DSM-IV Classification of Gender Nonconforming Children The DSM-IV lists the following diagnostic criteria for the currently listed diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder or GID (PsychNet-UK, n.d.): I. A strong persistent cross-gender identification (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex). In children, the disturbance is manifested by four...
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Introduction The first question any expectant parent is asked is, is it a boy or a girl. This question speaks to the socially accepted binary gender system deeply ingrained into American culture, which goes unquestioned by a majority of those living within its borders. And yet, recent studies have found that the prevalence of...
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For part one of this column, please click here. The Possibilities of a Fluid Gender System By redefining gender as fluid, it undermines the legitimization of bias and breaks down the ability to attribute traits or roles to a specific gender grouping. In doing so, a new method of thinking begins to take shape....
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Introduction This last century has seen an explosion of possibilities in the ranges of acceptable gender expressions in western society, and the list of what is acceptable becomes ever longer as people are exposed to an ever-increasing selection of ideas and experiences. The movement from agrarian to industrial economies, the shift towards urban living,...
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Stereotyping is the mental categorization of individuals in order to affect greater social control. In Gender Stereotypes: Reproduction and Challenge, Mary Talbot suggests, “Like caricatures, they focus on certain characteristics, real or imagined, and exaggerate them” (468). Although simplicity is the goal of stereotyping, the nature of stereotyping is anything but simple—a complex relationship...
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