The Biological Basis of Transgender Identity - The Scientific Evidence
Summary
TLDRDr. Jamie discusses the biological basis of gender, debunking the myth that gender identity is influenced by environment or upbringing. They explain that gender is innate, supported by studies on gender manipulation, twin studies, androgen exposure in utero, and brain anatomy. The video emphasizes that gender identity is a natural part of biological diversity, not a socio-cultural construct or a passive response to anatomy.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Gender identity has a strong biological basis, with evidence refuting the idea that it is determined by environmental factors such as parental or peer influence.
- 🔍 The term 'sex' refers to what is assigned at birth (male, female, intersex), while 'gender' or 'gender identity' describes one's internal perception as a man, woman, something in between, or neither.
- 📚 The concept that gender is a socio-cultural construct is largely unsupported by evidence, though gender roles may be influenced by socio-cultural factors.
- 🧬 Gender is not a passive response to anatomy or sex assigned at birth; it is instead a spectrum influenced by neurophysiological and neuroanatomical development.
- 👶 Studies on gender manipulation, such as the Rainer and Dearheart study on genetic males with cloacal exstrophy, demonstrate that even with significant anatomical and environmental influence, gender identity is biologically rooted and established in utero.
- 👯 Twin studies show high genetic concordance for transgender identity among identical twins (40%), indicating a strong genetic component.
- 💉 Androgen exposure in utero significantly influences gender identity, as seen in cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia and androgen insensitivity syndrome, where hormonal factors play a critical role in gender identity development.
- 🧠 Brain anatomy studies show that trans women have brain structures similar to cis women, suggesting that gender identity is reflected in brain anatomy.
- 📊 The preponderance of scientific evidence supports the conclusion that gender identity is a biological phenomenon rather than a result of environmental or socio-cultural influences.
- 🏫 Teaching children about gender differences is unlikely to influence their gender identity but can reduce stigma, fear, and bullying towards transgender individuals.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed by Dr. Jamie in the video?
-The main topic discussed by Dr. Jamie is the biological basis of gender and the evidence supporting the idea that gender identity is determined by biological factors rather than environmental or socio-cultural influences.
What are the terms 'sex' and 'gender identity' as defined by Dr. Jamie?
-According to Dr. Jamie, 'sex' or 'natal sex' is assigned at birth and includes terms like male, female, and intersex. 'Gender identity' describes a person's innermost perception of being a man, woman, something in between, or neither, and is not always visible to others but is enduring.
What does Dr. Jamie refute regarding the influence of environment on gender identity?
-Dr. Jamie refutes the idea that gender identity is determined by the environment, such as parental influence or peer influence, stating that the actual evidence shows this belief to be misguided.
What are the four groups of studies that support the biological basis of gender according to Dr. Jamie?
-The four groups of studies supporting the biological basis of gender are gender manipulation studies, twin studies, studies of Androgen exposure in utero, and brain anatomy studies.
Can you summarize the findings of the gender manipulation study by Rainer and Gearhart in 2004?
-The study by Rainer and Gearhart involved 16 genetic male infants with cloacal exstrophy who were surgically modified to have female genitalia and raised as females. The study found that all of them, when they grew older and knew their medical history, identified as male, suggesting that gender identity is not a passive response to sex assigned at birth or genitalia.
What does the term 'concordance' refer to in the context of twin studies?
-In the context of twin studies, 'concordance' refers to the degree to which both twins in a pair share the same trait or condition, such as gender identity. High concordance in identical twins indicates a strong genetic component.
How does Androgen exposure in utero influence gender identity according to the studies mentioned by Dr. Jamie?
-According to the studies, Androgen exposure in utero can have a strong influence on gender identity later in life. For example, genetic females exposed to high levels of Androgens were more likely to identify as male, while genetic males with Androgen insensitivity syndrome, despite having male chromosomes, identify as female.
