Gender And Gender Identity Disorder

Gender dysphoria is also commonly referred to as Gender Identity Disorder (GID). The disorder is in reference to the mental state of denying one’s biological sex and maintaining the belief of one’s gender does not align. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) states that to be diagnosed with “gender dysphoria,” it must persist in these individuals for at least six months ("DSM Replaces Gender Identity Disorder With Gender Dysphoria"). The solutions for ‘fixing’ this disorder are taking hormone therapy, doing gender expression therapy, or having reproductive surgery. In the transgender society, most unwillingly will be classified with gender dysphoria in order to receive any treatment to aid in the gender reversal process ("What Is Gender

​​Gender is defined as whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females. Unlike sex, gender is something that we learn from the day we are born. “Young children begin to acquire gender role stereotypes at about the same time they develop gender identity and by the age of 3 or 4 most children” (Amanda Youmans). Peers, community, media, religion and our upbringing all play a role in the understanding of our culture and what is considered acceptable for males and females. When the sex of a child is revealed, they are automatically placed into a gender specific role with certain expectations. There are things in this world such as colors, toys, media depiction and taught behaviors that play into these gender roles.

Perhaps, you are asking yourself this question, what is gender dysphoria? I have the answer. Gender dysphoria is “ the diagnosis typically given to a person whose assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.” However, let’s not confuse this with sexual orientation, this does not mean they are homosexual, this means they do not identify who they are as their given birth

In class, we have learned and discussed how during the period of adolescence, it is known that this is the period of time where individuals are finding themselves and figuring out where they belong. It is during this time where individuals are the most sensitive and personal problems tend to arise more commonly during this stage. A major issue adolescents struggle during this stage is gender identity and sexuality. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are attracted to and how they perceive themselves to be. While the norm is to identify oneself as their biological gender, there are those who develop gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a reoccurring feeling that one’s biological gender is the opposite of one’s sexual identity (Cole,

Gender identity, as defined in Webster’s Dictionary is, “the totality of physical and behavioral traits that are designated by a culture as masculine or feminine” (Webster, 2014). The first words said in the delivery room are often “it’s a boy!” or “it’s a girl!” Intersex children, who fall in between the scientific gender spectrum for male or female, are put through genital mutilation surgery and hormone treatment to abide by one of the two categories. Children who are born with an intersex condition where reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not fit typical females or a typical male’s norms should not have sex assignment surgery performed. This should be decided by the child when they are mature enough to make that decision for themselves. This is morally wrong because the social and cultural need to place intersex individual’s into the category of one sex or the other can have negative impact on their mental and physical health and many of the surgeries done on intersexed infants were done more for the benefit of parents, healthcare practitioners, and society, than for the infant. In the long run, this surgery done at such a young age can cause an unstable quality of life filled with shame and a feeling of exclusion from society along with the possibility of losing sexual functions. I will be mentioning evidence of cases that demonstrate that it’s impossible for intersex individuals who have had sex reassignment surgery that it did not help them identify with the rest

Transgender can be defined as a person whose self-identity does not conform precisely to conventional notions of the male or female gender. This self-identity problem can usually be accompanied by numerous forms of treatment to change ones’ physical appearance, and make it more consistent with their identified gender identity. In many cases, the individual can identify with the gender of the opposite sex to the point one believes that he or she is a member of that gender group trapped in the wrong body. This is also called Gender Dysphoria or formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder. The person with gender dysphoria or GD at times does not know that he or she have an actual disorder but more of a general discomfort with his or her biological sex. This also creates complications in their everyday life, when they are unable to interpret their feelings or rationalize problems they experience in a social setting (Gender Dysphoria, 2014).

