Gender Dysphoria

The last part of our gender topic is gender dysphoria. Since your textbook was published the specification has changed slightly - androgyny (having both masculine and feminine psychological characteristics) is no longer in the spec and you won't be asked about it. Dysphoria has moved into the biosocial section (along with the biological and evolutionary explanations) and exam questions on it will be somewhat different to those in past years. The focus will be more on how combinations of biological and social (nature and nurture) factors can lead to people having a gender identity at odds with their physical sex.

There are some useful online resources relating to dysphoria - have a look at what the NHS has to say about the condition (the videos are well worth watching):
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Introduction.aspx
and about the possible causes:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Causes.aspx
What do you think of the second comment on this page?

Have a read in your book too and make some notes on the following:

• How can a combination of biological (genes and hormones) and social (reinforcement and modelling) factors be used to explain gender dysphoria?
• Can you relate Money and Ehrhardt's biosocial theory to dysphoria?
• It is possible for either biological or social theories to explain dysphoria without the other?
• Could Gender Schema theory play a role?

Bring your notes and thoughts to Friday's lesson.