Working with Gender Diversity

NOTES: WORKING WITH GENDER DIVERSITY

Workshop: Working with Diversity with Kirstie McEwanDate: September 16, 2017

Organizer: Cambridge Institute of Clinical Sexology
 

Professional Bodies:

• World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)

• American Psychological Association (APA)

• The Royal College of Psychiatrist

1. A guild to Gender

1.1 What does professional says about gender and sex?

• Sex is assigned at birth, refers to one’s biological status or either male or female, and is associated primarily with physical attributes such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, and external and internal anatomy.

• Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact and feel about themselves. (http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/transgender.aspx?item=2)

1.2 What is Gender?

• Assigned Gender: gender is assigned at birth based on the physical attributes of the baby’s sex.

• Acquired Gender: the gender role that a trans (non-binary) person achieves through the process of transition.

• Attributed Gender: the gender and sex that one is taken to be by others.

• Gender Identity: the gender to which one feels one belongs.

• Gender Dysphoria: an anxiety, uncertainty or persistently uncomfortable feelings experienced by an individual about their assigned gender which is in conflict with their internal gender identity.

1.3 LGBTTQQIAAP

• Lesbian: a woman who I primarily attracted to women.

• Gay: a man who is primarily attracted to men; sometimes a broad term for individuals primarily attracted to the same sex.

• Bisexual: an individual attracted to people of their own and opposite gender.

• Transgender: a person whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth.

• Transexual: an outdated originated in the medical and psychological communities for people who have permanently changed their gender identity through surgery and hormones.

• Queer: an umbrella term to be more inclusive of the many identities and variations that make up the LGBT+ community.

• Questioning: the process of exploring and discovering one’s own sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.

• Intersex: an individual whose sexual anatomy or chromosomes do not fit with the traditional markers of “female” and “male”.

• Ally: typically a non-queer person who supports and advocates for the queer communities; an individual within the LGBTQ+ community can be an ally for another member that identifies differently than them.

• Asexual: an individual who generally does not feel sexual desire or attraction to any group of people. It is not the same as celibacy and had many subgroups.

• Pansexual: a person who experiences sexual romantic, physical and/or spiritual attraction to members of all gender identities/expressions, not just people who fit into the standard gender binary.

1.4 Definitions of Terms

• Cisgender: strictly identifying with the sex you were assigned at birth.

• Transgender: identifying with a gender that does not correspond to the sex you were assigned at birth.

• Bigender: or identifying equally as both genders.

• Genderqueer: identifying outside of, or beyond, the binary of female and male.

• Genderfluid: identifying as male, female, and/or outside the binary at different times.

1.5 Identity, Sex, and Expression

• Gender Identity: lies between the ears. How you feel about yourself irrespective of biological sex.

• Sexual Orientation: the heart. How you connect on an emotional level with others.

• Expression: how you dress. The outward expression of your identity.

• Sex: lies between the legs. Your biological self.

1.6 Nature vs Nurture

1.6.1 Nature

• Differentiation is the development of the fetus into either male or female and develops in two district stages: Physical differentiation: development of gonads and secondary sexual features; Brain differentiation: development of the brain and neurological connections.

• Differentiation is triggered by hormonal influences during the development of the fetus which arises from either the X or Y chromosome provided by the father. (All fetuses start development as female because only the female sex chromosome (the X chromosome) that is inherited from the mother is active. After the eight weeks of pregnancy, the chromosome from the father gains in activity.)

• External and hormonal influences on the mother during gestation may affect the differentiation process such that the physical and brain development processes do not match with each other.

1.6.2 Nurture

• A learned behavior provided by primary caregivers during early development of a child.

• A learned behavior developed from standards set by the society from which an individual lives.

1.7 Clinical Issues (not to be confused with gender Identity)

• Intersex person: intersex condition mean babies may be born with the genitalia of both sexes. In these cases the child is allowed to grow and choose his/her own before any surgery is carried out to confirm it.

• Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome: a genetic disorder, in which a male, or XY, foetus, does not respond to male hormones. It affects the development of the genitals and the reproductive system. Make hormones are called androgens, and they include testosterone.

• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: in CAH s female foetus had adrenal gland that produce high level of male hormones. This enlarges the female genitals and the female baby may be confused with a male at birth. 

