Gender identity essay PDF

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a final version of a Gender Identity assignment discussing different areas of gender...

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Temitayo Balogun Student ID: 17453683

TO WHAT EXTENT DOES BIOLOGY PLAY A PART IN THE FORMATION OF GENDER IDENTITY? One of the main questions asked after a child is born or the birth of a child is announced is “Is it a boy or a girl?”. Questions such as this have become debatable over the years as sociologists are concerned that gender may not be down to biological factors anymore. It is arguable that other environmental factors may play a part in the formation of his/her gender identity. This essay will explore both biological and social/environmental factors such as the biological approach of hormones and brain function, the biosocial approach and social constructionism of gender identities to determine what extent biology plays in the formation of gender identities.

BIOLOGICAL APPROACH: HOROMONES Hormones can play a relatively large role in the formation of gender identity as they contribute to behavioral attributions and the development of the brain. A hormone that has a considerable affect is testosterone. Testosterone when released into the womb causes the development of the male reproductive sex organs and interacts with the hypothalamus which leads to the masculinization of the brain. Testosterone is responsible for typical male behavior such as aggression. In cases where individuals are exposed to higher concentrations testosterone during pregnancy, they have been found to show increased male-typical juvenile play behavior, alterations in sexual orientation and gender identity (Hines, Constantinescu and Spencer, 2015: p.1). Wu and Shah (2011, p:1) supports the argument presented by Hines, Constantinescu and Spenser that by stating “The development and function of the neural pathways that mediate sexually dimorphic behaviours are tightly regulated by gonadal steroid hormones.” This argument thus suggests that due to the regulation of hormones within the body, gender identity is formed largely by biological differences between males and females.

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Temitayo Balogun Student ID: 17453683

BIOSOCIAL APPROACH: JOHN MONEY (1972) As opposed to a biological approach to understanding the extent of biology forming gender identities, John Money (1972) argues that there should be a biosocial approach. Money’s theory argues that once born, biology determines male or female sex while social labels and differential treatment of boys and girls intermingle with the biological factors to form and develop the gender identity. Money and Ehrhardt (1972, p:N/A) base their theory on case studies of individuals born as intersex (born with ambiguous genitals). These case studies led Money to theorize that individuals are not born with gender identities but are socialized into their assigned genders. An example of this is the 2014 Swire case. Doctors advised the parents not to announce the birth of their child as their child had been born with male and female anatomy, consisting of ovarian and testicular tissue and genitals that could belong to either a male or a female. Blood tests were performed that confirmed his genetic make-up and assessed his hormones while cans looked at his internal organs which led to the decision that the child should be assigned male. However, it was later found that the scans had given false results, the child had a uterus and fallopian tubes. Money and Ehrhardt would suggest that this anomaly at birth should have allowed the parents to assign whatever gender that they felt would have been suitable as the biosocial theory suggests that socialisation can override the biological make-up. However, a case study where a boy lost his penis during a routine circumcision let to him being raised as a girl but after being told the truth felt more comfortable reverting back to a boy suggests that hormonal differences are more primary than socialisation.

BIOLOGICAL APPROACH: BRAIN FUNCTION Shaywitz et al (1995) would suggest that biology plays a key role in the formation of gender identity as they found that by using MRI scans to examine the brain while men and women performed different language tasks that women used both hemispheres of the brain while the men only used the left side. “During phonological tasks, brain activation in males is lateralized to the left inferior … in females… engaging more diffuse neural systems that involve both the left and right inferior frontal gyrus.” These findings suggest that brain function is largely responsible for sex differences in functional organisation by the brain for language and different tasks. This leads sociologists to believe that gender identity is not 2

Temitayo Balogun Student ID: 17453683

solely a person’s perception of their gender but their brain function and other biological functions that determines an individual’s gender identity through language and actions. Shaywitz et al’s findings also support the argument that hormones have a critical role in the formation of a person’s gender identity as testosterone influences the brains lateralisation which is the functional specialisation of the brain.