What did the brain anatomy study by Zhou et al. in 1995 reveal about the brains of trans women?
-The brain anatomy study revealed that the brains of trans women are anatomically similar to those of cisgender women, suggesting a biological basis for gender identity that aligns with their experienced gender rather than their assigned sex at birth.
What is the conclusion Dr. Jamie draws from the scientific evidence presented?
-Dr. Jamie concludes that there is a significant amount of scientific evidence supporting the idea that gender identity is a product of biological factors and not influenced by environmental or socio-cultural factors or a passive response to sex assigned at birth.
What does Dr. Jamie suggest about the impact of teaching children about gender differences on their gender identity?
-Dr. Jamie suggests that teaching children about gender differences would have no influence on their gender identity, and instead, educating children about gender may lead to less stigma, fear, bullying, hate, and bigotry towards transgender individuals.
What is the stance of Dr. Jamie on the concept of 'rapid onset gender dysphoria'?
-Dr. Jamie dismisses the concept of 'rapid onset gender dysphoria' as 'Malarkey,' implying that the idea that children can be influenced by their peers to become transgender is unfounded and not supported by scientific evidence.
Outlines
🧬 Biological Basis of Gender Identity
Dr. Jamie introduces the topic of the biological basis of gender, addressing the misconception that gender is determined by environmental factors such as upbringing or parental influence. They clarify that gender has a strong biological basis supported by scientific evidence and refute the idea that gender is a socio-cultural construct or a passive response to one's anatomy. The video aims to define terms like 'sex' and 'gender identity' and promises to share studies that support the biological model of gender, which includes gender manipulation studies, twin studies, androgen exposure in utero, and brain anatomy studies.
👥 Studies on Biological Determinants of Gender Identity
This section delves into various studies that demonstrate the biological underpinnings of gender identity. It begins with gender manipulation studies, such as the one by Rainer and Gearhart in 2004, which involved genetic males with cloacal exstrophy who were surgically altered and raised as females but later identified as male, suggesting that gender identity is not a passive response to assigned sex or genitalia. Twin studies are then discussed, highlighting the high concordance rate of transgender identity among identical twins compared to fraternal twins, indicating a genetic component. The influence of androgen exposure in utero on gender identity is also examined, with examples of conditions like virilizing congenital adrenal hyperplasia and androgen insensitivity syndrome, showing that hormonal exposure can significantly impact gender identity development.
🧠 Brain Anatomy and Gender Identity
The final paragraph focuses on brain anatomy studies related to gender identity, specifically the research by Zhou et al. in 1995, which found similarities in brain patterns between trans women and cisgender women, suggesting that the brains of trans women are anatomically more aligned with their gender identity than their assigned sex at birth. The summary concludes by reinforcing the scientific consensus that gender identity is shaped by biological factors rather than environmental or socio-cultural influences. It also emphasizes that educating children about gender differences does not affect their gender identity but can reduce stigma and discrimination towards transgender individuals.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gender
💡Biological Basis
💡Gender Identity
💡Sex
💡Intersex
💡Androgen Exposure
💡Twin Studies
💡Gender Manipulation Studies
💡Brain Anatomy Studies
💡Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome
💡Gender Binary
💡Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria
Highlights
The biological basis of gender is a strong determinant, contrary to the belief that environment or parental influence can change gender identity.
Gender identity is not a passive response to one's anatomy but is likely established in utero.
Gender is a natural spectrum of biological diversity, not merely a socio-cultural construct.
Four main groups of studies support the biological basis of gender: gender manipulation studies, twin studies, androgen exposure studies, and brain anatomy studies.
Gender manipulation studies show that gender identity is not influenced by sex assigned at birth or parental rearing.
Twin studies reveal a high genetic concordance in transgender identity among identical twins.
Androgen exposure in utero influences gender identity, with higher rates of male identification in genetically female babies exposed to high levels of androgens.
