Preview

Psy 265 Gender Identity Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
721 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Psy 265 Gender Identity Paper
Gender Identity

PSY/265

06/24/2012

University Of Phoenix

Usually when a person is said to be male or female, it is based on their sex assigned to them at birth, specific natal characteristics are used to define a person a boy or a girl. These biological features are not the only determining factor regarding gender identity. An individual’s psyche also has a significant role.

Most of the time gender identity is constructed upon the actual chromosomal sex of a person (Nevid, Rathus & Fichner-Rathus, 2005). The variance between assigned gender and gender identity lies inside the psychological dominion. While one may be considered male when born, psychologically he may not relate to being a male at all. Femininity may be something that is much more comfortable than masculinity. This is a situation where the assigned gender is male, but the person identifies themselves more as female.
…show more content…
There are numerous influences that contribute to one’s gender identity. The way in which a person is raised, or nurture that one receives as a child can aid in the formation of gender identity. Parents typically vision their offspring as male or female, and as the boy or girl ages they tend to assume one or the other; masculine or feminine traits. Another possible important factor in the determination of gender identity is culture and the society in which one is a part of. Some may formulate their gender identity according to social norms and how they appear to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    There are many factors that can determine gender identity. There is continuous research comparing the affect of both biology and environment on gender identity. Gender identity is almost always chromosomal sex although that isn't enough to rule out the affect of environment. Intersexuals are rare individuals who posses the typical external genitalia while possessing ambiguous sexual organs of the other sex. There are also hermaphrodites who possess both testicular and ovarian tissue. These two factors that determine gender identity are caused by hormonal factors in prenatal development. Hermaphrodites usually assume the gender identity of the sex assignment at birth. A sex assignment is the process of determining the sex of a child at birth. Intersexualism has given scientists a chance to compare environment and biology. Intersexualism means a person possesses a whole, either male or female reproductive organs. They also possess internal or external tissue of the other sex.…

    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Gender Identity

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gender identity is an individual's personal, the sense of being male or female. Gender identity starts to begin in most children by the age of 3. Although most societies define gender as male and female, many cultures may define gender as neither male or female. Sex refers to biological differences between male and female. The same sex hormone occur in both male and female, but differ in amounts and in the effects that they have upon different parts of the body for example, chromosomes (female XX, male XY), hormones (oestrogen, testosterone). According to the social cognitive theory of gender, children's gender development occurs through being rewarded and punished for gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate behaviors. From birth male and…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This article tells the story of a man who goes through a long journey of finding himself. John was born male, and then through complications was told he was a female and now he indentifies himself as a male. I cannot comprehend how traumatic these gender and sex changes were on his life. In this one situation it shows how John, who was always told he was a girl, still behaved a like a male because in reality at birth he was. This example makes me think that society plays a part in deciding your gender and who you are. However, John was pushed to behave like a girl. He never did, he wanted to play with the stereotypical “boy” toys like trucks. Is it possible that your biological sex can determine your gender?…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The stereotypical labeling of genders can determine one person’s outlook on life. The judgment can make one feel like there is a set rubric to follow in order to remain in the lines regarding which gender they belong to. Such influences from peers or partners can alter ones thoughts on what is supposed to be versus what the person truly desires or feels. Influences such as these are also capable of making one feel inferior and certain personal characteristics may make one feel automatically categorized as male or female.…

    • 3008 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender identity literature offers many variations on the same theme when defining the term “Gender Identity”. Hird argues that "‘sex’ referred to biological differences between women and men, whereas ‘gender’ signified the practices of femininity or masculinity in social relations" (Hird, 2000, p. 348). Due to the nature of gender identity and the…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender starts in the womb as one develops. While the anatomy is most times simple to ell whom is female and male the mental area is different. “Gender is the psychological sense of being female or being male and the rules society ascribes to gender,” (Rathus, 2011). Gender identity is one’s own sense of their gender.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    iii. Gender identity—the degree to which an individual sees herself or himself as feminine or masculine based on society’s definitions of appropriate gender roles…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is gender identity? Gender identity is the inner sense of one’s own gender, the gender that the person feels they are, even if it doesn’t match the biological gender they carry. (The Human Rights Campaign) Some with a different gender identity than their biological gender, go under the ‘umbrella’ term of transgender. (The Human Rights Campaign) Many others in the world believe that gender…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, gender identity, sex, and gender, are all different from each other in several ways. However, they impact the daily lives of others by performance, attitude, socializing, looks, and the way a person feels. All in all, a person may have certain biological characters, but that does not mean that have to fulfill that…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender identity is formed from various areas a child’s life. From birth a child is nurtured by their mother and predominately female nurses, (STATS REF HERE) this could form the start of a child building gender equity, showing females in nurturing and loving roles. In other stages of a child’s life they see men in construction roles and females in nurturing roles, while this stereotype is shifting, (Stat ref here) by the time a child reaches primary school their stereotypes are already formed, boys wear blue…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gender Identity Paper

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When a baby is born usually the first statement out of the doctor’s mouth is “it is a boy” or “it is a girl”. Society has traditionally believed one is born either male or female. If one is born male he is expected to be masculine, be attracted to women, and to pursue hobbies and behaviors considered to be manly. If one is born female she is expected to be feminine, to be attracted to men, and to pursue hobbies and behaviors considered to be feminine. Occasionally an individual may be born with nonconforming gender identity. What this means is an individual may be born with male or female genitalia but actually have interest and behaviors of the opposite sex. For individuals with this conflicting belief life may be extremely painful. Society deems one either male or female and has developed certain schemas for each gender. However one’s emotional gender identity may be contrary to what society has deemed the individual.…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human beings are born sexual. They develop a strong sense of being male and female, the human behaviour of being a man or a woman is called gender identity. The characteristics of being a man or a woman involve biological, psychological, and sociological factors.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In physiological side, the sex identity is regarding the appearance of the external sex organs at the birth of an infant. Hence, the sex identity of boy or girl is usually straight forward related to biological.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Adolescent Sexuality

    • 3677 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Gender identity — Gender identity relates to how you feel inside, and whether you "feel" like a boy or a girl. Most people have a combination of feelings, including some that are thought of as "male" or "masculine" and some that are thought of as "female" or "feminine". In most cases, someone feels mostly like a boy or mostly like a girl.…

    • 3677 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even twins have their own way of doing things and thinking differently from the other. Now, your gender is basically society’s way of putting things. Your gender is whether or not you are a boy or a girl, male or female, man or woman. Whichever one you may be, that is considered to be your gender. You gender identity is how we feel about ourselves and our gender. It is also about how we express our gender and our gender roles. Ways that we can express our gender identity is by our clothing, personal appearance, and also by the way that we behave ourselves. Others factors that can determine gender identity are biological factors like having a penis or a vagina. Social and environmental factors can also determine gender identity because if you are taught about your gender by your parents or even teachers like the traits a girl or a boy should have, then they will grow up to know their gender. Also, if you hang around people that is the same gender as you, they may help as…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays