In the therapy room, the clinical psychologist says to the child “when you were born a long time ago your mum and dad had a little boy called Sebastian. Right now, how would you describe yourself?”
“I am not a boy and a girl anymore ... and not transgender ... I am a girl.”
This is a 5 year-old-child that refuses to see himself as a boy and as such has been living as Camille, a girl who loves dresses, dolls as well as the colours pink and purple.
Of course I don’t remember in great detail the level of awareness I had towards my own sex/gender when I was that age. However, it is common knowledge in my family that I always preferred to play with my brother’s plastic soldiers and animals than with my tea set. Still, I grew up to be what society consider a woman. So, the first question that popped into my head when I saw Camille was “Does she feel she is a girl because she likes dolls? Does the whole environment around her perceive her now as Camille - and not as Sebastian anymore - because she wears dresses?”According to Judith Buttler’s idea of Performativity this would indeed be the case. As she puts forward the notion that what gives meaning to sex/gender is the everyday performance of pre-existing conventions which yields certain sets of behaviour.
Buttler’s, clearly, is not an opinion that fits the biopsychosocial model. In her notion she forgets to take into account features that are biologically and psychologically pre-determined.
So, what do you think? Are boys and girls intrinsically different or are their distinctions a result of culture and gender beliefs?
This is when studying non-human animals becomes handy. For example, through studying our primate cousins, psychologists can pinpoint sex/gender differences in behaviour that are not consequential of the pre-existing conventions pointed out by Buttler. Even though, mothers and other members of the group treat their young with a certain level of sex-bias, the actions of these animals are not determined by human’s ideas of how boys and girls should behave.
Therefore, you will, perhaps, be surprised to discover that even without such social influences non-human young primates show behaviour strikingly similar to that of human infants.
But, before we go any further, I would like to remind you that it is paramount to keep an unprejudiced view when discussing this sort of topic. The following discussion about sex/gender differences does not imply that one is superior or better than the other. Therefore, there is no room for discrimination or stereotyping within the debate that is about to unfold here.
So, let us see what these naughty little monkeys are up to!
Females play nanny & Males play fight
Despite the (valid) argument that boys are brought up to be the super-heroes and girls are nurtured to be princesses, which many argue to be the leading cause for them to, let’s say, play fight and dress up, respectively. A similar as well as consistent contrast in preferences during play time is found in primates such as olive baboons, rhesus macaques and macaque monkeys
Research conducted in the latter species observed 34 little monkeys 1 for full six months immediately after they were born. It turns out that males initiated play more than the females, and also went for rough ‘games’ such a wrestling and gentle hitting, while female Rhesus Macaques, up to one year of age, preferred to play parent - a popular choice also seen among infant blue monkeys, lowland gorillas and vervet monkeys females.
See you soon mother
An observational study carried out in 40 chimpanzees 2, from when they were born to the age of 5, unveiled that males began to explore around, and move away from their mothers before females. This causes them to encounter more dangerous situations as they reached greater distances on their own; and consequently behave in a riskier way later on in life. As opposite to the young females, who remained closer to the adults putting in practice their social skills.
What I found particularly interesting about this research is the striking similarity in behaviour seen in these non-human infants, and in human boys and girls from across the world as the study named Behavioural Sex Differences in Children of Diverse Cultures demonstrates.
During middle childhood, boys reduce contact and interaction with other adult females, and are observed at greater distances from home than are girls.
The lesser proximity to their mothers that male monkeys enjoy when compared with the females may result in the fact that the little boy monkeys end up emulating their fathers while the girl monkeys do more so with their mothers. This sort of behaviour can be observed in wild tufted capuchin boys that, following their father’s taste for food, go for more of a carnivore diet than one that favours more fruit, a taste more popular among the females; who, even extract the seeds of their fruits in the same manner their mothers do.
Why are these studies important?
Camille’s situation, and that of many other children, deliver the perfect opportunity to understand why psychological findings such as this are relevant. Not only do they offer insight into human nature but they also provide understanding towards the role evolved sex differences play in our lives through aspects that above all include mental health.
In the United States, children as young as Camille are able to receive support from an entire team of professionals(e.g, doctors and clinical psychologists); which accompany them, at the appropriate time ‘block’ their puberty, and then give them hormones that will direct their body’s development towards the sex/gender they feel they belong to.
Katch, for example, a 36 year-old male who at birth was assigned the female sex/gender, wishes he had the same opportunity that children like Camille have nowadays, as he claims he would have had a more fulfilling life.
But, what inspires my interest is how a child becomes so aware of their gender/sex at such a young age. Camille doesn’t present most of the pattern of behaviours expected from her, when taking into account evolutionary behaviour, and clinical psychologist Diane Ehrensaft says that children as young as 2-3, as soon as they are able to speak, will express to their parents “No mum, I am a girl!”, in response to “You are a good boy.”
Gender Indentity Dysphoria
The condition of feeling one's psychological identity to be opposite to one's biological sex/gender.
This is when exams like the one conducted in the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience becomes extremely relevant 2. We live in a fast-changing world that seems to have a solution for every issue. So, after speculating social influences and exploring the sex/gender psychological differences that are regarded to be innate in children let’s finally have a look into what goes on in the functioning brain of adolescents with gender identity dysphoria (GID).
Through functional MRI, 41 teenage girls and boys with GID had their hypothalamic responses to a specific steroid – androstadienone – examined. Noteworthy that the hypothalamus of men and women react differently to the properties of this steroid, which is pheromone like.
The findings revealed that the boys with GID showed hypothalamic responses very much like those of girls and girls with GID showed hypothalamic responses similar to those of boy’s. Nonetheless, the findings did not come out as clear when 39 prepubertal girls and boys underwent the same exam. And this is what makes me even more interested in Camille and other young children like her, who seem so aware of their sex/gender.
The biological, the psychological & the social
Studies like the ones carried out in the young non-human primates propose that sex/gender behavioural differences stem from our evolutionary heritage and biological mechanisms. But, of course, it is also largely known that environmental interactions and experiences shape brain networks, and these are aspects they may push Camille to enjoy the life of a woman after all.
All in all, it doesn’t really matter what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl. We live in times where more than ever before we need to free ourselves from set-in-stone concepts, as they appear to proliferate bullying, discrimination and stereotypes. A reality that Camille and her loving parents, and many other families in the same situation, face on a daily basis.
[Original Content by Abigail Dantes - 2018]
Reference list :
Louis Theroux - Transgender Kids
Is there something unique about the transgender brain?
Clinics to start hormone therapy services for transgender people
The Psychology of Sex Differences
Sex Differences in Children of Diverse Cultures
The development of behavioural sex differences in infant rhesus macaques
Sex Differences in Wild Chimpanzee Behavior Emerge during Infancy
Dear Reader,
Psychology is a field that exposes us to a vast variety of topics, many of which might go as far as to challenge our understanding of the world around us. Unfortunately some people, struggle to venture beyond the boundaries of their beliefs, and this is why children like Camille and her family have their lives stained by bullying and discrimination.
So, in order to counterbalance that, what positive words would you leave for them? 😊
Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to read my work! I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Ps: To broaden your view even further, please take the time to explore yet another perspective of sex/gender differences, through the lens of Anthropology. @Zest's post will provide you with just that: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender.
@abigail-dantes, you simply do not post enough. Your posts are so interesting to read.
Where to start with this one.
Firstly, I think that the Loius Theroux documentary you reference is one of the best he has done. I found it quite confronting. As a parent I tried to place myself in the shoes of the parents in the show and I really don’t know what I would do. On the one hand, the early intervention available is so effective at smoothing the transition for these children when the time comes. It almost seems an obvious solution to act as early as possible given it gives such good outcomes for those who are able to commence their transition before puberty. On the other hand though I can’t help but wonder if a child of that age is capable of making such a significant decision with such long term consequences. I truly don’t know what I would do if I was in the parent’s shoes.
On another topic you raise though, primatology is such a fascinating field. My primary interest in psychology to date has been in the areas of morality and ethics. Issues such as where do concepts like altruism and empathy originate from and how can they be reconciled with traditional evolutionary theory is fascinating to me. The ability of primatologists to draw such insightful conclusions in relation to nature vs nurture arguments from the study of primates is incredible.
In this instance I would be really interested to see what controls were in place in the studies you quote to control for gender differences in the species that were studied. It could be argued that gender differences are less relevant in the study of morality and ethics as these concepts are largely gender insensitive. The different traits of the species of primate studied assist the primatologist to draw conclusions based on gendered differences as to the origin of traits such altruism, empathy and violence.
In a study that focuses more specifically on gender issues however I think the traits of the primates themselves can’t help but influence the results. As chimpanzee societies are male dominated, violent and aggressive , whereas Capuchin societies are matriarchal and correspondently less violent and chaotic, I cant help but feel the vastly different behavioural norms that exist in how infants are reared, and also the social cues the infants receive would influence the results enormously. Perhaps that’s my next research project 😊
Thanks again for your fascinating post.
Hello @aghunter :) What a beautiful comment this is.
