cognitive dissonance are discussed.

Male-to-Female Transgender Youth

Thirty-one male-to-female transgender youth reported on their gender identity, gender expression, gender atypicality, and their parents' responses. Youth felt, acted, and were told they were different between eight and nine years of age. Many were called sissies and told to change their behavior by parents; more gender-atypical youth reported childhood parental abuse.

The Interaction between Young People with Atypical Gender Identity Organization and their Peers

This exploratory study involved the qualitative analysis of the responses of eight children with atypical gender identity organization to open-ended questions about their experiences of secondary school. The aim was to develop an understanding of these young people's interaction with their peers. It became apparent that all but one of the participants had been bullied. In this context, participants reported difficulties in developing friendships, although each participant received support from at least one of their peers. Given the hostile school environment participants did not necessarily talk to these individuals about their experiences in relation to their gender identity. The clinical implications for working with young people on a developing gender identity, and the impact on their mental health, are considered.

Parents’ awareness of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths’ sexual orientation

This study used a sample of 293 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth to examine factors that differentiated youth whose parents knew of their sexual orientation from youth whose parents did not know. Earlier awareness and disclosure of same‐gender attractions, greater childhood gender atypicality, and less internalized homophobia were characteristic of youth whose parents were aware of youths’ sexual orientation. Youth with aware parents reported more past verbal victimization on the basis of sexual orientation from parents, yet more current family support and less fear of future parental victimization on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Masculine Girls and Feminine Boys: Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Atypical Gender Development in Early Childhood.

In this genetic study of atypical gender role development, parents of 5,799 twin pairs, ages 3 and 4, rated their twin children's masculinity and femininity. Boys were selected as gender atypical if they were highly feminine (top 5%, 10%, or 15%) relative to other boys, and girls were selected if they were highly masculine relative to other girls. Gender-atypical boys and girls were each divided into 2 groups: fully gender atypical (e.g., feminine boys also low on masculinity) and partially gender atypical (e.g., feminine boys who are not low on masculinity). DeFries-Fulker (DF; J. C. DeFries & D. W. Fulker, 1985, 1988) extremes analysis yielded moderate group heritability and substantial shared environment effects for atypical gender role behavior. However, for fully gender-atypical girls, group heritability accounted for most of the variance, and shared environment had no effect. The results are discussed in light of past studies and potential implications for atypical gender development.

How Dresses Can Make You Mentally Ill: Examining Gender Identity Disorder in Children

This paper examines the diagnostic category of Gender Identity Disorder in Children (GIDC) and its evolution. It also critiques the continued use of GIDC on conceptual, psychometric, and ethical grounds. Gender atypicality is a social construction that varies over time according to culture and social class and therefore should not be pathologized.

“Qué joto bonita!”: Transgender Negotiations of Sex and Ethnicity

SUMMARY Recent transgender literature has been sharply critical of existing medical models of the psychosexual development of transsexuals and of the treatment of Gender Identity Disorder. Transgender authors have pointed out that subjects have deliberately falsified their reports in order to conform to medical and psychiatric models for the sake of gaining access to services. In newer transsexual narratives, gender and sexual orientation development appear far more fluid and ambiguous over the life span. This paper reviews the nosological history of gender atypicality, from nineteenth century “sexual inversion” to transvestitism and transsexualism, examining how deviations of gender identity, gender role, sexual object, and sexual aim were often collapsed together. These imbrications continue to persist in both the medical and popular literature on transsexualism. A topic that has especially been neglected is the relationship of ethnicity to the development of gender and sexual identity. Presented is cas...

Effects on Gender Identity of Prenatal Androgens and Genital Appearance: Evidence From Girls With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) resulting from 21-hydroxylase deficiency are relatively common among those with intersex conditions. Prenatal androgen exposure is independent of rearing gender, and it is possible to assess variations in gender identity in relation to genital appearance and genital surgery. For these reasons, the authors determined gender identity, using a 9-item interview, in 43 girls with classic CAH who ranged in age from 3-18 years. Seven girls identified as tomboys and 29 control girls also were evaluated. The latter included 25 unaffected sisters and cousins of girls and boys with CAH as well as 4 sisters of tomboys. Each of the interview items was scored for sex-typicality. Girls with CAH, on average, had gender scores intermediate between those of tomboys and control girls. Only 5 of the 43, however, had scores outside the control range. The difference in scores between girls with CAH and control subjects was statistically significant and could not be ascribed to outliers. Tomboys also had significantly higher scores than control girls; 3 of 7 were outside the control range. There was significantly more variation in gender identity in tomboys than in girls with CAH or control subjects. Gender identity did not correlate significantly with age. The CAH and control groups were similar in some items of gender identify such as discomfort with being a girl and the wish to be a boy. In the girls with CAH, there was no evident connection between gender identity and either the degree of genital virilization or the age at which genital reconstructive surgery was carried out. Moderate androgen excess early in development, in the form of CAH, clearly increases the risk of atypical gender identity, but this risk could not be predicted from genital virilization in the present study. These females are sex-atypical in some respects but not in others. It does not seem likely that gender role behaviors can predict gender identity or sexual orientation in this population. In addition, behavior cannot be predicted from any single parameter such as the degree of androgen exposure, the appearance of the genitals, or the child-rearing environment.

