Gender Identity And Gender Roles Essay

Gender Identity is defined as the psychological awareness or sense of being male or female. Axia College Week Two reading Gender Identity and Gender Roles, (2009). Within the scope of gender identity are various types of anatomic and psychological conditions in which an individual experiences either during development in the womb or after birth. Sex assignment occurs at birth. Sex assignment or gender assignment is when the child’s anatomic sex is revealed at the time of birth. Children as young as 18 months are aware of their gender. At the age of about 36 months, a child may have a sense of gender identity. In most cases, gender identity is consistent with the chromosomal sex meaning that the child acts like a boy or girl based
upon their chromosomal make up. Whether or not gender identity is determined biologically has been argued. The nature versus nurture issue involves the argument that a child can be raised as the opposite sex even if they possess the anatomical make up of the opposite gender. Does biology guarantee the gender identity of a child, or are their other contributing factors? It is hard to say either way. Although rare, hermaphrodites are individuals who possess are born with ovarian and testicular tissues. Axia College Week Two reading Gender Identity and Gender Roles, (2009). True hermaphrodites have both a testicle and an ovary, or gonads that combine both. Because hermaphrodites have both female and male genitalia, at birth they are assigned and raised as the sex whose anatomy is more dominant, i.e. is the penis is more developed than the vagina or vice versa.. More commonly than hermaphrodites are intersexuals which have an occurrence of about 1 in 1,000 babies. Axia College Week Two reading Gender Identity and Gender Roles, (2009). Intersexualism occurs as a result of prenatal hormone errors. Intersexuals’ external genitalia and internal anatomy are ambiguous or they resemble the opposite sex. In contrast to hermaphrodites, intersexuals have either testes or ovaries, not both, and their gonads match their chromosomal sex. Axia College Week Two reading Gender Identity and Gender Roles, (2009). CAH or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is where a female whose genetic make up is XX possess ovaries, but their external genitals, the clitoris is enlarged so much that it resembles a penis.
This developmental disorder is caused by too much of the hormone androgen during developmental stages of a fetus. Girls who possess these qualities were the subject of a 2003 study in which a Swedish investigator studied 26 girls with CAH and 26 girls without who were between the ages of 2 and 10-years-old and found that the girls with CAH showed interest in playing with masculine toys such as trucks rather than dolls or other such girl toys. The parents of the girls with CAH did not influence their daughters’ play behaviors, according to the
study. Another type of intersexualism involves genetic XY males and is called Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome. This occurs as a result of a mutated gene. During the development process, the genitals do not become masculinized and at birth the have a small vagina with testes that are underscended. Axia College Week Two reading Gender Identity and Gender Roles, (2009). During fetal development the testes produced Müllerian inhibiting substance with prevent the development of female internal reproductive organs, but they do not develop male internal sex organs either. Partial androgen insensitivity (PAIS) occurs in girls with a single X chromosome and their external genitals are masculinized and are sometimes raised as males. Complete androgen insensitivity (CAIS) occurs in girls with XY chromosomal structure and develop normal external female genitals, but not internal. Transsexuals are people who desire to possess the anatomical features of the opposite sex and desire to live as a person of the other sex.
These people believe that they are “a man trapped in a woman’s body” or the opposite. These individuals typically will dress like the opposite sex, and in extreme cases will undergo surgery to have what is called “gender reassignment” performed. The process of gender reassignment is more successful in male to female as opposed to female to male. There is also hormone therapy as well as psychotherapy involved in gender reassignment procedures. It is reported that after gender reassignment, males who become females can engage in a pleasurable sexual experience and even attain orgasm, but cannot conceive
children. In my life, the three factors that have helped determine my gender identity are, first, my physical appearance; my internal and external sexual organs are feminine. Second, is the fact that I have been raised as a female. And third is the gender role that I have assumed. I believe that I am very feminine in terms of societal norms. I believe that women have certain roles in life such as domestic duties like cooking and cleaning. I also feel that in contrast to men, I am able to be more open about my feelings because I am a woman.

References
Axia College of University of Phoenix. (2009). Gender Identity and Gender Roles. Retrieved April 14, 2009, from Axia College, Week Two reading, aXcess, PSY265 – Psychology of Human Sexuality Website.