I really appreciate your honesty as a parent. I am not a parent; but I have a beautiful little niece and a very naughty little nephew. I couldn't stop thinking of them while watching Theroux's documentary. As you can see in my post, similarly to you, the question that permeates my mind is whether a child that young is capable of making such a decision!
I am also fascinated by primates and am particularly interested in their general behaviour and cognitive capacities. Like you said, certain traits were more evident in certain species than in others, like for example boy chimpanzees (male dominated and violent) are the ones, across the species mentioned here, more likely to explore new grounds further from their mothers and develop riskier behaviours; while the Capuchin females even have more of a fruit rich diet, which contribute to a more calmer environment.
Still, despite their different traits similar behaviour was seen in the boys and girls across the species mentioned here :) Here is the link to a piece of research that explores the behaviours of a variety of species http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jnr.23862/full; you will most likely find there the controls you are interested in! I hope it can contribute to your next project!
All the best to you and your family :))
Dear Abby,
Happy weekend to you too. Congratulations for successfully venturing where eagles dare not fly, where the lion dare not hunt. Apparently it is the exclusive preserve of psychology to delve into these issues and your treatment of the challenges could not have been more balanced if you placed them on a scale.
As usual, I would like to contribute to these debates from a personal standpoint. Unfortunately for me, in this case, I am biased. I am a black African, born in a Christian family, taught that the Christ was God and he died for my sins. My views in these matters are bound to reflect that of many people from my part of the world. But, and that is a very big BUT: before I was an African, black, Christian, or Muslim, I was intelligent and a sceptic and most of my belief system has come to be based on what I have figured out to be true based on my experience, the experience of others and empirical evidence.
Having said all that, I must begin by stating that I believe traits developed through thousands of years of evolution and natural selection to be largely responsible for the behaviour of both primates male and female offerings and human male and female offspring. Even before they are born, most mothers talk about how a male foetus kicked harder than the female. As they grow up, they naturally tend to take more rusks, leave home earlier, seek earlier independence from parents and so on. Some people would insist that it is nurturing and expectations that is responsible for this state of affairs, rather than argue with them, I prefer to agree with them and use the same argument to support something else: That some of these issues are prominent because of the information we have exposed children to.
There is no arguing it, the environment, expectations and the information a child is exposed to are not sufficient for Sebastian to think she is Camille. There must be some chemical or hormonal and perhaps psychological conditions that predates Camille's conviction that she is a girl and not a boy. But these also, are not enough for her to make the assertion. The supportive environment, the media, the community, the social environment are all things that enables her figure out what is going on with her and how to tell her loved ones about it. This my view of this issue comes from my life experience: I was born in a small town in South-east Nigeria. From when we were very little, we heard tales of the people that had been before us. We were told folk tales imbued with lessons. We heard mythology tales with their own lessons. There was no single tale of a boy that was born with male genitals but who has a right to say that she is a girl because she feels that way!
This is not to insist that in the entire history of the people, a situation such as the one described concerning Camille had never occurred, but it is to suggest that perhaps it had occurred but was swept under the rug as an abomination or worse, the individuals involved struggled through life to live a gender they did not feel they belonged to. They end up surviving and never really living.
I am convinced that this is the case because I have also lived in the major cities of my country. Not too surprisingly, it is easier to encounter teenagers acting out genders which differ from their nature. Of course due to religious and the "abomination" proclamation, these people cannot publicly say how they really feel and which gender they identify as. Here, people can't deal with anything other than the traditional, stereotypical, and narrow classification of gender so much so that identifying a gender that us perceived to be in disagreement your nature could easily earn a person 14 years in jail and this is by law!
In summary, I think there is need to balance societal and parental involvement in a child's identity with a particular gender especially when this is in disagreement with the child's body. In this case, we should not rush to "support" reassignment and other "help" that doctors and other professionals render on hearing the child proclaim their gender. The child should grow old enough to initiate some of the processes they need by themselves. On the other hand, we should not be too rigid in our believe of what is or what should be especially due to our religious beliefs and moral background.
Well, Abby, this is not my field so I may be completely wrong in my observations but this is how I see it. The things that made Camille feel like Camille are biological, psychological, environmental, political and societal and it is neither right nor wrong. The only thing that needs to be watched closely is the way the adults in his life interfere or support.
Thank you, Abby for such an important topic. Like wine, you get better (but I hope, not more expensive :)) with time!
Hello my dear, dear @churchboy :)) I trust you have had a good week, because, my Gosh ... you were inspired when you wrote this comment! Your rationale of this subject in simply magnificent, and your conclusion just says it all. Well, at least for me, and we seem to share the same view about Camille's situation.
This is a controversial topic indeed. Also, as I have been saying, it is new territory to me (transgender kids). However, while I feel that we have come a long way, as a society, in accepting and dealing with situations like those of Camille's, there is still some sort of taboo surround this subject. I believe that challenging ourselves to think about it and familiarizing with this topic is a good start. You say you are not an expert, you say you are biased; yet that did not come across in your discussion.
I love learning about your culture. As much as I was fascinated by the mythological tales that are passed down from generations to generations, I was surprised to see people can be imprisoned as a consequence of the gender psychological identity!
I suppose in the end it doesn't matter which factor weighs heavier in determining Camille's sex/gender; as long as she can enjoy a lifetime of mental stability and subjective well-being, at least most of the time. And not like you said, surviving rather than really living.
Once again, thank you for this wonderful, wonderful insight! :) Oh by the way, the way you started your comment made me smile, and the way you finished it made ma laugh out loud!! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
Lots of love to you and all your loved ones!
:*
Thank you, Abby, as usual for taking the time to reply. I remember, as a teenager, I had a feminine appearance and liked feminine preferences in colour. Purple was and still is, my favourite colour. The girl I was pining over had no interests in me (her loss). But I didn't know it at the time and I decided it was a bright idea to just be alone. Not so bright. This decision made me attractive to gay guys, perhaps, due to my physical appearance. At first I didn't understand why these guys were so nice to me. I chucked it up to my being not very sociable. With time I realised they were hitting on me, at which time I walked away, with speed.
One guy said, "If girls are not working out, why don't you try guys."
Perhaps, with more persuasion and support from the society, I would have tried out guys. On the other hand if I really felt like a girl and the society forbade it, then I would be stuck in pretending to be what I'm not. Balancing these issues is a surprisingly tricky business. In the end, as we agreed, what matters is the individual's success or failure at living a mentally stable life.
Im glad that I have made you smile. Lots of love to you..
The difference between the male and the female is clear and can not be accepted scientifically or instinctively
And this leads us to search for ways to achieve justice between them and not equality between them there is a difference
Thanks for sharing this with us
Thank you for stopping by @slimanepro
Thanks @ abigail-dantes, this new publication is very educational, it is a controversial topic, because socially there are many opinions regarding sex / gender. Knowing if that condition is born or made, is something that many people who love to know.
Sadly there are still many homosexual people who have felt or perhaps are feeling responsible for their sexual orientation. Due to the misinformation and confusion surrounding this issue.
Biological theories try to explain the origin of homosexuality based on factors of an organic nature. According to the type of factors in which they are centered, we find three groups. Those that put the emphasis on genetic factors (Kallman, 1952), which emphasize the role of hormones as predisposing elements of future sexual orientation (Kolodny, Masters, Hendryx and Toro 1971, Dorner, 1976) and those that seek to demonstrate the existence of structural differences in the brain of homosexuals and heterosexuals (Swaab and Hofman, 1990, Le Vay, 1992)
In the end, the theories and prejudices regarding this issue are very diverse, but it is us that as people we should respect the sexual orientation of each individual and leave the discrimination, each being is unique and we are not the ones to judge anyone, so that families that have this kind of situations can confront it before society, I think they should seek professional help to help them accept themselves without any feeling of guilt and teach them techniques to deal with social damage. post as these are of great help to parents and society, thank you.
Oh my, my @urbano579 ! Thank you so much for the referenced information your shared with us here today! I will note them down to look into these studies with greater detail! I truly appreciate you taking the time to write this down here my dear! 😊
All the best to you.
Your contribution is invaluable to our discussions.
Thank you once again!
many thanks to you @ abigail-dantes for each of your post that we teach every week
Regardless of the origin of this situation ( Dysphoria of Gender Identity ), the important thing is to accept and support all the people who present it and their closest relatives who also need help and guidance, very important the topic that is worth investigating to expand our knowledge about him. Thanks Abigail for educating us always with your important posts.
Hello Sir @pedval25 :)
I am so glad to see you here! You have my most profound respect for being open-minded enough to explore this controversial topic. If more people had this same attitude there would not be so much discrimination in this world and families like that of Camille’s would not have to struggle so much! Like you said support and guidance are the way to go :D
I wish you all the best!
Thank you Abigail friend, I admire you and respect you very much for your great work through this means, may God bless you for such a praiseworthy work for the benefit of society to make a better world for all.
Untangling the complexity of gender is no easy task but I really enjoyed how you outlined it and backed it up with the monkey study.
The mix of biology and culture, how much is weighted, and where the lines are drawn is pretty fascinating stuff. Definitely looking forward to new studies and ideas coming out about this topic.