Androgen insensitivity syndrome cases show that lack of androgen exposure leads to female identification, despite male genetics.
Brain anatomy studies indicate that the brains of trans women are similar to those of cisgender women.
Teaching children about gender differences does not influence their gender identity.
Educating children about gender can reduce stigma and improve acceptance of transgender individuals.
The concept of rapid onset gender dysphoria, suggesting peer influence, is refuted by scientific evidence.
Gender binary is a socio-cultural construct, not a biological one.
The study by Rainer and Gearhart in 2004 highlights the failure of gender assignment based on physical alteration and upbringing.
Halens et al.'s twin study emphasizes the genetic component in transgender identity.
Zhou et al.'s 1995 study on brain sex differences in relation to transsexuality provides evidence for biological underpinnings of gender identity.
The conclusion emphasizes the preponderance of scientific evidence supporting the biological factors of gender identity.
Transcripts
hey it's Dr Jamie I used AC pronouns
welcome back to the channel
so today I thought we would talk about
the biological basis of gender
why talk about this topic
many people still believe that gender
sexual orientation and other traits are
determined by the environment
for example that pure influence or
parental influence can somehow change
whether a child identifies as gay
straight trans not trans
the actual evidence shows that this is
very misguided
in reality gender has a very strong
biological basis and there's a lot of
evidence to support this and that's what
I will share today
okay
so I think we should start by just
defining a few terms
so the term sex or natal sex is what is
assigned at Birth
terms that fall under sex include male
female intersex
gender or gender identity describes
one's innermost perception as a man a
woman
something in between or neither
it is not always visible to others but
is enduring
our evolution in our understanding of
gender has changed dramatically over
time
long ago we thought that there was an
environmental influence that somehow a
rental rearing peer influences could
impact gender but in reality there's not
a lot of evidence to support that
there's actually evidence to refute it
many have said that gender is a
socio-cultural construct
there's actually very little evidence to
support this too although one could say
that gender roles and how one performs
gender could be defined within a
socio-cultural construct
others have proposed that gender is
simply a passive response to one's
Anatomy so if you look down and you see
male genitalia you identify as a man
that's also not the case and there's
evidence against this that I will share
then there is the biological model of
gender which really sees gender as a
natural spectrum of biological
exuberance and diversity and is a result
of neurophysiological and neural
anatomical development
and I will now share with you some of
the studies that support that
there are sort of four groups of studies
when you look at the biological basis of
gender those are gender manipulation
studies twin studies
studies of Androgen exposure in utero
and brain anatomy studies
so let's look at the gender manipulation
studies cases
so in this study by Rainer and Dear
Heart in 2004 called and now this name
is kind of difficult so just bear with
me discordant sexual identity and some
genetic males with cloacal estrophy
assigned female at Birth okay so what is
this study about
so there were 16 infants who were
genetic males XY chromosomes who had a
malformation of their gut and genitalia
all of these babies were surgically
modified to have female genitalia at
Birth and were reared as women
the idea was at the time that if you
raise these babies as women
and you give them female genitalia they
will identify as women
and they didn't
okay so all they were raised by women
eight declared unwavering male identity
four identified as male spontaneously at
ages 799 and 12. although two of their
parents persists persistently rejected
these declarations
four others identified as male after
their parents revealed their birth
history at ages five seven seven and
eighteen two subjects were weird as male
and identified themselves as male and
interestingly at the end of this study
all of the babies who knew their medical
history identified as male
so the conclusion from this study is
that gender is not a passive response to
sex assigned at Birth or genitalia and
or a product of Parental wearing gender
is biological and likely established in
utero again these kids were
altered physically at Birth were reared
as female and all of them who knew their
history when they got older identified
as male
which shows you that is the most
strongest amount of
like anatomical manipulation and
environmental influence and even then
these kids had a strong sense of gender
identity
Wild
okay twin studies so in this study by
halens at all titled gender identity
disorder and twins a review of the case
report literature
