PSY 267 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Gender Dysphoria, Gender Binary, Cross-Dressing
14 Dec 2016
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Lecture: Diversity within Gender
Terminology
• Sex – biological, physiological traits distinguishing males from females
o Biological influence
• Gender – psychological, social traits distinguishing males from females
o Social influence
o A social construction of what is feminine and masculine
o Tends to be somewhat prescriptive (how males/females ought to be)
o Varies across societies, cultures, generations, time, etc.
o A person’s non-physiological self (how they choose to represent themselves)
• Both sex and gender are continuums, not isolated binaries
• Sexual Orientation – sexual preferences of a person for an intimate partner
o Same sex preference – homosexual
o Opposite sex preference – heterosexual
o Both sex preference – bisexual
o Preference for person regardless of gender – pansexual
• Gender Identity – an individual’s experience of him/herself as masculine or
feminine
o Many people think it is in line with sex
▪ When gender ID = your sex, you are cisgender (see image)
o That is not always the case
o Calling it normal labels other combos ‘abnormal’
o Only in the Western world, there is the binary that is thought to be
‘natural’
▪ Muxe – Mexico
▪ Hijra – India
▪ Amazonian tribe with 4 basic genders
Transgender Individuals
• Having a gender identity that differs from one’s sex assigned at birth
• Historically considered ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ in the DSM – reflects societal ideas
• Has since been replaced with ‘gender dysphoria’ as it has depathologized in DSM IV
o The clinical distress a person experiences about a conflict between their sex
assigned at birth and their gender identity
o But being transgender is not a disorder
o Not experienced by everyone!
o Those in favor for this diagnosis do it for insurance purposes
• Transitioning
o A change in the gender role to affirm gender identity
o Includes a wide range of options (hormones, clothes, reassignment surgery)
o Can be part-time or only in select locations
• Gender non-conformity transgender
• Transgender people have the same range of sexual orientations as non-transgender people
o Usually label their sexual orientation using their chosen gender as a reference
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