Gender of rearing
Encyclopedia
Gender of rearing is the gender
in which parents rear a child
. This is the gender assigned
to the child by parents and doctors (usually based on the appearance of the external genitalia), and taught to the child. Aspects of rearing include choosing a name
, providing clothes, toys, education, and opportunities which are sex-congruent for their culture. Gender of rearing includes both conscious and unconscious expectations and treatment of the child. Although all cultures rear boys differently from girls, specific differences vary greatly.
Nearly always, gender identity
is congruent with the gender of rearing, but the nature of the relationship remains a subject of controversy. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was thought that gender of rearing was the most important determinant of gender identity. This was based on the observation that many people with apparently comparable intersex
conditions raised either male
or female
developed a gender identity consistent with their sex of rearing regardless of genetic, hormonal, and anatomic characteristics. This view was politically supported by the feminist
ideological view that most psychological sex differences
resulted from cultural differences in the rearing of boys and girls. In the last two decades, academic opinion has downgraded the degree to which gender of rearing is thought to contribute to gender identity and other aspects of psychosexual differentiation, especially in people with intersex conditions, since many intersex people came forward and revealed that their gender assignment had been much less successful than previously reported.
Transgender
refers to the development of a gender identity which is discordant with gender of rearing and often also genital anatomy. If reported biological explanations are confirmed, gender of rearing will seem even less important in the determination of gender identity.
A different, and far rarer, type of discordance occurs if parents raise an anatomically normal boy as if a girl, or vice versa. Other manifestations of psychopathology in the parents are usually apparent; the children have not developed unconflicted gender identities.
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
in which parents rear a child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
. This is the gender assigned
Sex assignment
Sex assignment refers to the assigning of the biological sex at the birth of a baby. In the majority of births, a relative, midwife, or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, sees ordinary male or female genitalia, and declares, "it's a girl" or "it's a boy" without the...
to the child by parents and doctors (usually based on the appearance of the external genitalia), and taught to the child. Aspects of rearing include choosing a name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
, providing clothes, toys, education, and opportunities which are sex-congruent for their culture. Gender of rearing includes both conscious and unconscious expectations and treatment of the child. Although all cultures rear boys differently from girls, specific differences vary greatly.
Nearly always, gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
is congruent with the gender of rearing, but the nature of the relationship remains a subject of controversy. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was thought that gender of rearing was the most important determinant of gender identity. This was based on the observation that many people with apparently comparable intersex
Intersex
Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
conditions raised either male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
or female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...
developed a gender identity consistent with their sex of rearing regardless of genetic, hormonal, and anatomic characteristics. This view was politically supported by the feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
ideological view that most psychological sex differences
Sexual differentiation
Sexual differentiation is the process of development of the differences between males and females from an undifferentiated zygote...
resulted from cultural differences in the rearing of boys and girls. In the last two decades, academic opinion has downgraded the degree to which gender of rearing is thought to contribute to gender identity and other aspects of psychosexual differentiation, especially in people with intersex conditions, since many intersex people came forward and revealed that their gender assignment had been much less successful than previously reported.
Transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
refers to the development of a gender identity which is discordant with gender of rearing and often also genital anatomy. If reported biological explanations are confirmed, gender of rearing will seem even less important in the determination of gender identity.
A different, and far rarer, type of discordance occurs if parents raise an anatomically normal boy as if a girl, or vice versa. Other manifestations of psychopathology in the parents are usually apparent; the children have not developed unconflicted gender identities.
See also
- ambiguous genitalia
- List of transgender-related topics
- David ReimerDavid ReimerDavid Reimer was a Canadian man who was born as a healthy male, but was sexually reassigned and raised as female after his penis was accidentally destroyed during circumcision. Psychologist John Money oversaw the case and reported the reassignment as successful, and as evidence that gender...