3-1 & 3-2: Background on Gender Development and Factors That Shape Gender Typing
3-1 How We Become Boys and Girls
How we develop before birth: It all starts with our genes!
If you have an XY gene, a tiny part called the SRY gene tells your body to grow male parts called testes. This happens around weeks after you start growing.
If you have an XX gene, your body starts to grow female parts called ovaries. This happens around 8 to 10 weeks after you start growing.
Later, special hormones (body chemicals) help grow your outside body parts, like a penis or a clitoris.
For boys, the testes make hormones (like androgens) that build male parts and make female parts shrink.
For girls, the ovaries make estrogen later. Scientists are still learning about how female parts grow because we know less about it (it's called the “invisible female” problem!).
The clitoris grows in girls. It used to be thought that female parts just appeared if male hormones weren't there. But now we know female development is also an active process!
So, it's a step-by-step process: first, your genes decide if you're XX or XY. Then your internal body parts, your gonads (testes or ovaries), your hormones, and your outside body parts all grow and change.
What happens inside and outside
In boys: Testes make chemicals to stop female parts from growing and to make male parts grow.
In girls: Ovaries make estrogen, but we're still figuring out exactly how it helps female parts grow early on.
Our outside body parts (like a penis or a clitoris) grow based on the hormones present while we're developing.
Bodies that are a little bit different: Intersex conditions
Sometimes, a baby is born with body parts that aren't clearly all male or all female. These babies are called intersex.
This isn't super rare! About 0.05 ext{%} ext{ to }1.7 ext{%} of people are intersex, which is like how many people have red hair.
Two examples:
CAH (Congenital adrenal hyperplasia): A girl with XX genes gets too many male hormones before birth. Her outside body parts might look a bit like a boy's. Doctors used to do surgery to make them look more feminine, but now many people think it's better to wait or not do surgery.
AIS (Androgen insensitivity syndrome): A boy with XY genes makes male hormones, but his body doesn't listen to them. So, his outside body parts look female, and he might be raised as a girl. They usually have a shallow vagina and no uterus (womb).
Important idea: Many people now believe it's wrong to do surgery on intersex babies to make them fit into being just a boy or just a girl. They think kids should be accepted for who they are.
Why we usually only talk about two sexes (boy/girl)
Many cultures only have two choices: male or female, even though people's bodies can be different.
Doctors used to try to make intersex babies fit into one of these two boxes with surgery. But many intersex adults say this caused them pain and that we should accept all kinds of bodies.
What else shapes how we think about gender
Society's ideas: People's ideas about whether you're a boy or a girl start even before you're born and can make people treat you differently.
Parents and culture: Some places like India or parts of China prefer boys. This can tragically mean less care for girls or even fewer girls being born. It's estimated that girls are “missing” each year because of this.
Stereotypes: Even when babies are just born, parents and others might think baby girls are more delicate and baby boys are stronger. This is because people already have ideas about what boys and girls should be like.
How we learn about being a boy or a girl (theories)
Social learning theory: Kids learn how to act like a boy or a girl by being rewarded for certain behaviors (like getting praised for playing with a truck) and sometimes by seeing others do it.
Cognitive developmental theory: Kids are active thinkers! They figure out if they are a boy or a girl (this called gender identity, usually by years old). Once they know, they start wanting to do things that fit with being a boy or a girl.
Both ideas are important! Kids learn from watching others and from their own thinking about gender.
3-2 What Teaches Us About Being a Boy or a Girl
How we learn gender
We learn about gender in two main ways:
Social learning: From rewards, punishments, and copying what we see others do.
Cognitive development: From our own ideas (called schemas) about what it means to be a boy or a girl.
Both ways help us understand gender as we grow up.
Parents shape what we learn
Chores and Toys: Parents might give girls indoor chores (like washing dishes) and boys outdoor chores (like mowing). They might also give different toys to boys and girls. For example, dads sometimes push traditional toys more.
Feelings: Moms often talk more to daughters about feelings like sadness. Boys might be told not to show sadness or fear as much.
Independence: Parents might let boys have more freedom to play outside. But this can be different for different families, cultures, and how old the child is.
Takeaway: Parents teach us a lot about gender, but they aren't the only ones. Many try to be fair.
Friends shape what we learn
Not fitting in: Kids sometimes don't want to play with boys who act