I just watch The Danish Girl last weekend, and it did an excellent job of showing some of the struggles of a transgender person in the early 1900s. Sometimes we need to feel what other people feel to get the message, and it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Highly recommend it.
Hey @cizzo :D
Aren’t the little monkey studies fascinating?! So glad to hear you enjoyed reading it. Human sexuality is a complex and fascinating topic indeed! I sas The Danish Girl last year, I smiled, I suffered and cried with them! What a pair!!! Oh my God! Beautiful story, beautifully acted movie!
All the best to you always :)
I'm sorry I am late in reading your blog dear @abigail-dantes I was so sick yesterday I spent the whole day in my room. Im glad it was holiday so I didnt have work. It is not surprising already that your article would be very remarkable. This time you wrote about gender differences and as usual it is a blast! This issue is very timely and extremely significant because this is common to young kids nowadays. I think that young kids like Camille are influenced by social media,social interactions to the environment or is encouraged by the society to come out from her shell which is I think not a bad thing as long as this is what she really loves to do. Gender Sensitivity should be taught in school because kids like Camille can be a target for bullying and destructive criticisms since it is still not widely accepted by everybody. But if I would be given a chance to leave inspiring words to her this is what I a going to say:
Have a wonderful weekend my dear @abigail-dantes. Continue posting such amazing articles about psychology. You really are a blessing not only to me but to everybody. 😙
Hello my dear @sakura1012
You are never late :) whenever you have the time to leave you always insightful comments is the right time! Your contribution is invaluable to me. I am so sorry to hear you were feeling sick 😞 I hope you are fully recovered now? I am just asking myself here, though, if you fell sick after the emotion of being Curied 😝 I was/am SO happy for you when I saw it! Congratulations!!
Thank you for the touching thoughts you left us here about society, judgements and being confident about our own choices! Beautiful.
I wish you a wonderful Sunday and a great week ahead! 🌷
Yes dear I am fully recovered now,my mom took care of me and nagged me the whole day just for me to drink meds. (My mom is the best rapper in the world if she gets angry hehe,well I guess all moms are). .
Thank you so much dear for the greetings. I could've not done it without you. As I always say you are my inspiration in writing and in staying in this platform. I will always support you every step of the way and I sincerely do.
All the best my dear @abigail-dantes, and I wish you all the desires of your heart. 🌻
Mi estimada y bella amiga @abigail-dantes, tema bastante controversial.
Desde mi punto de vista, fui una niña criada entre puros varones y te doy garantía que prefería mil veces jugar con carritos, soldaditos, volar un papagayo jugar con canicas que las muñecas, pero siempre estuvo presente ese patrón femenino que era mi madre donde me incitaba en todo momento que era niña y bueno que habían cosas de niñas que eran las que debía hacer (ojo nunca me prohibió los juegos de niños siempre tuve esa libertad) y no se si es cuestión de creencias o sencillamente porque son patrones pero difiero de esos tipos de comportamientos y menos en los niños ( sin ánimos de discriminar a nadie) pero considero que todo esta bajo la dirección de los padres y que tanto educamos a nuestros hijos con respecto a su genero/sexualidad. Ahora soy madre de 2 niños y el mas pequeño mira muchos videos en youtube y en muchas ocasiones ve algunos de niñas, ya con 3 años el me sabe asociar cuando algo es de varón o no, siempre dando la oportunidad como madre si esta bien que los vea continuamente o no ya que considero que de allí empieza su educación conociendo el sexo opuesto y lo que uno hace del otro.
Quiero aclarar que tengo muchos amigos ninguno transgénero pero si bisexuales y homosexuales y son personas admirables por muchos aspectos, pero mantengo una fiel creencia que todo erradica desde la educación de los padres.
Un fuerte abrazo mi estimada amiga.
Hello my dear :D It is always very nice to see you here!
This sort of information is very important for me. I am not a parent. So, I don't have this "real life" every day experience with children's understanding of sex/gender. This is without a doubt new territory to me (the topic of transgender children). And as much as I understand the role biology plays in our preferences, like you, I believe this is more a result of the social and psychological, which in your comment refers to the child's upbringing. Particularly when I come across studies such as the one evaluating hypothalamic responses!
Thank you very much for your invaluable input!
Have a wonderful weekend and saludos a su familia :)
Me alegra saber que mi opinión con respecto a la vida con mis hijos sea de utilidad, y en cierto digo que una vez que los padres cumplimos el rol de orientar y guiar nuestros hijos acorde con los temas según avanza su edad no es posible que haya margen de error con respecto a este tipo de temas, los niños son una esponja y lo que le permitamos absorber eso les quedara por el resto de sus vidas.
Siempre muy feliz de ser participe de sus temas, me llenan y me hacen sentir plena en todo los sentidos.
hello my lady how are you? bueno este es un tema bastante controversial que ha sido debatido tanto por la comunidad científica, como por la religiosa.
Científicamente hablando no cuento con los conocimientos ni las palabras que usted expresa en su publicación, pero si le puedo contar un hecho de mi infancia y de mis hermanos, espero le sirva para este estudio de investigación y así seguir recopilando la mayor información posible para que ustedes como psicólogos lleguen una conclusión, ok le cuento!
Soy el mayor de 3 hermanos, siempre se me inculco que tengo responsabilidades sobre ellos de protección por ser el mayor, mi hermano Juan el que me seguía (el segundo) de pequeño tenia actitudes afeminadas (movimientos, posturas) mis padres notaron estas actitudes y lo corregía, mi mama lo hacia con cariño, pero mi papa era mas tosco a la hora de hacer una corrección, con el pasar del tiempo mi hermano fue eliminando esas actitudes entendiendo que así se comportaban o actuaban las niñas, podríamos decir que mis padres formaron la identidad de genero de acuerdo al sexo de mi hermano.
Ahora voy con mi hermana menor @jayoxaju, ella por ser la única niña entre dos hermanos varones, no tenia opciones a la hora de jugar viéndose obligada a participar de juegos varoniles (carritos, canicas, luchas) adoptando una actitud muy varonil, con el pasar del tiempo mi mama le instruía de manera tal que mi hermana comprendió que ella era una niña que juega con niños, con el pasar de los años ella se fue desapegando de los juegos varoniles para ocuparse de las cosas de chicas.
Estas cosas las recuerdo claramente de como mis padres fueron participes de la formación de identidad de genero de mis hermanos.
Ahora con respecto a un aspecto científico doy mi punto de vista y hago una interrogante, es conocido que los seres humanos nos identifica el sexo/genero los cromosomas Xx y Xy, claramente esos cromosomas forman la parte física (genitales, rasgos femeninos y masculinos) podríamos decir entonces, que ya determinado el aspecto físico, entra en juego el aspecto mental o psicológico?
Note los casos de mis hermanos, como usted sabe soy creyente del evangelio, me gustaría saber que tan interesada esta por conocer mi punto de vista con respecto a las Sagradas Escrituras, respetando claro esta todo su conocimiento en el área de la psicología.
Ahahahahaha Hello my Lord! I am very well thank you. A little tired, but fine! 😊
I am absolutely fascinated by your sister and brother's account. Thank you ever so much for taking the time to write this down for me. I have just told @jayoxaju that this is all new territory for me (the psychology of transgender kids) and information like the one she shared about her own children and the one you recalled of your siblings when they were young is absolutely invaluable.
You do raise a valid and accurate point from the biological perspective of gender. However, it is now well established (among psychologists) that human sexuality is a product of the interplay between social, environmental and psychological factors. The view that we are purely pre-determined by our biological characteristics has fallen out of favour. However, I am inclined to conclude, similarly to your sister, that environmental and psychological determinants play more of a part in cases like that of Sebastian's. Particularly when I see studies like the one that examines the hypothalamic responses of prepubertal boys and girls.
Having said that, I am highly interested in hearing your views through the lens of your religion. As they would provide great insight into environmental, social and, consequently, psychological factors. I would appreciate that very much my dear :) (when you have the time!).
Have a wonderful weekend ahead.
Lots of love to you and to your family! :)
The pre-existing conventions/cultures you mentioned cannot be overlooked as part of the factors that mould and help us to adapt to our specific gender.
I think Judith Buttler's idea cannot be said to completely ignore the biological and psychological twist as we all are aware that culture and conventions are the product of long-standing beliefs.
It is interesting to note from the research involving the monkeys that male monkeys took to more rough plays and tended to disengage from the family ahead of the females which expose them to risks earlier than the females. And also, it drives them towards having an affinity for risky ventures later in their lives. The female on the hand played parents and are closer to the mothers and are more reserved.
From the above explanation, we can conclude that gender is a product of both psychology and biologically pre-determined. But is there a way we can correlate Camille's case with the above findings?
What intrigues me is how a child can become so much aware of his or her gender at that early age?
Based on the functional MRI, why hypothalamic responses of prepubertal girls and boys failed to show a clear pattern?
Can we say what Camille felt could be transitory and could disappear with time with a little push toward rediscovering his real gender?
@kaydee my dear, your comments are always, always so impressive! They are like evaluative reviews of my posts :D It just makes me so happy. Thank you!
