|Gender Identity|   |Boundaries|   |Transsexual|   |Transgender|   |GID| 

Gender Identity

Definition of gender identity

The term ‘gender’ refers to " ....the social construction of what, in any given culture is taken to be properly masculine or feminine" (Stewart Van Leeuwan et al., 1983:1 )

Money and Ehrhardt who have done much research in the area of gender defined ‘Gender Identity’ in 1972 as "....the sameness, unity and persistence of one’s individuality as male, female or ambivalent in a greater or lesser degree, especially as it is experienced in self awareness and behaviour; gender identity is the private experience of gender role and gender role is the public expression of gender identity." (Annon, 1975:64 )

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Boundaries

Boundaries of Sex and Gender

The distinction between gender roles and sex has recently become blurred in the public debate, and to a degree in the professional literature, with disastrous results for some individuals who are already confused about their sex, sexual orientation, or gender.

A dramatic illustration of this confusion are the terms "gender reassignment surgery" and "Sex reassignment surgery" (SRS). Such surgery does not alter the gender or bioloigical sex of a person.

Gender, as initially defined by early researchers on gender dysphoria and gender identity disorders refers to psychological, behavioural and social elements that are simply not capable of being the object of surgical change or "reassignment". Surgery on the genitals, chest and face simply alters anatomy only. Even then, it cannot medically or biologically be said to deliver genuine anatomical structures of the opposite sex. Nor does it give bona fide sexual functioning.

In terms of reproduction, most forms of such surgery eradicate all possibility of reproduction, and with it major aspects of both normal sexual functioning and widely accepted gender roles. That is, surgery designed to duplicate male anatomy in a previously anatomical female will not produce female sexual functioning or the ability to become pregnant and deliver a child, just as such surgery in a previously anatomical woman will not deliver the capacity for male sexual functioning or the capacity to father a child.

Nor will surgery alter gender role. While permitting some degree of sexual function reminiscent of the opposite sex (at least in operated males), and allowing apparent anatomy to be superficially consonant with the chosen gender role, such surgery does not directly affect social gender roles in any way, nor does it have any but an indirect effect on the individual’s psychological gender self-assignment.

Thus, surgery does not produce change or "reassignment" of anatomical, functional or reproductive sex, nor does it produce change in psychological or social gender role. It simply makes it easier to blend into the chosen social gender. Such surgery is therefore largely cosmetic.

This is by no means the impression that some applicants for such surgery are given, or at least feel that they have received. The term "gender reassignment" is often construed to mean that the surgery will somehow change the individual into a person of the opposite sex at the level of anatomy, sexual functioning or gender. This is misleading, and may harmfully confuse patients. A more accurate description would simply be "cosmetic genital surgery", or if preferred "genital surgery."

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Transsexual

Transsexualism and gender dysphoria

The term "transsexualism" was coined in 1954 by US endocrinologist Harry Benjamin to describe what he saw as a unique, non-psychopathic sexual disorder, perhaps conditioned by endocrine factors, which resulted in the desire to be a member of the opposite sex. Since that time the question as to what is actually meant by the term "transsexual" has been a subject of vigorous debate amongst the professional community involving complex definitional and methodological issues.

In it’s broadest context the term "transsexual" has been used to describe anyone who feels as though they are a member of the opposite sex, who has a desire to be a member of the opposite sex or who seeks to live as a member of the opposite sex{1} or who requests hormonal or surgical transformation of their physical bodies to resemble that of the opposite sex{2}. In this context the term "transsexual" has often been used interchangeably with the term "Gender Dysphoria", which is used to describe anyone who feels a degree of discomfort with their gender.

The problem with a general use of the term "transsexual" in a medical context is that the transsexual condition in most patients is secondary to other identifiable psychological conditions or contributing factors that could resolve in time or through psychotherapy{3}. Sex-change proponents have therefore applied various diagnostic criteria to the term "transsexual"{4} in an unsuccessful attempt to distinguish the "non-transsexual" (those who’s transsexual wish is "secondary" to psychopathology) from the "true-transsexual" (those who’s transsexual wish is thought to be the "primary" illness).

The term "true transsexual" started being used during the 1960s and 1970s to describe individuals whose cross-gender identification was thought to be organic or to have developed irreversibly during the formative years of early childhood. It was believed that such individuals should have cross-gender identifications that were consistently expressed behaviourally in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood and no heterosexual interest (relative to their anatomic sex). Belief in the true transsexual concept eventually dissipated when it was realized that such patients were rarely encountered{5}.

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Transgender

Definition of Transgender

Transgender is not a medical term but rather an informal word which began to be used in the late 1980’s{6} by those who deviate from social gender norms to describe themselves without the unwanted connotation of psychopathology{7}.

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GID

Gender Identity Disorder

In 1994 the diagnosis of Transsexualism was replaced with Gender Identity Disorder, which classifies, by age and sexual preference, those with a strong and persistent cross-gender identification and a persistent discomfort with his or her sex or a sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex{8}.