A Typical Gender Identity Conference? Some Disturbing Reports from the Therapeutic Front Lines

This article resulted from my recent attendance at a conference on gender identity entitled `Atypical Gender Identity Development: Therapeutic Models, Philosophical and Ethical Issues' (2000). Although it featured presentations from pre-eminent clinical psychiatrists, psychologists and physicians in Britain, Canada and the United States, there was no reference to the feminist psychoanalytic and social psychology debates that have circulated in feminist psychology for years. In accounting for the absence of feminist scholarship, I consider three issues. First, rather than highlight the social construction of gender through the social construction of sex, the conference revealed a persistent belief in `sex' as the original sign through which gender is read. A second issue concerns the maturity hierarchy that clinicians seem to construct such that stable gender identification and `opposite' gender desire appear at the apex. Finally, I am concerned with what seems to be a continued association of homosexuality with pathology.

Effects on gender identity of prenatal androgens and genital appearance: evidence from girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

To address questions about sex assignment in children with ambiguous genitalia, we studied gender identity in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in relation to characteristics of the disease and treatment, particularly genital appearance and surgery. A 9-item gender identity interview was administered to 43 girls with classical CAH ranging in age from 3-18 yr, 7 tomboys, and 29 sister control girls. Groups were compared on total score and on individual items. Results showed that, on the total gender identity score, 88% of girls with CAH had scores overlapping those of control girls, but the average score was intermediate between control girls and tomboys. On individual items of gender identity (discomfort as a girl, wish to be a boy), girls with CAH were similar to control girls. Gender identity in girls with CAH was not related to degree of genital virilization or age at which genital reconstructive surgery was done. Thus, moderate androgen excess early in development appears to produce a small increase in the risk of atypical gender identity, but this risk cannot be predicted from genital virilization.

Sexual orientation and suicide attempt: A longitudinal study of the general Norwegian adolescent population.

Past and future suicide attempt rates among gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) young people were compared with those of heterosexual young people. A sample of Norwegian students (N = 2.924; grades 7-12) was followed in 3 data collection waves. Risk factors included previous suicide attempt,depressed mood, eating problems, conduct problems, early sexual debut, number of sexual partners, pubertal timing, self-concept, alcohol and drug use, atypical gender roles, loneliness, peer relations, social support, parental attachment, parental monitoring, and suicidal behavior among family and friends. When homosexual attraction, homosexual identity, and same-sex sexual behavior were entered to predict suicide attempt, only same-sex sexual behavior was significantly predictive. The increased odds could not be attributed to GLB students' greater exposure to risk factors for suicide attempt.

Reports of parental maltreatment during childhood in a United States population-based survey of homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual adults

Objective: The study objective was to determine the nature and prevalence of childhood maltreatment experiences among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and to compare findings to those obtained from similar heterosexual adults. Method: Data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), which measured both childhood experiences with parental emotional and physical maltreatment and adult sexual orientation, were used to compare childhood maltreatment experiences of 2917 heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual individuals, age 25–74 years, separately by gender. Results: Homosexual/bisexual men reported higher rates than heterosexual men of childhood emotional and any physical maltreatment (including major physical maltreatment) by their mother/maternal guardian and major physical maltreatment by their father/paternal guardian. In contrast, homosexual/bisexual women, as compared to heterosexual women, reported higher rates of major physical maltreatment by both their mother/maternal guardian and their father/ paternal guardian. Differences among individuals with differing sexual orientations were most pronounced for the more extreme forms of physical maltreatment. Conclusions: Adult minority sexual orientation is a risk indicator for positive histories of experiencing parental maltreatment during childhood. While the reasons for this are beyond the scope of the current study, previous research suggests that childhood individual differences, including possibly gender atypicality, may be a causal factor.

Sex, Gender and Culture: Issues in the Definition, Assessment and Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder

As a diagnostic category, gender identity disorder remains problematic with ongoing debates concerning aetiology, definition and ethics of treatment. Inherent in the current DSM definition is a Western model of the relationship between sex and gender which epitomizes the tension existing between essentialist and constructivist accounts of gender development. This model determines that gender-aberrant behaviour and gender variation are, by definition, pathological, and reinforces a binary gender model. Studies of non-Western cultures reveal variations in models of gender and in the understanding of gender deviance. Cultures vary in their definition of gender roles and show varying degrees of tolerance for atypical gender behaviours and gender change. An understanding of cultural context is important in the clinical assessment of a typical gender development and challenges current models of sex and gender.

The Validity of the Diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (Child and Adolescent Criteria)

This article looks at the diagnosis of gender identity disorder (child and adolescent criteria) as used in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). It considers how gender identity disorder came to be in the fourth edition, and explores some of the problematic aspects of the DSM-IV criteria. The authors argue that research has focused on cross-gender behaviours and gender role, and consequently muddled issues of pathology. In particular, that this has served to pressurize boys to conform to traditional gender and heterosexual roles. The authors suggest that the pathology accompanying gender identity dysphoria should be the focus of the clinical work rather than treating gender role behaviour. It is proposed that the model of atypical gender identity organization, is able to account for the diverse factors that may be contributing to a discordant gender identity, without labelling what may be a normal developmental pathway as pathological.

Book Review: A Stranger in My Own Body: Atypical Gender Identity Development and Mental Health. Edited by Domenico Di Ceglie (with David Freedman). Karnac Books, London, 1998, 338 pp., £24.95

Book Review: A Stranger in My Own Body: Atypical Gender Identity Development and Mental Health. Edited by Domenico Di Ceglie (with David Freedman). Karnac Books, London, 1998, 338 pp., £24.95

PSYCHOLOGY SELECTION Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2000) B. Wren. Early physical intervention for young people with atypical gender identity development. Vol. 5, No. 2. pp. 220–231.

PSYCHOLOGY SELECTIONClinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2000) B. Wren. Early physical intervention for young people with atypical gender identity development. Vol. 5, No. 2. pp. 220–231. - Volume 6 Issue 1