The Psychology of Gender Differences

(I learned everything contained in this article from Dr. Nancy Kenney, a professor at the University of Washington, during my undergraduate study in Women's Studies in 1990-1993. I highly recommend anyone who gets a chance to take Nancy Kenney's "Psychology of Gender Differences" class, as she offers a wealth of information. Her "Psychobiology of Women I and II" classes are phenomenal, as well. The University of Washington Women's Studies Dept. offers some amazing classes on gender issues. I learned a ton there.)

The gender of babies is being determined while the babies are still inside the womb nowadays, due to technology. Parents decide what color clothing, toys, and furniture to buy, for instance, based on sex determination by doctors, pre-birth. And studies consistently show that male and female babies are handled differently. In hospital delivery rooms, for instance, baby girls are handled more gently and talked to more softly, while male babies are usually handled with more swift motions, and with more tension. So how and why is gender determined? And how are sex and gender different? Humans have four independent stages of development that determine sex. At each of these four junctures, development can go several ways, including male or female. The first stage involving chromosomes can come up with combinations besides XX for women and XY for males, such as XXY, XO, and XYY. (There is no YO combination as the Y chromosome by itself cannot sustain life). The second stage where development can go several directions is in the development of ovaries or testes. A pseudo-hermaphrodite, for example, can have male external genitalia, while having female reproductive organs internally. The third stage is the development of internal genitalia, including the vas deferens for men, and the uterus and vagina for women. And the last phase of biological sexual differentiation is the development of external genitals. Development can go any direction at any of these four stages. And it is still unclear how one's sexual development influences one's gender, if it does at all.

The controversy over chromosome testing for athletes has highlighted some of these problems. A woman who does not have the XX chromosome pattern, for instance, and instead has the "Barr Body," which is an XO combination, may be determined male. Likewise, men who do not fit the typical XY pattern, may be determined to be female. An XXY chromosome pattern is called the "Klinefelto's Syndrome." This chromosome combination typically has normal external male genitalia, but has other traits, such as a high risk for mental retardation and very long arms and legs. Ten to twenty cases of this occur within 10,000 male births. The "Turner's Syndrome" is an XO combination, where female external genitals are present, but there are ovary and infertility problems typically. One out of every 10,000 female births show this pattern. Then there is the "Supermale" combination, of XYY. This occurs in 9 out of 10,000 male births. The "Supermale" has reduced fertility, has a low frustration threshold, and typically likes sports. One in 400 boys have chromosome abnormalities, and 1 in 700 girls have chromosome abnormalities.

The second stage of sexual development involves the differentiation of reproductive organs. We are born with non-differentiated sexual organs, but as the fetus develops, chromosomes determine whether these organs develop into testes for men or ovaries for women. To make testes, a Y chromosome must be present. For ovaries, there must be at least two X chromosomes present, and there must be no functioning Y chromosome present. When one of these two scenarios is not met, fertility problems usually occur. True hermaphrodites, which are very rare, have both the XX and the XY combinations present, thus *both* male and female parts are developed simultaneously.

The third step in sexual differentiation involves internal genitalia. For males, this includes the seminiferous tubules, epididymis and vas deferens, which transport sperm and semen. For women, this includes the vagina, fallopian tubes and uterus. For the development to go in the male direction, several factors must be met, including the presence of androgen, and a Mullerian-inhibiting factor. For female development at this stage, no androgens must be present, and there must be no Mullerian-inhibiting factor present.

The fourth step in sexual differentiation occurs with the development of external genitalia. For the development of a penis, urethra and scrotal sac, androgens must be produced and responded to. For the development of the clitoris, the labia majora, labia minora and urethra, there must be no androgens present. People with XY chromosome combinations, who are androgen insensitive, end up with more female than male genitalia externally and internally, and are most often pronounced girls at birth. They develop like girls into teens, but will not menstruate due to the lack of ovaries.