Well, it seems like after all we share the same queries regarding Camille and the certainty children her age appear to have regarding their own sexuality. Even though there is research that indicates that the transgender brain present some differences, the MRIs taken in these studies were those of adult transgenders. The issue with this is that, as you know, an adult brain has been highly influenced and therefore shaped by the individual's experiences and behaviour! Therefore, it would be impossible to propose, accoring to such findings, that they are born like that.
The question then still remains, and until we find the answer for it (if there is one) we can use the understanding that we have managed to obtain so far to fight discrimination and bullying. After all, it is well-established now that who we become in life is not a result of our biology only, but rather a combination of biological, sociological and psychological factors :)
All the best to you always !!
This is really an exploratory post. No one can do justice except people in the field of psychology. As a normal person who has had a lot of societal influence, dictates on how I perceive the world, I really salute your courage in bring this on. While I am happy that we have a lot of positive changes on how the society allows people to make choices based on their conviction, I will say much is still needed to be done. Where I grew up, it is a "taboo" for a boy to wear female dress nor see himself as a lady. It is as badto the extent that if you are a left handed girl or boy, parents/teacher try to force you to use the right hand. Some kids have been a victim of this and it has cost them more than a fortune.
Thank you for your continued mind-developing posts.
Hello @turpsy :))
You are right Turpsy, we have indeed come a long way in terms of dealing with topics like this. Still, this is considered a very controversial topic for many. But, I suppose that is why there is still so much prejudice surrounding it. I believe that through discussions like this we can all debate and acquire a better understanding, not only of the factors that play a role in human sexuality; but also, what families like those of Camille's go through :)
Thank you once again for being open-minded and venturing beyond the border of set-in-stone beliefs :)
This is a very interesting topic. More so because lately the question of gender and that of transgenders has been figuring prominently in the media igniting an ongoing debate.
Your notes of the behaviors noticed in animals is very revealing because there are quite a few similarities between say monkeys and humans in everything, including behavior. It is worth pondering about the results of experiments conducted using animals and correlating the findings with human behavior and psychology.
Gender identity usually comes about in children around age two to three. Once they move past that age they start developing fixed mindsets about gender stereotypes. The main reason is due to gender identity being a biological thing. There are unmistakable biological traits that put humans into either category which are also observed and followed by children. They make their assumptions on the basis of what they see and observe, as well as what they are told or taught.
As far as feelings and other qualities go, it rests on a person's masculinity or on the other hand, femininity. A certain flexibility of gender is being seen in recent years with people identifying themselves either publicly or privately with one gender.
Again going back to the post, playing with dolls or with guns or trucks is defined by preconceived notions that are suggested by a child's observations form the world around them, or from TV or the movies.
But of course your post goes into much more depth with various details derived from scientific studies and experiments which is what makes it so unique and fascinating!
The statement seems so simplistic but goes to the crux which is that being human is what matters. :-)
Hello my dear @maxabit
Thank you so much for leaving this most beautiful comment!
Let me just highlight here some of the things that you pointed out that I think are particularly important for the other readers too keep in mind:
This is very true indeed! :) And, in my opinion, this is also the very reason why it is so useful to study them - the fact that their societies are not as complex as ours! It is almost a paradox! :)
There are unmistakable biological traits that put humans into either category which are also observed and followed by children.
Learning from watching! And this is why I ask myself if the factor that weighs heavier in Camille seeing herself as a girl is the social/environmental one. Even more so when I come across studies such as the hypothalamic response to androstadienone.
Not that one determiner (biological, social or psychological) is more important than the other; and that is why I ended with the sentence you quoted here! You got it :D
Thank you my dear, for always showing so much regard for my work.
It feels very rewarding and motivating :)
Hi!
Wow, what a great post. I may be a little late but I hope my comment doesn’t get lost in the sea of great contributions here.
I find the studies on gender-characteristic behaviour on primates really interesting. A question rose, though. You talk about the existence of a sexual bias, but what about discrimination toward individuals that exhibit homosexual behaviour? Not exactly a gender question, but it popped on my head while reading this.
About the gender dissociation, I agree on the fact that it’s influenced by the three factors; biology, psychology and society. Now, biology and psychology are somewhat internal factors, but society exerts an influence from the outside, doesn’t it? At which point can we know whether the behaviour is biological/psychological and when social? My concern is, if a child as young as Camille exhibits gender behaviour opposite to their biological one, how to know when it’s a social influence or a biological/psychological one, and how to avoid confusing the child? Also, if one makes a ‘mistake’ by approaching a child’s GID behaviour a certain way (either reinforcing or trying to change the behavior) does this count as a social influence? And if it does, is it reversible? Or can such an influence change the individual’s gender identity permanently?
I don’t know if any of my questions make sense or if this is the right place to put them, but your post really made me think, and I love it for that.
Hello @isa93 :)
Thank you for commenting. I see you brought me a lot of questions :D So, I made a cup of tea, turned my music on and here I am 😊 Let's see if I can reply to you in a satisfactory way!
In the studies cited in this post there were no observations of members presenting homosexual behaviour; therefore, not notes were taken about how others reacted to it. But, without any specific study to back me up on this, I would dare to say that this could be manifested in the form of violence or even exclusion against the member who is not fulfilling their group identity part.
Absolutely :)
This is the big question! For example, a similar study - MRI exam - was conducted in adult transgenders, and indeed the brain of an adult male who transitioned to become a woman, was more similar (in functionality) to that of a heterosexual woman than that of a man. But, then now ... how to find out whether they were born like that, of if that the brain's network adapted to the social environment in which they developed; in turn giving rise to female's psychological aspects? The fact that we are such complex creatures living in such complex societies makes just really impossible to disentangle the three aspects - social, biological and psychological (and this is the answer to your question!). This is why, like I said in the article, studying non-human animals becomes handy!
However the approach - reinforcing or preventing - will be an environmental influence. The tricky part here is drawing the line between the child's needs and what is imposed on them. I suppose, this is down to how well the parents know their child and how unbiased they can be in their judgement.
Most psychological states are reversible indeed; let's say another child with a similar case of that to Camille's goes through the same I am a girl phase, but the parents just let him be. Do you want a doll? Here is a doll! But without getting the whole 'you are going to be a girl' mindset around the child. In this case puberty will tell, and it might take the child either way. However, in the case of Camille, I find very difficult that she will feel like a boy in her puberty years, her entire environment is wiring her brain networks to work as that of a girl from a really early age. She is growing up to be a girl. But this won't really matter if Camille grows up to enjoy a life of high-levels of subjective well-being and emotional stability :)
I hope this has helped to clarify some of your doubts, at least a little!
All the best to you & thank you for thinking thing through so carefully. It really makes the work I put into my posts worthwhile!
What a cool setting to give answers! Although I'm more of a hot chocolate person.
Oh ok, I get it now. It makes sense. Although, it would be cool wouldn't it? to have some sort of machine scanning a person and spitting out values regarding this. Something like 'yeah, your sexual behaviour is 60% biological, 25% psychological and 15% social, now have a nice life'.
This is an awesome thought. In a way it's 'common knowledge' but at the same time it's a total eye-opener. It feels so true not only applied to an individual's sexual behaviour but about pretty much any decision a person makes regarding their life; hobbies, careers, likes and dislikes...
All this has stirred my curiosity! Regarding 'behaviour' as a whole concept, not only human, but animal. I'll dig up a little more into this :)
Thank you so much for such a complete and dedicated answer. This too, for me at least, makes time in steemit really worth it. My doubts have been totally resolved.
Thanks again and all my best to you too!
Well a very important issue for parents, and this is something I would like to highlight and is that parents, or people in general tend to believe or assume that because a child likes dolls or a girl soccer has why be a sign of being in front of a gender dysphoria.
The starting point is respect for the other person's feelings and wishes, the goal should be to help alleviate suffering, uncertainty and insecurity; support this child or this young person in this process of personal search, in a way that contributes to their adaptation in school, in social life, in the family. Transmitting that you can be happy being as one is and that we are all different.
Hello @luisateresa :)
Thank you very much for once again take the time to participate in the debates of my blog. You are absolutely correct, this is not a issue that concern society as a whole; this is a topic very important for parents! You raised so many relevant things here, because in the documentary the Camille’s father and mather discuss about the difficulties they face in the kid’s scholl, with neighbours and with the older members of the family. The way I see it is that only through debates like this this sort of topic can become more understood!
I wish you all the best :))
In my opinion, every "gender is gender" whether boy or girl. And there shouldn't be treatment exclusively preserved for a particular gender.
Growing up, my mum made sure I learnt how to cook, and taught me that home chores are not the absolute prerogative of girls.
And that made me to see the world from a different perspective.
Nice piece always ma'am
Nice comment Sir!! Wow, you most certainly had a privileged upbring. It is because of upbringing like yours that we have people who fight for equality and against discrimination :) You mother has my profound respect! I am glad you like this post my dear Sammy.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Being A SteemStem Member
@abigail-dantes, as you stated in the post above, children tend to vocalize early when something in their world seems amiss. These cases are rare as most children are born without this internal gender conflict. My gosh, if a child is only 2 or 3, they have yet to comprehend that the conflicting feelings they have may have a potentially traumatizing societal stigma attached to it. They are simply just living their sweet precious lives as they should.
