FRHD 2100 Chapter 5: UNIT 7 CHAPTER 5
1 Jun 2018
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FRHD*2100 (DE) Chapter 5
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Chapter 5: Gender Identity and Gender Roles
Gender Identity and Gender Roles
• Gender
– definition: psychological state of being male or female
• Gender Typing
– definition: process by which children acquire behaviours deemed appropriate for their
sex
Prenatal Sexual Differentiation
• Sexual Differentiation
– Males and females develop distinct reproductive anatomy.
– 23 chromosomes from male parent combine with 23 chromosomes from female
parent.
– 23rd pair is the sex chromosomes.
– The ovum carries an X sex chromosome.
– Sperm can carry an X or Y sex chromosome.
• Zygote
– Definition: a fertilized ovum
• Embryo
– Begins with implantation of a fertilized ovum and concludes with development of the
major organ systems.
• After fertilization, the zygote divides repeatedly.
– During the first six weeks, embryonic structures of both sexes develop along similar
lines.
– At the seventh week, the genetic code (XX or XY) begins to assert itself.
– If a Y chromosome is absent, ovaries begin to differentiate.
• Sex Hormones and Sexual Differentiation
– Androgens
• Male sex hormones.
• Without androgens, we would all develop female external reproductive organs
– Testosterone
• The male sex hormone that fosters the development of male sex
characteristics and is connected with the sex drive.
FRHD*2100 (DE) Chapter 5
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• Descent of the Testes and Ovaries
– By 10 weeks after conception, testes and ovaries have descended.
– Four months after conception, testes descend into the scrotal sac.
– Cryptorchidism
• Definition: condition where at least one of the testes fails to descend
• Sex-Chromosomal Abnormalities
– Klinefelter Syndrome
• Extra X chromosome.
• Affects 1 in 500 males.
• Men fail to develop appropriate secondary sex characteristics.
• Fail to produce sperm.
– Turner Syndrome
• A disorder in which a female has just one X sex chromosome (X rather than
XX).
• Affects 1 in 2500 females.
• May not naturally undergo puberty.
• Often treated with hormones to spur development of secondary sex
characteristics.
– Brain undergoes prenatal sexual differentiation.
• Testosterone causes hypothalamus of male fetus to become insensitive to
estrogen.
• In the absence of testosterone, the hypothalamus of a female fetus becomes
sensitive to estrogen.
• Estrogen is important to regulation of the menstrual cycle.
Gender Identity
• Gender Identity
– Definition: one’s internal and individual sense of being male, female or other
• Assigned Sex
– Definition: classification of anatomic sex assigned to an individual at birth
• Intersex
– Definition: a person who possesses the gonads of one gender and external genitalia
that are ambiguous of the other gender
• Cisgender
– Definition: a gender identity that matches assigned sex
Gender Identity—Nature and Nurture
FRHD*2100 (DE) Chapter 5
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• What determines gender identity?
– Our brains and hormones?
– Learning and the environment?
– Biological and environmental influences?
• Gender identity is usually consistent with chromosomal gender.
– This does not prove that gender is biologically determined.
• Gender Binary
– A social system that defines gender as either strictly male or female.
– Does not accurately reflect the diverse range of gender identities that actually exist.
• Hermaphrodites
– Possess both ovarian and testicular tissue.
– Usually assume gender identity and gender role assigned at birth.
• Intersexual
– Gonads match their chromosomal sex.
– External genitalia, and sometimes internal reproductive anatomy, are ambiguous or
resemble those of other sex.
– Occurs in 1 in 5000 infants.
• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
– Most common form of female intersexualism.
– Genetic female has internal female structures but masculinized external genitals.
– Girls with CAH showed more interest in masculine typed toys, were more likely to
have boys as friends, and to want masculine-typed careers.
• Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome
– Affects genetic males who, as a result of a mutated gene, have experienced lower-
than-normal prenatal sensitivity to androgens.
– External genitals are not normally masculinized.
• Dominican Republic Syndrome
– First documented in a group of 18 affected boys in two rural villages.
– A genetic enzyme disorder that prevents testosterone from masculinizing the external
genitals.
– Boys resembled girls at birth and were reared as females.
– At puberty, secondary sex characteristics developed.
– 17 shifted to a masculine gender identity.
Gender Identity
Document Summary
Definition: psychological state of being male or female. Definition: process by which children acquire behaviours deemed appropriate for their sex: gender, gender typing. Males and females develop distinct reproductive anatomy. 23 chromosomes from male parent combine with 23 chromosomes from female. The ovum carries an x sex chromosome. Sperm can carry an x or y sex chromosome: sexual differentiation parent, zygote, embryo major organ systems, after fertilization, the zygote divides repeatedly. lines, sex hormones and sexual differentiation. Begins with implantation of a fertilized ovum and concludes with development of the. During the first six weeks, embryonic structures of both sexes develop along similar. At the seventh week, the genetic code (xx or xy) begins to assert itself. By 10 weeks after conception, testes and ovaries have descended. Four months after conception, testes descend into the scrotal sac. Definition: one"s internal and individual sense of being male, female or other. Definition: classification of anatomic sex assigned to an individual at birth.
