2002/07/01 by Louise Newman · 1 citation
Medicine · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Sex and Gender in Healthcare #Gender Roles and Identity Studies #Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology #Gender Identity Disorder #Gender psychology #Essentialism #Gender identity #Deviance (statistics) #Gender role #Psychology #Gender history #Gender dysphoria #Developmental psychology #Context (archaeology) #Gender schema theory #Social psychology #Sociology #Gender studies
paper · doi:10.1177/1359104502007003004
openalex publication_date 2002/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
As a diagnostic category, gender identity disorder remains problematic with ongoing debates concerning aetiology, definition and ethics of treatment. Inherent in the current DSM definition is a Western model of the relationship between sex and gender which epitomizes the tension existing between essentialist and constructivist accounts of gender development. This model determines that gender-aberrant behaviour and gender variation are, by definition, pathological, and reinforces a binary gender model. Studies of non-Western cultures reveal variations in models of gender and in the understanding of gender deviance. Cultures vary in their definition of gender roles and show varying degrees of tolerance for atypical gender behaviours and gender change. An understanding of cultural context is important in the clinical assessment of a typical gender development and challenges current models of sex and gender.