The issue of androgen is interesting as it has been linked to "maleness." But the limited studies on girls who are exposed to androgen in the womb have a wide range of results. These girls did behave more like "tomboys" than other girls, they were more active than other girls, but we do not know if they were as active as "normal" boys. These girls play rougher, with more running, chasing, wrestling, etc. than other girls. These girls also preferred boys as playmates. In one study, as many as 70% of the androgen-exposed girls preferred playing with boys, when only 3% of non-androgen-exposed girls preferred playing with boys. These girls prefer practical "boy-type" clothing, more than ornamental "girly" clothing. They are not attracted to male toys, however, as much as the "normal" male. And other than the rough play, these girls had no higher level of aggression than "normal girls," including incidents of physical or verbal abuse.

One study on aggression in boys and girls found two New Guinea cultures that stood out. The Arapesh tribe is aggression free, thus there was no sex difference in aggression there (i.e. the men are not aggressive and are nurturing). And the Mundugumor tribe is a violent culture, everyone is aggressive there, even mothers toward their children (http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_058400_meadmargaret.htm). In that culture as well, there also was no difference in male and female behavior with regards to aggression. Women were as violent as men. A study about doll play between American boys and girls found that when girls were aggressive with dolls, it was usually punishing them for violating a societal rule, such as a spanking. While boys played with dolls in "fight" scenarios of aggression. Studies have shown that once kids have seen an aggressive model, their aggression increases, but it increases more in males. Likewise, it has been shown that punishments for aggression does decrease aggression, but that works more for girls than boys in America.

With all these different combinations available at every juncture of sexual development, it is hard to streamline "sex" down to two sexes, really. But let's say we move past that huge stumbling block, and try to connect this development of chromosomes, genitalia, androgens, etc. to the area of gender. The first problem we encounter around gender studies is much of the research done in this area for generations was done by biased men who were on a mission to prove men were superior, basically. The bias' of male "scientists" in the area of gender has been very blatant. For example, men wanted to test intelligence, so the Binet IQ test was borne. But women kept outscoring men. So, instead of the study showing women are smarter than men, they decided something was wrong with the test, and changed it so men scored more equally with women. I seriously doubt if men had initially outscored women, that any changes to the IQ test would have been made, and it would have stood as evidence women are not as smart as men. Another failed experiment in this area was the guy who tried to prove the bigger the brain mass, the smarter the human. And men had bigger brain masses. His theory failed many times over, but was taken serious for a brief period. Many studies have been done to try to prove men are inherently smarter than females. So far, all of these "tests" have failed.

There are really only 4 recognized differences in sex. These are women can menstruate, gestate and lactate, which men typically cannot do. And men can impregnate, which women cannot do. But how these 4 differences relate to the huge differences in the ways boys and girls are raised due to sex and gender is still unknown. Is our assignment of certain traits and characteristics to girls and boys based on environment, not biology? If our gender roles were fictional, they would not be present in all cultures. And indeed, these gender roles assigned to the sexes in America, are *not* the gender roles assigned to sexes across the globe. The Fulani society in Africa, for instance, has the men getting all dolled up in makeup and glamour, to participate in beauty pageants for women to choose mates as they display themselves (http://www.suntimes.co.za/1998/07/12/travel/travel01.htm). The young boys imitate the older men, playing with face makeup, and imitating poses, dreaming about when they can be put on display, like the men, for the women to survey. By reinforcing behaviors with punishment or praise, kids are taught how to behave in "gender appropriate" ways in whatever society they live in.

Factors that play into determining individual gender include work and family roles, geographical location, racial/ethnic background, socioeconomic class, age, the cultural climate they live in, local laws, and more. Biology and psychology are also involved, but to what extent, it is still not clear. In one study, parents were asked to describe their babies. Their babies were the same size, yet the girl babies were described as "little" and the boy babies were described as "big." The girls were described as "soft," "weak," and "delicate" while the boy babies were described as "firm," "strong," and "hardy." These perceptions influence the way these parents interact with their children. Studies have also found that in the younger years, girls reward or punish other girls over sex-appropriate behaviors, but do not respond positively or negatively to boys following or not following sex-appropriate roles. Likewise, the boys only reinforced sex-appropriate behavior on one another, not the girls. The most blatant form of punishment for violations of sex-appropriate behavior was aimed at boys, by boys.