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Despite Shaywitz et al’s findings, Bandura (1977) would argue that gender roles are learnt through observation of same-sex models, direct tuition, aslo known as sex-typing and modeling. Bandura suggests that modeling of gender roles and behavior by same-sex models encourages children to observe how those around them are behaving and imitate these behaviors, Bandura further suggests that the direction tuition of a person later leads to self-regulation. Bandura describes direct tuition and sex-typing as the rewarding of acceptable gender behavior by significant figures such as parents and peers and gender inappropriate behavior is discouraged thus controlling the gender roles and behaviors that children perform. “Actions that measure up to internal standards are judged positively, and those that fall short of these standards are judged negatively.” (Bandura, 1997, cited in Grusec, 1992, P:782). This self-regulation proposed by Bandura is a direct response from earlier direct tuition which, in later years, determines the actions of an individual to form their gender identity. Similarly to Bandura, social learning theorists such as Smith and Lloyd (1978) argue that different sexes behave differently according to their direct tuition by their parents are a young age. “Gross Motor and fine motor actions of the baby were noted and were subsequently analyzed as instigations of responses by the mother” (Smith and Lloyd, 1978, P:1264) this analysis suggests that the actions of the baby are directly linked to the encouragement of the mothers and without the stimulation of their mothers, the baby may not have acted in this way.

GENDER IDENTITY SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION According to Judith Lorber (1994), gender is a social construction which allows individuals to organize their life, “As a social institution, gender is one of the major ways that human beings organize their lives.” (Lorber, 3

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1994, p: 113). This theory put forward by Lorber suggests that as a social institution, society has created the notion of gender to allow them to organise their lives and create social order so that society can function as Lorber states that “society depends on the predictable division of labour…” (Lorber, 1994, p: 113). Furthermore, Lorber introduces the notion of transvestites and transgendered individuals to illustrate the social construction of gender. Lorber argues that’s these individuals construct their gender identities through the way they present themselves through speech, gestures and actions which are normally prescribed to women or men, whichever the individual wants to be considered as. This example suggests that although these individual may be assigned a certain gender at birth, they are able to change and manipulate their gender identity according to what they feel is most suitable for them.

In conclusion, it can be argued that the extent biology plays in formation gender identities is quite significant, however, through theories put forward by sociologists such as Lorber, Smith and Lloyd and Bandura, gender identity within society is more fluid than biological theorists suggest and is easily manipulated by society to create a more socially constructed ideology of gender which allows individuals the freedom and creativity to define their own gender identities.

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References

Temitayo Balogun Student ID: 17453683

Grusec, J. (1992). Social learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert Sears and Albert Bandura. Developmental Psychology, [online] 28(5). Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b919/bdba5cbafcb555b65ccbd5874b77f36 c10e1.pdf. Hines, M., Constantinescu, M. and Spencer, D. (2015). Early androgen exposure and human gender development. Biology of Sex Differences, [online] 6(1). Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4350266/pdf/13293_2015 _Article_22.pdf [Accessed 3 Mar. 2018]. Lorber, J. (1994). The social construction of gender. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage. Money, J. and Erhardt, A. (1982). Man and woman, boy and girl. Baltimore [u.a.]: John Hopkins Univ. Press. Shaywitz, B., Shaywitz, S., Pugh, K. and Constable, R. (1995). Sex differences in the functional organization of the brain for language. Nature, [online] 373(6515), pp.607-9. Available at: https://search.proquest.com/docview/204481004?accountid=12834 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2018]. Smith, C. and Lloyd, B. (1978). Maternal Behavior and Perceived Sex of Infant: Revisited. Child Development, [online] 49(4), p.1264. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1128775 [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018]. Wu, M. and Shah, N. (2011). Control of masculinization of the brain and behavior. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, [online] 21(1), pp.116-123. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046257/pdf/nihms247776 .pdf [Accessed 5 Mar. 2018].

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