5.3: Scientific and Societal Understanding of Gender Variations

Hormones that masculinize the brain in chromosomally male (XY) individuals are distinct from those that lead to the development of a typically male body form. "Due to this branching of control factors for brain and body organization, it is quite possible for a male-type body to contain a female-type brain, and for a female-type body to contain a male-type brain" (Panksepp, 2004, page 225). These developmental deviations could influence an individual's ultimate sexual orientation and/or gender identity. An example of differing brain and body organization comes from a study that found that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (an area known to be important for sexual behavior located near the hypothalamus) was "female-like" in size (smaller than cisgender males and similar to cisgender females) in the brains of six male-to-female transsexuals. This difference was not correlated with either adult hormone levels or sexual orientation (Zhou et al., 1995). Given that studies requiring post-mortem brain tissue to examine tiny brain areas are very difficult to conduct, this type of information is scarce.

While studies of postmortem brains may help answer some questions surrounding gender identity, gender is ultimately a social construct, and those norms we learn to live by are shaped through our internalization of society. As society shifts, norms change. An understanding of gender identity continues to evolve, and young people today have more opportunities to explore and openly express different ideas about what gender means than in previous generations. Recent studies indicate that a majority of millennials (birth years 1981-1996) regard gender as a spectrum, instead of a strict male/female binary, and that 12% identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. Additionally, more people know others who use gender-neutral pronouns, such as they/them (Kennedy, 2017). This change in language may indicate that millennials and Generation Z people (birth years 1997-2012) understand the experience of gender itself differently. This re-labeling and acknowledgement of gender as beyond the binary highlights how humans create and recreate reality rather than it being absolutely fixed. Just as gender can be viewed as a spectrum based on current knowledge and social agreements, we imagine there will be further shifts and understandings as culture changes. As young people lead this change, other changes are emerging in a range of spheres, from public bathroom policies to retail organizations. For example, some retailers are starting to change traditional gender-based marketing of products, such as removing pink and blue clothing and toy aisles. Despite these changes, those who exist outside of traditional gender norms face difficult challenges. Even people who vary slightly from traditional norms can be the target of discrimination and sometimes even violence.