Lauren Hare and Vincent Harvey from the Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research in Australia, have just published some interesting results from a genetic study of transsexuals. (Yes, I know, not transvestites, but bear with me.) The basic result was that they believe they have identified a gene which codes for androgen uptake which may be different in people who are male-to-female transsexuals. Specifically, they suggest this gene reduces the effect of testosterone on the developing brain and leads to 'undermasculinisation' as they put it. That is, males with this gene variant will develop brains which are more like female brains and this is a possible cause of their later gender identity issues.
The work ties in well with recent research that shows the brains of transsexual men and women have brain structures more typical of the opposite sex than of their own apparent sex. It also ties in with finger length studies which also suggest a hormonal influence on development. Generally, although the evidence is still weak, there is increasing support for the view that transsexuality is a natural, if rare, condition caused by hormonal influences in the womb and possibly continuing after birth.
It also ties in very nicely with what I have believed for a long time about transvestitism - that the root cause is the 'feminisation' of particular brain structures in an otherwise 'normal' male brain.
The really excellent thing about all this scientific work on the causes of transsexuality (I'm sure they'll get 'round to transvestitism eventually) is that it seems to be causing a shift in the thinking of the medical profession - away from the bizarre and inadequate psychiatric explanations to do with 'fetishes' (as in the infamous 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' - the psychiatrist's diagnostic bible) and weird Freudian hangover notions like 'a preoedipal failure to complete individuation from the mother'. There are now groups like GIRES (the Gender Identity Research and Education Society) which are helping to promote a much more scientifically justifiable view of gender identity issues.
Spread the word, everyone.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Monday 13 October 2008
Expanded Horizons
Here's a venture that people like me might like to get behind and support. A new Web-based magazine called Expanded Horizons has just launched. It is free, it publishes speculative fiction and it is aimed at people who are not part of mainstream groups. Its tagline is 'Speculative Fiction For The Rest Of Us'. They particulary include, "Increasing the number of authentically portrayed transgender, transsexual, intersex and genderqueer ⁄ fluid people in speculative fiction" as part of their mission statement.
So why not go and have a look and, if you like it, give them your support.
So why not go and have a look and, if you like it, give them your support.
Monday 16 June 2008
New Brain Study Implications For Transvestitism
Yet more evidence that sexual orientation is biologically determined and has little to do with how people are raised comes from MRI and PET studies conducted at the Stockholm Brain Institute (abstract available) . The researchers found that brain shape and size was similar between gay men and straight women and between straight men and gay women. They also found that activity in an area of the brain called the amygdala had the same pattern.
Once more, the evidence suggests that gays are 'born that way' and that sexual orientation is not a 'lifestyle choice'.
What's this got to do with transvestites? Well, nothing really except that it provides further evidence that developments in the womb and early infancy can significantly alter brain structures which have outcomes in terms of sex-related behaviours. That something as significant as sexual orientation can be affected suggests to me that scientists should be looking more closely at how atypical brain development can lead to atypical gender presentation and gender identification preferences - i.e. transvestitism and transsexualism.
I have always argued that men like me, who cross-dress, do so because a part of our brains has been wired up the wrong way so that we feel the need to present ourselves as women. I believe that once we (the transgendered community), the psychological and psychiatric worlds, and the public in general accept this explanation, attitudes to transvestitism will begin to change. If the world (and especially the world of psychiatry) sees us not as 'perverts' or 'fetishists' but as perfectly ordinary people, coping with a small glitch in our brain's wiring, I can only think that we will be treated with more understanding and less contempt.
These studies on the neuroanatomy of gays don't help us directly but at least they establish the principle that such things are an accident of birth not the wilful embracing of a moral corruption.
Once more, the evidence suggests that gays are 'born that way' and that sexual orientation is not a 'lifestyle choice'.
What's this got to do with transvestites? Well, nothing really except that it provides further evidence that developments in the womb and early infancy can significantly alter brain structures which have outcomes in terms of sex-related behaviours. That something as significant as sexual orientation can be affected suggests to me that scientists should be looking more closely at how atypical brain development can lead to atypical gender presentation and gender identification preferences - i.e. transvestitism and transsexualism.
I have always argued that men like me, who cross-dress, do so because a part of our brains has been wired up the wrong way so that we feel the need to present ourselves as women. I believe that once we (the transgendered community), the psychological and psychiatric worlds, and the public in general accept this explanation, attitudes to transvestitism will begin to change. If the world (and especially the world of psychiatry) sees us not as 'perverts' or 'fetishists' but as perfectly ordinary people, coping with a small glitch in our brain's wiring, I can only think that we will be treated with more understanding and less contempt.
These studies on the neuroanatomy of gays don't help us directly but at least they establish the principle that such things are an accident of birth not the wilful embracing of a moral corruption.
Sunday 6 January 2008
Finger Poll Results
Well, let's have a look at the results for the finger length ratio poll (still running in the right-hand margin by the way). After over a hundred responses, it is clear that an unusual pattern is present.
Remember, in the normal population, we would expect men to have longer ring fingers than index fingers. In women, the two fingers should be the same length with the index finger sometimes longer. Population stats are hard to come by (for me, anyway) but I tracked down one report that suggests that 61% of men should have this longer-ring-finger pattern. What emerges from the poll is that only 42% of the male transvestites who responded have the typical male pattern, while 58% have the typical female ratio. This is almost the exact opposite of the usual distribution.
It's a very strong result and in the direction predicted, so I'm feeling quite pleased about it (because it suggests I'm right in thinking that pre-natal hormonal conditions in the womb may be a cause of transvestitism). However, the study is way too loosely-controlled to be anything other than suggestive. For a start, there may have been some bias in the way people took the test or in the way they reported their results. It could be, for example, that people wanting to find a biological cause for their condition unconsciously skewed their measurements, or were more likely to report a 'feminine' finger length ratio. It could also be that not everyone who took the test were transvestites, or even males! I'll just never know.
However, if there are any scientists reading this, I believe you now have a prima facie reason to suspect there are hormonal influences at work here. Do the experiment under controlled conditions and see if it replicates. There must be a PhD in this for someone – or at least a couple of publications.
Meanwhile, I'll leave the poll running – and a huge thank you to everyone who participated!
Remember, in the normal population, we would expect men to have longer ring fingers than index fingers. In women, the two fingers should be the same length with the index finger sometimes longer. Population stats are hard to come by (for me, anyway) but I tracked down one report that suggests that 61% of men should have this longer-ring-finger pattern. What emerges from the poll is that only 42% of the male transvestites who responded have the typical male pattern, while 58% have the typical female ratio. This is almost the exact opposite of the usual distribution.
It's a very strong result and in the direction predicted, so I'm feeling quite pleased about it (because it suggests I'm right in thinking that pre-natal hormonal conditions in the womb may be a cause of transvestitism). However, the study is way too loosely-controlled to be anything other than suggestive. For a start, there may have been some bias in the way people took the test or in the way they reported their results. It could be, for example, that people wanting to find a biological cause for their condition unconsciously skewed their measurements, or were more likely to report a 'feminine' finger length ratio. It could also be that not everyone who took the test were transvestites, or even males! I'll just never know.
However, if there are any scientists reading this, I believe you now have a prima facie reason to suspect there are hormonal influences at work here. Do the experiment under controlled conditions and see if it replicates. There must be a PhD in this for someone – or at least a couple of publications.
Meanwhile, I'll leave the poll running – and a huge thank you to everyone who participated!
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