On the other side of the debate exists the nurture argument that states that how you’re raised and the environment around you play the most important role when determining gender identity. Since gender is something that is molded in some senses by our surroundings and society, people believed that nurture was the one true determinant in regards to gender identity. A study performed in Israel to test how social environments impacted our gender identity compared two groups of adolescents, those from the city and those from a kibbutz (community that focuses on agriculture) (Kulik, 1998). Those from the kibbutz group are notable because they practiced a tradition of gender equality, allowing men and women freedom in regards to work and lifestyle.
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Jennifer was born and raised as a man (then called James) but felt like he was woman. From an early stage James had identified as a transgender, someone who did identify with their biological sex. For James, gender identity had been triggered by many things such as the clothing she wore and the lovers she had. Early on he knew that he didn’t identify as a boy because he couldn’t relate with the clothing that boys would typically wear. When his mother had told him that someday he would wear shirts like his father he thought, “She never wore shirts like that. Why would I ever be wearing shirts like my father’s?”(Colapinto, 2000, p. 19). Another time when he knew he didn’t identify as a male was when he first met Onion and saw her clothes and body and knew that it was something that he had wanted for himself, almost going as far as wearing her clothes. He would also play games when he was young called girl planet, in which he was an astronaut who had crashed on a foreign planet that had turned him into a girl. Knowing that he did not belong in a man’s body made his life that much harder as he would struggle to hide how he felt from the outside world. He would hide it by dressing up as a woman whenever was alone and had the chance to by taking the clothes from his mother and sister. For James being a man meant living in a body he did not feel comfortable with. It was almost as …show more content…
For David it was something that was forced upon him while in Jennifer’s case she had the free will to choose her gender identity. However, they had both knew from an early age that they could not identify with their assigned biological sex. For Jennifer biology had little impact on her gender identity while for David it was the one of the main reasons that he felt that he could not identify as a female. Although, it should be noted that there could be some biological gene or excess (or lack) of a specific hormone in Jennifer that had caused her to identify as a female rather than a male. Even though for Jennifer nurture had a stronger impact when compared to David, it still played and influential role in reinforcing his gender identity as a
Jennifer was born and raised as a man (then called James) but felt like he was woman. From an early stage James had identified as a transgender, someone who did identify with their biological sex. For James, gender identity had been triggered by many things such as the clothing she wore and the lovers she had. Early on he knew that he didn’t identify as a boy because he couldn’t relate with the clothing that boys would typically wear. When his mother had told him that someday he would wear shirts like his father he thought, “She never wore shirts like that. Why would I ever be wearing shirts like my father’s?”(Colapinto, 2000, p. 19). Another time when he knew he didn’t identify as a male was when he first met Onion and saw her clothes and body and knew that it was something that he had wanted for himself, almost going as far as wearing her clothes. He would also play games when he was young called girl planet, in which he was an astronaut who had crashed on a foreign planet that had turned him into a girl. Knowing that he did not belong in a man’s body made his life that much harder as he would struggle to hide how he felt from the outside world. He would hide it by dressing up as a woman whenever was alone and had the chance to by taking the clothes from his mother and sister. For James being a man meant living in a body he did not feel comfortable with. It was almost as …show more content…
For David it was something that was forced upon him while in Jennifer’s case she had the free will to choose her gender identity. However, they had both knew from an early age that they could not identify with their assigned biological sex. For Jennifer biology had little impact on her gender identity while for David it was the one of the main reasons that he felt that he could not identify as a female. Although, it should be noted that there could be some biological gene or excess (or lack) of a specific hormone in Jennifer that had caused her to identify as a female rather than a male. Even though for Jennifer nurture had a stronger impact when compared to David, it still played and influential role in reinforcing his gender identity as a