1. Title: Gender Dysphoria:
What is Gender Dysphoria? (A01)
Explain psychological and biological explanations for Gender Dysphoria (A01).
Evaluate theses explanations (A02) by using PEEEL paragraphs

2. What is Gender Dysphoria?
Gender Dysphoria is when an individual experiences a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. They feel uncomfortable with the gender to which they have been assigned
It is not the same as transvestism!

3. Signs and symptoms? From DSM IV
Strong and persistent cross gender identification
Desire to live as the opposite sex and have surgery to change body
Clinically significant distress in social, occupational areas of functioning
Must be present for at least 2 years

4. What causes gender dysphoria?
The most widely held view is that it is both biological and social factors that contribute to the development of gender dysphoria.
This is a biosocial explanation

5. Biological explanations
If males are exposed to a lack of testosterone during prenatal development or vice versa

6. Biological explanations
The brain sex theory
Certain structures in males and females brains are different
The BSTc is twice as large in males and has twice as many somatostatin neurons
Size of BSTc correlates with the
Preferred sex not biological sex
BSTc
Zhou et al carried out post mortems of 6 male-to-female transsexuals

7. Support for Biological explanations
Read Kruijiver et als (2000) study and answer the following questions……….
How do you think they measured the number of somatostatin neurons in participants BSTc?
Who had the largest number of somatostatin neurons, male to female or female to male transsexuals?
What did they conclude from their results, e.g does it support biological or social explanation?
Evaluate the study. Please elaborate: TMB…(p 201)

8. Social explanations
Mother-son relationships. Stoller proposed that GD results from overly close mothers-son relationships.
Evidence from interviews with Gender Dysphoria patients

9. Social explanations
Recker links GD in boys to an absence of a father figure either physically or psychologically.
Support
Recker (1986) conducted research on 36 gender disturbed boys.
In the group of most disturbed boys, 75% had no father figure.
In the group of least disturbed boys, 21% had no father figure.
In the cases where there was a father figure, he was often described as psychologically absent

10. Kim’s story… Think back to Kim’s story.
Do you think the biological theories or social theories best explain the case of Kim?
Or do you think the biosocial theory best explains Kim’s gender dysphoria?
Why?

11. PEEEL paragraphs (A02) Task: Write a PEEEL Paragraph for
After your A01, your essay can be made up of PEEEL paragraphs……
Point – “Support for this theory comes from…”
Evidence- “The results showed that….”
Explain- “This supports the theory because…”
Evaluate- “However there are methodological issues with the study…”
Link back- “This matters because…”
Task: Write a PEEEL Paragraph for
Kruijiver et als study
Recker’s study
Find another study in Cardwell!