Chapter eleven focuses on sexual disorders and gender identity disorders. For this discussion I wanted to talk about gender identity disorder. For ordinary individuals they can describe themselves or identify themselves as either males or females since we are a child. But, there are some individuals who do not experienced this type of clarity. For some individuals it is a sense that their identity is different from the gender category which they were born with or that it is something that lies outside of the usual male versus female categories. These individuals are known as transgender experiences. It is something that we are seeing more and more of in society today. Many of these transgender individuals come to terms with themselves and they find

Prejudice results in discrimination toward individuals based on their group membership, regardless of their personal characteristics. Like members of other stigmatized and marginalized groups, people with a mental illness often experience prejudice resulting in increased lower quality of life. (Koenig and Eagly, 2014). The article studied is titled Gendered Mental Disorders: Masculine and Feminine Stereotypes About Mental Disorders and Their Relation to Stigma by Guy Boysen, Ashley Erbersole, Robert Casner and Nykhala Coston was written for The Journal of Social Psychology and McKendree University. The research founded indicated that stereotypes could intersect, especially when it comes to mental disorders and gender. Three studies were conducted;

Kristen A. Burgess, Emory University School of Medicine and Charles F Gillespie M.D., PhD, department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, state that “gender identity disorder is a mental disorder in which gender identity is incongruent with anatomical sex”. Individuals experience different degrees of unhappiness with their sex at birth, which in turn causes them to pursue the life and body of the opposite sex (2010).

A person who identifies as transgender is one who expresses a gender identity that differs from the one that corresponds with their assigned sex. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or any other gender. Gender expression refers to the way someone communicates their gender identity, whether it’s through the clothing they wear, their hairstyle, or their voice and body characteristics. Although some may not be aware, sex and gender aren’t synonyms. Sex is assigned at birth and refers to a person’s biological status whereas gender is based on socially constructed roles, behaviors and attributes that given societies consider appropriate for men or women. People who fall under the transgender umbrella may identify

Gender can be characterized as the state of being male or female. It is not characterized by what an individual feels they should be considered as. Throughout the movie it is shown that Bree is not comfortable with the gender she was born with. She says “nothing is going to stop me from checking into that hospital next week. I’m not going to be dragged back into Stanley's old life.” She tries so hard to separate herself from the truth of her being a male. It is shown that she wants to receive acceptance from society by listening to voice records on how to have a higher pitched voice, and trying to schedule her vaginoplasty. Social factors contributed to Gender Dysphoria include culture, race,

When someone is subjected to gender roles and they are having problems with their gender identity it can because something called Gender Dysphoria. This is when someone’s gender identity does not connect with the gender roles of their assigned sex. These roles feel virtually unreachable, sometimes they might not even want to fit these roles.

This is a huge shift from the DSM-IV that used the term “gender identity disorder” to diagnosis and treat individuals who felt dissonance between their biological sex and their chosen gender. Due to the fact that it was seen as a disorder, much like homosexuality until 1973, gender identity disorder often gave society the ammunition needed to discriminate against transgender individuals. By labeling transgender individuals with a disorder, it was placing it in the same category as Borderline Personality Disorder or Obsessive Personality Disorders – disorders that could be treated and need a “cure.” The criteria for gender dysphoria makes it clear that the issue isn’t in the inability to conform to gender stereotypes. Instead, a problem occurs when there is great distress of a person’s biological gender and gender identity. In order to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, there are criteria that must first be met. Though not every criteria needs to be met for a diagnosis, it is a good start. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) The symptoms are as

Living a life feeling out of place, with the wrong feelings, and in the wrong body, for a person with Gender Identity Disorder, this is how they feel day to day. According to the DSM-IV-TR, Gender Identity Disorder is characterized by a strong, persistent cross-gender identification, persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in their gender role of that sex. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), children, adolescents and adults who exhibit a preoccupation with getting rid of or losing their primary and secondary sex characteristics, associated with different mannerisms and actions of the opposite sex; while holding a belief that he or she was born the wrong sex are believed to be classified

The construction of a self-identity can be a very complex process that every individual is identity is developed through the lenses of cultural influences and how it is expected to given at birth. Through this given identity we are expected to think, speak, and behave in a certain way that fits the mold of societal norms. This paper aims to explain how gender perform gender roles according these cultural values. I intend to analyze the process in which individuals learned and internalized their respective gender identities, through their cultural background. I will be conducting a set of interviews with the intention to compare my experience as a self-identified male of Mexican descent, to the experience of another male character of Japanese heritage in order to understand how we come to self-identify as masculine in diverged cultures. In this paper, I argue that the construction of gender identities is a direct consequence of societal influential factors such as family values; values that reflect the individual’s culture. This analysis will not only utilize evidence from these identity formations, but also in explaining why and how these self-identities were constructed using both theoretical sources and empirical studies as a framework.