I read about a family that wouldn't tell anyone if their child was born as a girl or boy. No one was allowed to use pronouns that indicated gender. So, I guess my concern is that there are parents that give the message to their child that he or she can't just simply be a boy or a girl. I can't imagine how confused the child would end up becoming because he or she ended up as a science experiment. When it's just for the parent to take a social stance with their peers, it's just selfish.
Yet, it takes a brave and unselfish parent to give unconditional love when a gender conflict arises that does require attention.
Ahhh, my sweet brainiac friend, I love that you write with compassion for those that are hurting.
Hi @abigail-dantes. Another thought provoking post from you. I recently wrote a post about the extremely feminine man named Quentin Crisp. A true story about a man who might have preferred being a woman. As a child he loved all things feminine, enjoyed dressing as a girl when he was very young. His was not an easy life because as @churchboy states society knows not what to do with people they don’t understand. His own parents disowned him.
In some cultures these gender bending individuals were often cast into the role of the witch doctor or the sage. Everyone serves a purpose in most societies.
As young people on the streets hustling to make a living some will choose either sex in trade for a warm bed or a fix. In this case I believe sexual identity is a choice. In most instances it occurs to me that there is little choice in gender identity. If it were a choice would someone truly choose to live a life of meager existence where they would be bullied and harassed on a consistent basis. To live a life filled with loneliness for another human being to love and be loved by?
In conclusion it is my opinion that we as a society are moving toward a genderless society. One where sexual identity is no longer important. I say this because perfect children will be created in petrie dishes. No more gender dismorphia or disease, just perfect little children competing with human AI.
Good movies “The Naked Civil Servant” and “Boys Don’t Cry”
Take care my friend. Much love to you. 🐓🐓
Good evening from PH miss @abigail-dantes, how was your day?
Regarding your post , what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl , for me it's all of the aspects , enevironment , the people around you , who you are with most of the time and how people treats you, In Camille's story i was really shocked that at that very young age , he/she a transgender? and i am amze how the parents are very supportive as well as the professionals in US about their gender/sex awareness . As per my own experience I can remember that i used to like girls when i was little but i am not sure if i was 7 or 8 yrs. old that time , i clearly remember that i think that time i was confused of what i am , good thing i bacame really a girl haha.
With the positive words i wanna give to Camille and her family : Camille and family, you guys are amazing , you really are a family because ypu stick together and to the parents , i salute you for being so supportive of Camille , not all parents are like that , to Camille , just enjoy your life no matter what you are , just be yourself and love it 😘❤️❤️❤️
I don't know how long it always take me to read and digest your blog miss @abigail-dantes , but it's definitely worth it 👏👍❤️
I think you really are my virtual sister , my new blog is just also about women and men ,LOL
PS : i wanna thank you for always supporting me the minis and my ate , for visiting our blogs always , you don't know how much it is helping us and how overwhelming it is Thank you from the bottom of my heart
We love you always Miss @abigail-dantes God
bless you more 😘❤️❤️❤️
Hello my Dear @zephalexia :)
I had a busy, but good day! I always have busy days .... Hahahah ... Gosh! I think I need a holiday :D
Your words to Camile and her family are very beautiful, and it really makes me happy to see young people like you with such an open-mind and understanding towards controversial topics like this. I can already see the minis are having a very good upbringing (they are soooo cute :))!! I am glad to hear you are going to be blogging about women and men! This is a topic that will always interest everyone.
Oh! I forgot to tell you from last time. I am from Brazil, but my husband and I live in Portugal :)
I wish you and all the family a wonderful weekend. Filled with peace and happiness!
:)
it's always good in the feeling to have a conversation with you even just in a comment box ,hehe. Did you know that I thought that you might be a Filipina too? i dont't know why but it's just what i feel , hehe. Thanks so much for answering that question miss abi
But also, i think you deserve very good vacation in a very beautiful place if you are always tired . go get some , hehe
Thanks for appreciating the mini's too, we love you sooo much miss @abigail-dantes
Hope you and hubby will have a great weekend 😘❤️❤️❤️
this is the only way i can communicate to you , i just really wanna thank you for appreciating mine , my sister and specially the minis blogs , we truly thank you , you are such a generous and helpful one . we love you very much 😘❤️❤️❤️
Take care always and God bless you more miss @abigail-dantes ❤️❤️❤️
I finally had time to read your post. As interesting as usual.
As far as gender awareness is concerned for a 5yr old; I personally think it is largely due to environmental influence - geneticists call it nurture. However, due to biological issues (such as hormones), Camille can actually grow up to become confused about her gender; especially if she grows to have more male hormones than female hormones. Again, Geneticists have a word for it - nature.
Nature and nurture play synergistic roles in shaping a lot of our attributes. Long before the internet, the majority of African women are contented with sitting at home tendering to the house chores and the kids. The advent of internet and modernization, however, have made a lot of African women to become nurtured towards the lifestyles of women in advanced countries. Hence, a lot of them now work good jobs and are no longer contented with just sitting at home.
Let me rest here abii. Well done
Hello my dearest @gentleshaid :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment - I know how busy you are! Well, what can I add to your comment? We seem to share the same opinion about the weight environmental factors have on defining someone's role in society, and I like the way you brought another example to illustrate this. Still, you did not disregard the biological and the social influences. After all many, many or features are the product of the interplay of three :)
Have a wonderful weekend :*
I wish you all the best always - hope you are feeling better!
Oh My! This topic is no doubt the genesis of a book. Such depth in the comments too! I am pleased to be able to offer some other, unique insights/perspectives on the subject but will modify my remarks by the use of " ...it seems to me", or "perhaps", or "could it be?".
Sexual orientation and gender has been a theme in my personal life and family life for many years. My daughter, is getting married to her partner this spring. She fulfills the masculine role in that relationship. My former dearly beloved, whom I have the joy of calling friend, is also in a same-gender relationship, and I myself dealt with similar issues growing up. So, I have had some practical experience in the matter, though certainly am no authority.
As a practicing Buddhist, I have incorporated into my personal understanding of things the concept of past lives, of genetic echoes and soul imprints. In other words what I have found is that the source of our sexual orientation and gender is not limited to either simple genetics or family/cultural influence. Indeed, each of us is an orchestra of past lifetime energies, both ancestral and individual. None of us, it appears, are, as monotheistic religions would have it: one life, one soul, one judgement, one eternity. Indeed, I am a symphony composed from many sources and lifetimes. This perspective has been very helpful in my own family, helping to explain and understand the fascinating play of gender and sex. We, each come, like Wordsworth said, "...trailing clouds of glory."
To add to this expansion of horizon may I also share I am an Astrologer. (Which thing still amazes me, having come from a strict controlling Christian heritage). What I have noticed in my practice is that boys who have certain strong placement of planets and signs may indeed be very sensitive and seemingly feminine as children but upon entering puberty take on the male role more fully. However the feminine sensitivity usually remains as a part of the psyche. Parents may mistakenly consider their child as gay or other-gender and respond prematurely in assigning a role that is temporary. Hope that make sense! The same can be said of females who have strong male markers in their astrological charts. They have tendencies that may be mistaken for certainties.
I suppose what I'm saying is that our understanding of such things will expand as we incorporate the visions offered by knowledge gathered beyond beckoning horizons. One must keep an open mind. Or so it seems!! May we all love one another regardless of the illusion.
Hello @mistermercury :)
I am so glad you found your way here and am very grateful for you taking the time to share your incredbly relevant perspective. It is very kind of you.
I am fascinated by Buddhism; yet, I know very little about it. However, I have come across the concept of past lives before, and it is very important to me to learn about these sort of view as it helps me to have a better understandying towards the way people make sense of the world around them. For example, while some families with different beliefs would struggle to deal with the situation your family experience, your perspective lends you accepatance.
I really appreciate you sharing your Astrology background as well. I never knew that Astrology provides insight into human sexuality (I am sorry if I sound ignorant!), and this is why I am so grateful for your beautiful comment :)
Keeping an open-mind is imprtant indeed and I am interested in learning about all perspectives; particularly those that promote understandying and compassion among people. The ultimate goal after all is to live a life where we can experience high-levels of subjective well-being and stable emotions, at least most of the time! 😊
May we all love one another regardless sex/gender !
All the best to you and to your family 🌷
Indeed, when the family gathers it is quite an experience. At first when my former "dearly beloved" announced her new relationship and path it was a struggle, but God bless them, our children stormed the walls of ignorance with love. Perhaps, I had something to do with that. At the time all I could do was offer my blessings. May I suggest a real treasure of a book by Jack Kornfield, a noted Buddhist and psychologist: The Wise Heart, a Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology.
When I first discovered astrology for myself it was a revelation. It explained so many things in my life that were inexplicable in their nature. I was, of course, thrilled to discover C. Jung and Stanislav Grof both used astrology in their practices!
As far as Buddhism goes, I invite you to keep in touch (follow if I may be so bold) because I will be posting some insights into what it is ... not in an attempt to convert but simply to enlighten those that wish to know.