The use of toys and tools to influence the development of sex-appropriate behaviors is called "canalization." One study placed a 2 month old baby, who was clothed and whose sex was not identified, with adults. The adults were given the choice of a doll, football, or teething ring to give the baby when left alone with it. The male adults tended to give the baby the teething ring (which was gender neutral) and would actually touch these unidentified gender babies less than babies with identified genders. The women adults in the study tended to assume a sexual identity for the baby and to proceed from there. If the baby was perceived as a male, she gave him the football. If she decided it was female, she handed it the doll. The criteria the women said they used to determine the baby's sex included, "the child is big, heavy and strong," and "the child is tiny, soft, delicate and fragile."

It is true that American society is very uncomfortable with people whose gender is not identified. The "Pat" character on Saturday Night Live really illustrated that uncomfortableness well. I have experienced this myself. In Santa Cruz years ago, there was a person I ran into often, whose gender was not clear. This person could be male or female or one of those mixtures I talked about earlier. It does not matter. But one way it kept affecting me is it was hard to talk to or about this person without using gender pronouns. Even now, writing about this person without using any gender is hard. Many languages have different words for things like shoes, if you are female or male. Not being able to tell a person's gender, can often make communicating with and about them challenging due to our language structure and restrictions therein.

Children begin exploring their sex differences at around 3 years old. But by about 7 years old, they are identifying with one gender consistently. Behaviors that will reflect this include the child preferring same-sex playmates, the child preferring sex-typed activities, and the child preferring gender-appropriate toys. Additionally, shortly thereafter, they will begin to identify with, and imitate, the same-sex parent. This often pleases the parent they begin imitating, and they get positive feedback for such behavior. Sex differences in the U.S. exist in the area of self-prediction of performance also. Men tend to overestimate what they can do, and women tend to underestimate their abilities. Up until about age 7, when sex roles become clear to children, there is no performance prediction differentiation. Once kids figure out sex roles, they fall into that pattern of boys overestimating and girls underestimating.

As far as learning abilities, gender stereotypes are not universal. For instance, in British schools, boys outscore girls in reading and verbal comprehension. And in Asian schools, girls are outscoring boys in math. Also, perceptions of success and failure differ among men and women. One study gave males and females the same test. The researchers lied and told each person they scored 19 out of 25. The men responded, "I have done well." The women responded, "I have done poorly." At the University of Washington, in a class taught by Dr. N. Kenney, we were taught about the Machihembras in the Dominican Republic (yeah, I know you need to look this one up to believe me ~ http://www.heretical.com/wilson/hermoney.html). They have an inherited enzyme deficiency which makes all the children appear as girls until they develop at puberty. When androgen kicks in at puberty, some of the children develop penises, descended testicles, lower voices, facial and body hair, etc. All the children are raised as girls, but there seems to be no problem in the transition into male at puberty. After puberty, they take on normal male traits for their culture. A society with those circumstances is ripe for gender identity research.

Early studies in the field of gender and sexuality differences were often tainted and rendered useless. One classic example was a community that had been studied and documented by male anthropologists. They reported only the men played music in that culture. But when Margaret Mead went there, she found out the women did play music, just not in the presence of men! That is a very different report, one that the men could not provide. The study of sex and gender differentiation is still quite young, really. The field had an overhaul in the 1970's via the feminist movement and female academic scholars. We can see the products of gender stereotyping, but we cannot seem to isolate out what determines gender. We know what biological twists and turns are appearing on the landscape, but more intangible and harder to study are the psychological aspects to gender preference. It is clear that gender stereotypes are well and alive. What causes them and what affects they have on us, as individuals and in society, is still open for discussion and serious study.

"For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable. For every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence. For every girl who is tired of being called over-sensitive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep. For every boy whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes. For every girl who throws out her E-Z-Bake Oven, there is a boy who wishes to find one. For every boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry's attack on her self-esteem. For every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier." - www.crimethinc.com

(And make sure to visit our Vulva Museum, at http://resist.ca/~kirstena/pagevulvamuseum1.html.)

Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.

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