they looked at fraternal and identical
twins so fraternal
share like they don't share
like genetic material like
they both are in like uh separate eggs
or OVA
and then identical twins are in the same
age or OVA and have almost all the same
genetic material and so what they were
looking at in this study is that okay if
a fraternal twin identifies as trans how
often does the other twin identify as
trans versus identical twins okay
so when the fraternal twins got older if
one identified as trans none of the
other twins identified as trans okay
now with the identical twins if one
identified as trans
40 of the other twins identified as
trans now this is what we call High
concordance High genetic concordance
which whenever you see numbers like 40
that's really big which again implies
that there is a strong genetic component
to transgender identity which I think is
pretty cool
all right so what about hormone exposure
neutral and how that influences gender
identity there have been a few really
interesting studies done case studies on
individual and also larger studies so
these kind of come in I'll say two
groups so the first were some cases
looking at virulizing congenital adrenal
hyperplasia so these are
babies who are assigned female at Birth
they have
XX chromosomes they're genetic females
and they were exposed to like high level
Androgen so think testosterone in utero
five percent of those babies who are
exposed that high level of testosterone
identified as male later on
as they developed okay now compare that
to the general population where only
about one half to one percent of genetic
females later identify as male what this
shows is that at Androgen exposure in
utero seems to have a strong influence
biologically on gender identity later in
life
here's another example
so there are these um babies so this
condition is called Androgen
insensitivity syndrome so these are
genetic males X y's who have an
insensitivity to testosterone so meaning
even if testosterone is around their
bodies can't identify that signal so
because of that even though they're
genetic males they never develop male
genitalia when they're born they look
like little girls and they're usually
raised as little girls although they
don't have ovaries and you know a uterus
or any of that they but they do have a
vagina
in all cases these
I'm gonna say little girls who grow up
and later find out that they have
Androgen and Sensitivity Syndrome none
of them ever identify as male that all
identify as female
which shows that exposure to androgens
or the or the lack of exposure to
androgens seems to have a strong
influence or at least some influence on
gender identity later on
what about brain anatomy studies so this
is a really interesting study by Zao at
all done in 1995 and it's titled a sex
difference in the human brain and its
relations to transsexuality so this
group was actually studying
homosexuals or gays and uh they were
trying to see if there was a difference
between heterosexual men and homosexual
men
but what they actually found were
differences in
trans women and
uh CIS men
okay so when you look at the brain and
I'm going to like turn this over this
side so here's a heterosexual male over
here notice that the staining pattern is
very similar to the homosexual male so
almost no difference
but interesting what they found is that
so this is a CIS female
so someone who is assigned female birth
and identifies as a woman and a trans
female which actually I should say trans
woman so this is CIS woman and trans
women but um when you look at these you
do see that they look the same okay so
what that implies here is that
anatomically the brains of trans women
are similar to CIS women and that's
pretty cool
okay so what are the conclusions so
there's a preponderance of scientific
evidence that shows that gender identity
is a product of biological factors and
not a result of environmental or
socio-cultural influences nor is it a
passive response to sex a sign at Birth
the gender binary is a socio-cultural
construct not gender and gender identity
okay based on the biological nation of
gender there is no reason to believe
that teaching children about gender
differences would have any influence on
their gender identity let me say that
again
teaching children about gender
differences would have no influence on
their gender identity
educating children about gender may lead
to less stigma
fear
bullying hate and bigotry directed
towards transgender
children adolescents and adults
okay I hope that was helpful it's
um I think it's really important to
understand the basis of the scientific
evidence with all of these crazy ideas
out there like rapid onset gender
dysphoria which is the sort of idea that
kids are influenced by their peers and
they become trans it's all Malarkey all
right hopefully this was helpful I
enjoyed sharing it with you if you have
any questions please put them in the
comments below I appreciate you all
checking in and I look forward to seeing
you on the next video
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