Thank you for responding to my comments. I do value them and appreciate it very much. May you bring light and love into our community.
Wow! :)
I remember Gender Studies as my favourite, top module of my studies! :)
And now I am just thinking about how weird it is that there are some boys who are so sure that they are of female gender at such young age, while actually boys were so prefered around my region decades ago, that some mothers went so far that they were making boys out of their daughters (by giving them a male name, wearing them clothes for boys, and cutting their hair to look like boys).
Anyways, of course, no gender (of, let's say, unlimited number of genders of today) should be favorized, and I think that with more and more awareness there is more and more space and right fits for everyone. And not only for transgenders or whoever is not a 'right girl' or a 'right boy'. We are all multidimensional beings, mixture of many things, and I am happy that world is moving towards more and more acceptance towards everyone authenticity. Because, for as long as one person expresses his/her real self, while feeling happy and not damaging the others, it should be considered as 'normal' and accepted.
Thanks for this great post, I hope many people see and read it - and especially those who are still against the value behind! :)
YES! 😍
Interesting social information you shared here about the preference for boys in your region. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it; but, we sure have come long way when it comes to acceptance! Still, we have a loong way to go :)
Thank you my dear, for stopping by and leaving your beautiful contribution always!
Have a wonderful weekend!
:)
Have a great weekend you too! :)!
Hi @abigail-dantes, that was a fantastic write-up, I REALLY enjoyed that fact that you provided references for you post, it's refreshing to see.
It was a nice well-researched post, good science and lovely balanced approach to the subject.
To counterbalance the bullying and discrimination, it's really important to nurture and build a strong sense of self worth, because there will be ignorant people that will try to remove your worth.
xx
resteemed and following.
Hello @sapphic :)
Thank you so much. Your comment is incredibly kind! Yeah, I think it is important to do a bit of research :) Love you input, you are right! Self-worth is a fundamental feature when dealing with prejudiced views!
All the best to you and once again, thank you very much for your support!
This issue is now a hot debate and a very controversial one at that in some societies. I think everyone should be allowed to live a life they wish to live as long as that life does not physically cause harm to anyone. In the society I live, such subject hardly comes up for discussion due to the age-old beliefs, culture, and of course religion, which has a significant influence on people's choices and behaviours.
Maybe in coming years we may get there, I for one was ambidextrous at birth, but after a few knocks, I learned that left is not "acceptable" as most elders felt it was evil and not an allowed behaviour to use it in place of the right hand. I wrote about the experience briefly here 5 months ago.
Hello @greenrun :))
This is indeed a challenging & controversial debate Green, and I am very grateful for vehicles like Steemit that allows us to discuss this with neutrality and in an educational manner. I believe that through discussion like this, we will, in the coming years, be able to approach the transgender issue with less reluctance and full respect towards those who undergo such experiences. Hopefully, future generations will be more equipped to look at children like Camille as well as her family in a less superstitious fashion!
Have a great, great Friday night & weekend ahead my dear :)
Ps: I will definitely read about your experience to have a better insight into these beliefs.
Thank you, children of the future, won't have it this bad. That is something that is guaranteed to happen. We would then look back and wonder why it was such a big deal now.
A boy is a boy or a girl is a girl is not just determined by the sex alone but by the mind. This is a psychological thing, when a boy is being treated as a girl, being taught girl stuffs with time he would soon start acting like a girl. To determine a boy as a male or a girl as female starts with what is feed into the mind and head of the child. That's why we have transgenders and same sex relationship. In rare cases we have a trait issue, in the sense that all boys have a feminine side and all girls have a masculine side but when the feminine side of the boy becomes dominant or the masculine of the girls becomes dominant that is an issue. You will hear words like Tomboy and Sissy. They feel they are trapped in the wrong body
Absolutely @tutufaith, so many of our features are a result from the combination of what is pre-determined biologically, from our social environment as well as psychological processes.
I really likes how you discussed and elaborated your initial statement :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and contribute to this controversial debate!
All the best.
I really wish I have power to upvote your comment. Children are out tomorrow leaders and we have to help them know who they are.
Your post is very explanatory, this topic is very interesting and this information is very useful for parents who are going through this and do not understand why and also for society to understand that beyond prejudice there are scientific reasons that explain why a child can feel like a girl.
The hallasgo is that study can show that it is not about the child chose to be a girl because yes, if not because it is an answer, his body
To counteract what society imposes and especially in these cases I think we should stop living as others want and start living as we want, that way we can be happy, we have to accept each other and respect ourselves as we are, value ourselves more for what we feel than for what society wants us to be
Hello Dear @stefany12 :)
Thank you for being so open-mindedabout this topic that for many is quite difficult to digest! I truly appreciate the positive words you left for those who are undergoing a similar situation to that Camille's family :))
All the best to you always.
Hi @abigail-dantes! This is a controversial topic, I watched a bit of Louis Theroux's programme but what struck me the most was how young the children were making decisions that most adults in that situation can take years to make. Having said that, as Humans and as we grow and develop we are constantly faced with choices, it was good to see how the parents were in support of these choices and they did not criticise or judge negatively.
Supporting our children's choices is a sign of healthy and positive family relationships, and I would say not to worry too much about what society thinks, it's what you think and feel that matters : ) Peace.
Hello my Dear :))
Thank you for the positive words you left for us here. It is difficult not taking into account what society thinks, but like you said if the child has support and love from his/her parent she/he will grow up with a sense of self-confidence and self-worth that helps them a lot.
Still, I do agree with this statement you made:
I wish you only the best in this world!
Have a great night :))
Society is full of prejudice and indiscrimination and we live trying to adjust to its laws and many times that makes us unhappy.
I think that to counteract the indiscrimination and prejudices of society we must consider ourselves, love and accept ourselves as we are, after we follow those three steps and we do not care much what people say because we feel good about ourselves.
Great post friend @ abigail-dantes, is very well explained, is good material for people to understand that there is a logical explanation for what happens to children like Sebastian.
Hello Dear @mili2088 :)
Thank you for stopping by once again :D
You are so right. The main thing to keep in mind is that we are not only pre-determined by our biology. Social and psychological factors are huge contributors in constructing who we become. This understanding together with the values you highlighted here (self-worth and love) should fight back bullying and discrimination. And this is precisely the idea of discussions like this. So, thank you for taking part in it with your always positive input!
All the best :)
your posts I love always leave a new and good teaching, thanks @ abigail-dantes for your good information
Great read @abigail-dantes, loved the fact that you referenced all those studies, I find studies done on monkeys can really show a rawer insight into human nature without all the side variables that TV, internet, social constructs, social pressure, etc... give us nowadays!
Also, that study done with the MRI is to me, definite proof that boys and girls with GID should be taken seriously. I, however, would like to know why their hypothalamic response is different, was it a mutation? Is it something psychological, is it something during the fetal development? why did the different response develop, do we see the same things in chimpanzees?
Hello @teutonium :))
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment! So glad to hear you enjoyed my post.
Please do keep in mind that these girls and boys you are referring to here are the ones going through puberty. Hence, when comparing the findings of their MRIs with the findings of the 39 MRIs of the prepubertal girls and boys - which did not show clear differences - it would be safe to disregard fetal development events. The different hypothalamic response can be seen as a result of psychological processes as dysphoria constitutes a state of mental distress.
Such studies have not been conducted in teen chimps. Also, as far as I know, there is no record of primates experiencing GID.
All the best to you :))
No need to thank me abigail! I love this sort of psychological posts, @zest's post was actually the one who lead me here!
I think i already talked with you a little in the discord channel right? You are a Brazilian working in Portugal if I am not mistaken :D, i hope i'm not mistaken xD
That is correct :)
hello my dear friend @abigail-dantes like every week always gives us a good posts in which we can nourish of knowledge.
When you talk about what makes a child a boy and a girl is a girl had a certain ignorance of the subject, I thought that the education that one gave them led them to have another inclination to their sexual condition and I see that I am wrong. According to the psychologist and researcher at King's College London, in the United Kingdom, Patrick Leman cites that a boy or girl before his third year identify that is similar to what happened to Sebastian, So I think that parents should talk about these issues with their children. The discrimination will always be present because there are many ignorant people in the world and the idea is to make them understand what is best for them and that they feel comfortable as they are. Greetings friend.
Hello my dear @catire383 :))
Thank so much for bringing this piece of information to this debate :
I most certainly will look into it!!
All the best :))
Thank you @abigail-dantes. It is always good to contribute something, and I know that you will do a deeper investigation. Greetings to you and your family.
I have to say honestly that I don't completely understand being transgender, whether it be how I was raised or lack of education in the subject or simply because I am not (this doesn't mean I am in opposition to people that identify different to their assigned gender, just that I don't understand)
Something really interesting stated here is "The findings revealed that the boys with GID showed hypothalamic responses very much like those of girls and girls with GID showed hypothalamic responses similar to those of boy’s." which shows/leads me to think that it is physiological and not just psychological, as many sources would lead you to believe.
Like its all luck of the draw, or some might say lack thereof based upon societal acceptance, that causes is it potentially.