(http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/186480.php)

1.8 The Reiner Case (1975)

The case revolves around the upbringing of twin boys Bruce and Brian. At 2 years old Bruce was brought up as a girl following a medical accident during circumcision at 7 months old. His name was changed to Brenda. The psychologist who carried out the “experiment” Dr. John Money believed that nurture, rather than biology, was the significant factor in determining gender. Bruce was raised as a girl without his knowledge but with the consent of his parents. Brenda received oestrogen therapy to prevent development of male features during puberty. Brenda was unhappy and at age 16 was told by his parents what had happened. He changed name again to David and underwent reconstructive surgery to build a penis. Both twins suffered serious mental distress and both commuted suicide as a result of the experiment. The study strongly suggests that gender reassignment surgery may not always be successful so careful consideration should be taken over what gender to raise an intersex child. If biology is likely to have the biggest effect this should be considered first.

http://lca-psychology.weebly.com/dr-money-the-case-of-bruce-y.html

1.9 Conclusion 

• Gender is a mix of biological and social interventions each of which influences the other her to one degree or another.

• Gender is not binary any more than sexual identity or expression are.

• What is clear is that gender identity, sexual preference and individual expression form a spectrum of infinite variables.

2. Queer Theory and Intersectionality 

2.1 Queer Theory

• Meg John-Barker shares a viewpoint that “if a theory is too abstract, complex and opaque it will exclude those outside academia from engaging with it. It may also be regarded as elitist and class biased.” (Queer: a graphic history 149)

• Definition: “an approach to social and cultural study which seeks to challenge or deconstruct traditional ideas of sexuality and gender, especially the acceptance of heterosexuality as normative and the perception of a rigid dichotomy of male and female traits.” ( = deconstruct the binary term)

• Queer theory was first used as a term in 1990 by Teresa de Lauretta in her presentation at The University of California : The Queer Theory Conference.

2.1.1 History and Development 

• Queer theory, in part, is a reaction to a school of 1970s feminism that believed each sex comes with its own essential characteristics: girls are calm and thoughtful, while boys are spontaneous and passionate.

• In the 1970s Micheal Foucault, said that those people who have the most power (mostly white, wealthy men) are the ones who get to tell us what is normal and abnormal when it comes to gender and sex. (= Social Constructionism)

• Judith Butler and Eve Sedgwick then developed the groundwork for queer theory in the early 90s. One of their central ideas is Gender Performance. Gender performance is learned by watching, and then copying, the behavior of men and women and not through genetics.

•  Queer theory suggests that people’s gender and sexuality expressions are very diverse. They are much more fluid and unpredictable than society’s constructed categories would suggest.

2.1.2 stereotype? 

• There’s no stereotype in queer theory.

• Individuals and groups have no need to fit into the heteronormative binary which society has historically expected (constructed).

• This freedom to “be oneself” leads to confusion amongst the heteronormative parts of society. We can sometimes fear what we don’t understand which leads to potential abuse.

• There’s a generation which contains a percentage of children and adolescents now growing up who do not see the need to fit into the binary. They wish to be themselves, whatever that may be, which causes confusion and distress to parents and family who do not, or cannot, embrace their concept.

• Many parents and families do their best to understand and offer full support to their children as they grow and mature such that the children have time to make up their own minds to who and what they are.

2.1.3 What about Trans?

• However, not everyone who is gender non-confirming wishes to step outside of the binary concept.

• Many trans people fight to become part of the binary. The process of transition from male to female or vice versa embraces the need to be seen to be part of the historic binary concept. Many trans people in fact embrace the binary in order to be true to themselves. This can cause issue with some who see trans people as not being queer enough.

• Trans Exclusive Radical Feminists (TERF’s) see the need to undergo surgical interventions as a form of mutilation. Trans women, in their view, are not real women at all and should not call themselves such.

2.1.4 Conclusion

Queer theory suggests that

•  The binary nature of society is wrong and had been constructed over time.

• Gender is primarily a learned behavior (gender performance) and our gender is how we act not who we are. = gender is what you do not who you are.

• Gender is fluid and can change over time.

• Binary gender identities he/she; him/her; cis/trans, are inappropriate in a non-binary society.

2.2 Intersectionality

“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” (Audre Lorde 1934: 19)

2.2.1 Definition 

• A sociological theory about how an individual can face multiple threats or discrimination when their identities overlap a number of minority classes, such as race, gender, age, ethnicity, health and other characteristics.

2.2.2 Oppression
 

Comes from two significantly different parts of society within which we all live:

• State of Political Oppression

• Inter-faction Oppression from peers

2.2.3 Privilege

• “A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.”

• Ex) a trans woman cannot go into female toilet because her birth certificate is written “male”.

2.2.4 Research

• “Young people who face multiple forms of discrimination and more frequent discrimination report worse self-rated physical heath and more depressive symptoms than those who face fewer forms and less frequent discrimination.” (Eric Anthony Grollman 2012)

(http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022146514521215)

• Ex) Brazil has the highest trans murder rate in the world while in U.K. trans people can have family, healthy relationship etc…