Transgender, Culture, and Gender Identity Dis

16 December 2007

Sexual Identity and the Biology of Gender

Society has always been limiting of people 's individuality . Magazines newss , television and virtually the whole of mass media has always made it a point to label and pigeonhole individuals into corresponding generalizations and stereotypes . Not surprisingly , these labels and categorizations do not apply to the entirety of a population , or able to encompass every aspect and characteristic of one individual . People who deviate or do not fit into the respective molds which society creates for them are deemed aberrant , subversive

, or to put it in the context of gender identification : queer

The concept of what a male and female is and should be has made itself generally clear and known to us since the beginning of time . From science to religion , our education of what consitutes male and female are drawn distinctly in black and white . God created man in the form of Adam , and woman in the form of Eve . Individuals who possess XY chromosomes , have higher testosterone levels and are designated their corresponding reproductive organ , namely , the penis , are referred to as male while individuals with XX chromosomes who possess higher estrogen levels and a reproductive organ otherwise known as a vagina are considered female . These distinctions , however brief and blunt constitutes our general knowledge of what male and female are , and correspondingly sets the base principles and ideologies of how we define and regard the limited instance of both gender

Psychiatrist and sexologist Dr . John Money on the other hand , believes that the terms 'male ' and 'female ' which refer to an individual 's genetic make up , is in fact , different from that of 'man ' and 'woman which on the other hand , refers to the role , characteristics and function expected from an individual born into a particular genetic make up

Money argued his well-known theory that gender is dependent on many variables rather than on one overriding marker , such as , for instance the chromosomes , and that postnatal variables are as important as those prenatal factors that enact the chain of events of a person 's sexual differentiation (Ehrhardt , 2007

The psychiatrist brought light and familiarity to concepts of gender identity and gender role , pronouncing that such concepts are free from if not independent of the biological determinism of sex . The prospect by which one person identifies as either man or woman does not rely solely or heavily on that particular person 's biological and genetic make-up but is influenced and determined by numerous factors or variables occuring after birth

Unfortunately , society largely dictates the aforementioned functions and roles of each sex and is mostly responsible for the type of traits and characteristics assigned to both gender 'Masculinity ' and qualities of strength , aggressiveness , practicality and dominance are expected of men , while women are presumed delicate , prepossessing submissive , sentimental and generally 'feminine ' Men , the supposed superior gender , are to dominate over women , and are obligated to provide for their family 's financial needs . Women , in turn , are supposed to...