My apologies if this is going off and seemingly weird but I find this to be extremely intriguing and it honestly kind of changes some of the things that I knew, or thought I knew, about the entire subject. Thanks for sharing this, honestly I like being able to learn new things and considering this is a subject is, well, lets just say that my health teacher essentially said that people whom claim to be transgender are just looking for attention and will not be getting into heaven (though not in so nice of words) so I kind of have a skewed education on the subject to start, not that I agree with what I was taught but... My apologies, I am digressing.
Hello @kryzsec :)
Thank you so much for taking a few minutes of your busy schedule to read and contribute to this debate with your comment. I really respect people - like you - who are open to explore new topics; particularly when they are as controversial as this; and when they already have come across preconceptions about it such as that of your teacher! Oh my ... :/
Nowadays, it is well established that most of our features are a product of the interplay among biological, psychological and social factors. And our sexuality is one of them. For children like Camille the question that remains is: which of these factors weighed heavier in her feeling as a girl? While as for the teenagers who underwent the hypothalamic response exam it is quite clear that their biology plays a bigger role in their gender dysphoria. Each case is a different one and this is why the whole topic becomes even more delicate.
It is completely understandable why you find tricky to grasp what entails being a transgender (my brother says the same thing). But, in a nutshell, it is basically what we have discussed here : when a person's sense of self and sex/gender identity goes against that they have been assigned to when they were born. It must be a very overwhelming feeling for those who go through it. And, not only do they have to face their internal conflict but also a society that mostly holds prejudice against them. But I put society's reaction down to lack of understanding.
If more people were open-minded as you are; and first, admitted to themselves they don't fully grasp this topic; and second, had the courage to face it despite all the stigma surrounding it, there wouldn't be so much discrimination and harmful stereotyping out there towards transgenders.
So, thank you once again for your honesty and open-mind approach!
All the best to you :)
Wow! What a fantastic research you did on this topic! Sadly I cannot build upon your article with a constructive comment, because I have never thought about this topic before. You blew my mind and now I have to recollect the pieces and read more about this issue.
Once again, thank you for your contribution!
:))
Hey @dysfunctional :))
I am so pleased to hear you enjoyed this post.This is new territory for me as well!
I found this so nice and funny:
Ahahahahah
Thank you for taking the time to read.I wish you all the best always!
You did great with the research and this post ! As always !
I demand an additional day for posting. Friday is not enough.
Oh my God! 😅😅
This is an interesting and complex topic as the same time. Made me remembered someone who said he is a girl born in a boy's body. Which if to translate it literally, it could be his soul is a girl and the body is a boy, that is for those who believe in the "soul". :)
I have also read somewhere before that it is considered a defect or a disease and that the foods we consumed could be one of the cause as there were lots of chemicals that might be present on the modern foods. (no offense or anything about saying it a disease as I just read about that, forgot the source.) :)
In this article, it gives more possible causes and insights about how could one determine his/her real sexuality. The brain is really a complex thing to analyse as it could still be different from one person to another no matter how similar their experiences or attitude, as there could be no exactly alike in this world.
It really might be a combination of things as mentioned, environment, upbringing etc. :)
Hello @zararina :)
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave a comment. I am pleased to hear you find this topic interesting. Me too! And, as well as you, I also think it is complex. Not only in itself, but also in how it is perceived by others.
It is great to see that is how you see this post! There are a lot of explanations out there, many different way to try to make sense of why some people are transgender. And as long as don't result in prejudiced opinion I don't mind them. However, it is also important to be open to what science has to say about it :)
All the best for you.
Have a great week ahead!
Hi @abigail-dantes, I enjoy reading your posts here because they are rich.
This is an interesting debate. Before now, in my part of the World (Africa), there are so many things kids cannot say before the elders. But, I have noticed changes in today's Africa, and I attribute these changes to the information age that has made our world a global village. I hope one day that people here will have the same opportunity to express themselves.
Thank you for sharing such an educative post.
Hello @uzochukwu :)
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I have read quite a few comments kindly left by Africans informing me about their traditional culture. I am always very interested in learning about other society's beliefs and perceptions, because it explains a lot how they make sense of the world around them. For me it is sad when certain beliefs lead to discrimination. Hopefully this is begin to fade away with the next generations and soon people will feel free to express themselves without fearing bullying or prejudice!
Best :)
Theme a bit delicate, but that should not be taboo for the rest. I believe that children should be raised to experience freedom, express themselves and be themselves. We must remember that it is precisely at this age that we begin to develop our identity and personality. We must be open minded and happy, and let the rest be happy.
My daughter always preferred a ball, playing with cars and all these things and yet she always had her identity fixed. As I said earlier, let our children feel and do what makes them feel comfortable.
Excellent post, greetings!
Oh my @josebompart,
Beautiful and concise! :) I found the following line particularly beautiful:
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and for contributing to this discussion with such insightful words. I truly appreciate it :) (I agree with you, this is indeed a delicate topic!).
Best
muy buen post, de verdad se ve la diferencia de post como estos que son tan llamativos, pero es mi pregunta, a pesar de que camille sea una niña y reciba ayuda su sistema nerviosos sera capaz e incapaz de hacer lo que ella necesite satisfacer en su cuerpo, pero es muy amplio este tema y es muy muen ejemplo de colocar todos estos ejemplos con nuestros primos por lo que son los monos, ademas hice el ejercicio que mandaste en el post anterior solo que no lo leiste por la cantidad de gente que te publican, te lo contare de nuevo.
Fue una experiencia unica de verdad me acoste normalmente como lo hago cada noche, pero al despertar me siento de inmediato pensando en lo que habias colocado en el post anterior y solo me quedo con los ojos cerrados como por hasta 5 minutos y siento la mente en blanco, puede ser un nivel de concentracion muy diferente al que tenemos al dia a dia, ya que es un momento en el que el cuerpo no se adapta a el cambio de estar dormido al despertar haciendose una gran experiencia.
Muy buen post amiga, saludos y que buen contenido el que colocas.
@calitoo
@calitoo, my dear :) How have you been?
You have been meditating!!! Oh my Gosh ... you don't know how pleased it makes me feel to hear this. I still do my three minutes per day too. But, it looks like you manage to have a much more relaxing experience than me! Please, could you share with me what do you focus on to keep your mind clear? For example, breathing, or your heart beat? Have you been doing every day?
Can you see how many questions I have for you? ahahahahah
I am so fascinated (and impressed)! Thank you for letting me know about this!
How wonderful :D
hello @abigail-dantes, good and you?
yes, I have certainly done this exercise since I liked the previous article where you mention how to perform this exercise, it is an experience of feeling at peace with your body since you are just waking up and my way of doing it is, getting out of bed while sitting , close my eyes, I place my hands on my legs and I just start to breathe, I assimilate it to an experience of body and mind since there is peace in your body and you feel it is your heart sound or simply your breathing, returning to the moment of harmony that you must feel, being in a dream state to get up with more strength to start the day, on the other hand to concentrate only hear the sound of the morning and clear the mind reaching a point of self-satisfaction, thanks for this tips , try it and you will see that you will be surprised by this point of climax that your body experiences.
Greetings @calitoo
:) Thank you!
The studies about our naughty little cousins are quite interesting!
My positive words for Camille and her family would be: "Hi Camille, you're such a sweet little lady" and "Good job for letting your child be what it wants to be"! 😊
It is indeed amazing that children as young as 2-3 are able to express their gender event though the androstadienone study showed that their "biological awareness" (if I can put it that way) is not as developed yet.
I guess that, by now, you must have realized what topic I can't skip in almost any of my comments. Here it comes - in tango, I like to lead (traditionally male role), but I also like to follow (traditionally female role)! 😄
We would all be much happier if we could accept all of our and other people's roles. After all, does it really matter who is who?
Thank you for (yet another) great post!
Hello my Dear @lifenbeauty :))
It is always so nice to read your comments! As you constantly manage to convey positivist :) Look at how you start this one :)) Yeah, they are lovely, little things. Studies with infant primates always make me smile. They are mental!! So, glad to hear you enjoyed reading about them!
As I have been saying throughout the comments, this is new territory for me (transgender kids) and coming across that study - the hypothalamic response in prepubertal boys and girls -makes me think that what Camille is going through is largely to do with environmental influences. But more research need to be conducted in this filed, for sure!
Ahahahah I love to hear about your tango @lifenbeauty! And I just love the smart way you managed to fit it into today's topic!! :D Also, isn't it interesting how we always come to acceptance in the end? In order to fight discrimination, to feel peaceful etc...?
Oh, by the way, loved your article on the experiments! Little Albert experiment is just unbelievable!! Those behaviourists!!
Have a wonderful day my dear :)
Thank you for the beautiful words, @abigail-dantes, I really appreciate the way you truly and cheerfully connect with fellow Steemians! 😊
It's lovely that you noted my mentioning of acceptance in conclusions of my comments. (Self-)Acceptance is something that I've been working on and trying to apply more and more over the past year or two, so it's always in my constantly working head. : )
Thank you for supporting my article, I've been fascinated by those experiments for some time now.
Have a wonderful day(, week, and life), my dear friend! : )
Wow a really deep and controversial topic.
Something that in society is becoming common and yet it is a topic that many prefer not to touch, because often discriminate. I know many people in my society who have this diagnosis, in fact I know someone who opted for surgery. and I have been able to see how in social networks when they are shown as they are, they receive horrific comments.
DISCRIMINATING, giving differential treatment or inferiority to a person or community, for racial, religious reasons really makes us people with problems.
We are all people with a lot of courage and we deserve to be respected. It makes me happy, that others are happy, and if these people are happy, because we are not the ones to discriminate and judge them, judgment is not ours.
Hello Dear @cthkrn :)
Oh! Thank you for bringing your positivity to this controversial and delicate debate! It breaks my heart to hear about stories like the ones you told us here, of people being verbally abused for their sex/gender preferences. The only way I can make sense of the behaviour of bullies is through ignorance. Hoppefully debates like this can raise a little bit of awareness about this topic and debunk misconceptions.
I wish you a wonderful Sunday my dear.
All the best to you always :))
And you are doing my dear Abigail, it is really important the things you share, they are leaving a lot of learning. I was happy to see more positive comments here than anything else.
Blessings.
Good heavens!
I was captivated from start to finish.
You know in the traditional African society, you have to go with the gender for your sex. Any deviation from that is an "abomination"
But this here;
This totally got me. Maybe because it's frustrating being an open minded person in a rather conservative society.
We should actually all just live and let live.
Thanks for the educating post.
Permission to resteem?
Hello @the.chiomz :)
Nice to meet you! I see you are fairly new on the platform?
I am so pleased to hear you enjoyed reading this post. I find very interesting leaning about other culture’s views on this and other topics too. So, thank you for sharing a little bit about your society’s values!
You do not need to ask my permission to reesteem my post! The pleasure is mine, of course :)
I followed you and am looking forward to seeing your writings from now on!
All the best to you. I wish you a very successful Steemit journey!
Thank you so much @abigail-dantes.
I appreciate your encouragement.
First of all I want to emphasize that I like very much that you deal with these topics that are very interesting and currently a very common reality. He did not consider me a person who judges or points out another one because of how you saw, how he speaks or because of his sexual preference, in the century in which we already have this kind of behavior, and I mean to follow or support the opposite of what the society has been cataloged as the stereotype of man and woman, is increasingly accepted because people are not as closed mind as in the past, despite not sharing these preferences I consider it as something normal we are free to be, do and say what better we look as long as we do not harm or affect other people. From small (children) I think it is possible to develop behaviors that determine our personality, when we are children our tastes and preferences are influenced by our parents and the way they educate us and teach what is right or wrong by the laws of society, however I consider it peculiar that a child of 5 years can already decide what path to take in terms of gender / sex, but seeing so many cases of transgenic children and their stories is an increasingly real issue.
I find it quite interesting and I am very curious to know more about all the studies that are done to know the why of human behavior, sincerely I am not very knowledgeable and I dare to say that I am ignorant in many related topics, but I am pleased to read your publications and in this way to expand a little more the knowledge that I already have.
I also invite you to read my post about microagressions that I think you may be interested in!
https://steemit.com/life/@jospig/microagressions
Hello Dear @jospig :)
Thank you for taking the time to stop by once again and share your views with us! I agree with so many points you raised in your comment. The first one of them being that we have come a long way away when it comes to accepting unconventional behavior. Unfortunately though, there is still enough prejudice and bullying towards it. The way you approach this topic is a very straight-forward one:
Also, you are right, children learn a lot from watching and in my opinion Camille has been influenced by her environment to develop the preferences she did. Nevertheless, like I said at the end of my post. It doesn't really matter which factor - biological, social or psychological - influenced her the most in seeing herself as a little girl, the important thing now is that she can live a life where she is accepted for who she is without experiencing great levels of rejection and discrimination.
I am pleased to hear you found this topic interesting. Your post is a very good one! Interesting topic you explored there :)
All the best!
I am very interested in the subject of psychology, I wanted to study psychology but due to problems that we are experiencing in our country I could not do it.
I liked the theme of the post, I like to read you @abigail-dantes.
I'm thrilled and I'm very happy that you liked my post about micro-achievements (I hope you'll talk about that topic in a future post) a big hug :)
:)
Excelente post, @abigail-dantes como siempre tus escritos me nutren mucho y sirven de guía para los padres que tengan algún problema con sus hijos de identificación para que busquen ayuda profesional porque gracias a Dios hoy en día contamos con el apoyo de profesionales en esta área para que no tengan desequilibrios sobre todo en la salud mental, y también nos deja como enseñanza que ya no debería existir discriminación por el tipo de sexo. Saludos!
Hello @livia28 thank you so much. I am truly glad to hear you (as a parent) found this post useful. This is without a doubt a controversial topic, but it is not because of this that we shouldn't discuss it. The more we talk about and become aware of what is behind of sex/gender formation the more understanding we can spread. The idea is to debunk misconception and eradicate bullying! :)
All the best to you. Have a great weekend!
I was thinking that it was always the hormones that decide the gender of a boy or a girl to be a boy or a girl. The article gave me a different perspective to think. Nice one.
Hello Dear @bala41288 :)
There is much more to human sexuality than the 'magic' of hormones :) We are complex creatures living in complex environments, which prompt social and psychological determinants to who we become in all aspects. Our sexuality is indeed an interplay between biological, psychological and social factors :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Best.
Yes you are right. Thanks for your wishes and you too have a wonderful weekend. :-)
Thanks for this post. I think about gender a lot as I observe my 5yo son growing up. It is amazing the messages he has absorbed in spite of what he sees and hears at home. Even though his papa and I worked side by side building his play house, when I was working alone, he insisted that I shouldn't use the power tools because I would hurt myself. What?!? Even though his behavior is on the "boy" spectrum, I love it when he chooses purple or pink without worrying that it's not a boy color. His hair is long and curly, so he is often called a girl, but that seems to go over his head so far. It is encouraging to see that more and more children feel able to live in the gender that suits them - but we still hear about so much violence against trans women in particular. Keep educating the masses!
Well, no wonder why your little boy draws such colorful, happy images @orangina :) with a mum this open-minded and loving he can only grow up to be someone who is confident in his own skin! His self-portrait is SO cute :D
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and comment. Feedback like yours is very important in discussions like this.
All the best to you and to your family! :)
Aww thanks! I am sooooo proud of him no matter what he does or becomes. Cheers :-)
:)
Many people wish they had the opportunity as a child, but very few people figure this out as a child and usually only realise later in life. (Puberty tends to give the most hints)
I was naive enough to believe that only during puberty people become that confident and aware of their sex/gender. But, what all this research and other readings I did made me realize was that I was holding a very reductionist view of gender and sex ( a biological one only! ). There is much more to it. I suppose topics like this helps us to understand that human sexuality, after all, results from an interplay between the biological, the social and psychological. It is beautiful!
Thank you for stopping by @anarchyhasnogods :)
All the best.
I never said only, just that it seems to be the most common time people realise. (definitely was for me)
Hi @abagail-dantes, what a wonderful and insightful read!
I am a male early childhood teacher and I have observed gender steroetypes in children from a young age. I enjoyed your scientific approach - it was well written and researched.
I think that there is a huge ammount of sterotypes in our society - boys are told to play with trucks and sports while girls are told to wear pink and play with dolls. My role as an educator was to challenge these streotypes and encourage children to be whatever they want to be.
Obviously it comes back to the nature versus nurture debate - Boys and girls are geneticallty born differently but as a parents, teachers and a society we can challenge these sterotypes.
Even as an adult I still faced these sterotypes moving into early childhood teaching which is traditionally seen as a female role (98% of ECE teachers in New Zealand are females!)
Keep up the good work
I have resteemed and followed your page
Hello @conradt :)
Thank you very much for your most insightful and experienced view on this topic. Challenging stereotypes is never an easy thing to do, and it makes me smile to read your comment because I think of the children you teach. Having an educator with your mindset is really going to put those them in an advantaged position in terms of viewing the world and gowning in a fast-changing society!
Thank you for your support!
Best :)
Yes my view has certainly evolved over my time as as ECE teacher (I have been working in ECE for over 2 years). I always challenge children when it comes to gender sterotypes - and I would often do things that werent what males would traditionally do such as wear pink or paint my nails.
I was lucky that I has such a supportive team and environment in my last position I think the world is starting to accept and see the benefits of having a male teacher. I wish I could do more to be an advocate for being a teacher it is such a great job and I feel truly lucky.
Interestingly we have moved to Spain recently for our OE and it is nice to see the gender stereotypes arent so strong here and I think other countries could learn alot.
Somewhat difficult to understand for some people, I noticed that near the house where my father grew up there was a boy who always treated his mother as a girl, he put her dresses for girls, ties, makeup and bought her barbie dolls. and the boy was totally male, what was the problem? the mother wanted a girl and not a boy. Sadly, in the end, the child ended up being gay and transgendered today, not because he wanted to but because his own mother forced it. I really believe in the free development of human beings beyond religious dogmas. Greetings Dr @abigail-dantes
Hi! Thanks for your support, @growingpower just upvoted your comment ;) Hope you have a great day