1.
© Gender Matters
The gender question ?
A teaching resource for secondary science developed by Gender Matters and Gender Identity Research & Education Society
How do we know whether we’re boys or girls? Seems like a straightforward question – but is it?

2. The first thing we ask about a new-born baby "Is it a boy or a girl?“
© Gender Matters
The first thing we ask about a new-born baby "Is it a boy or a girl?“
Why is this?
Why is it the first question we ask, sometimes even before a baby is born, ‘is it a boy or a girl?’
How do you think parents-to-be react to finding out the sex of the baby? What kind of things might they do?
e.g. Painting the baby’s room pink or blue
Buying clothes

3. ©
Isn’t ‘it’ cute!
© Gender Matters
Consider how difficult it can be to talk to, or about, a baby without knowing if it is a boy or a girl...
We might want to say:
Isn’t she beautiful
Doesn’t he look like his dad!
What’s his name?
How old is she?
And when baby arrives, do we use gendered language? Are we more likely to refer to a girl as ‘beautiful’ or a boy as ‘strong’?
CLICK > Do we actually treat the infant differently according to whether it is a boy or a girl?
Students should be able to give some examples of how we treat babies differently according to their gender:
How they are dressed
The way we talk and interact with them
The kind of toys we give them
What type of play / activities we encourage
How we expect them to behave
Do we treat babies differently depending on whether they are a boy or a girl? Can you think of examples of how people do this? 3

4. ©
© Gender Matters
Although there is a lot of overlap, socially we expect women to behave in feminine ways and men to behave in masculine ways. The ways we expect men and women to behave are called gender roles and gender expressions.
Different cultures may have different expectations of men and women, but they still make a distinction.
Sometimes people have a prejudiced view of how men or women should behave, based on a very rigid view of gender roles, called gender stereotypes. E.g. Men can’t multi-task, women can’t read maps.
Socially we expect women to behave in feminine ways, and men to behave in masculine ways. Although there is a lot of overlap, we nonetheless expect girls and boys to have different groups of friends, different interests and often, to play different sports.
Our social and cultural practices influence the way in which children are treated, in terms of their dress, toys and games, so the way that boys and girls, men and women are expected to behave and dress will vary between cultures.
CLICK > In the UK, we see many different cultures and forms of dress but these almost always make a distinction between men and women. E.g.
Students might give as examples that men wear only trousers but women wear trousers or skirts / dresses. Point out that this depends on the culture, e.g. men wear kilts, sarongs, dhotis etc. But whatever the culture there are differences (as well as overlaps) between the way men and women dress.
Students should be able to give examples of different expectations of men and women, for example:
Clothes
Employment choices
Hobbies and interests
CLICK > Discussion should include the point that we are discussing how society is, and not necessarily how we would like it to be. Students should be encouraged to consider the disadvantages of a rigid adherence to gender stereotypes, e.g.
Prejudice and discrimination in employment (e.g. against men wanting to be nursery nurses, or women wanting to be company directors)
Segregation in employment leading to the gender pay gap (e.g. women being encouraged to go for jobs in caring professions that are relatively low paid

5. B A Boy Or Girl? www.gires.org.uk © Gender Matters
So where does it all start?
Can we tell by looking? What do we judge by?
Here we have a boy and a girl – which is which?
Baby A is in fact a girl (although clearly is not possible to tell from the photograph). Her name is Mary.
Baby B is a boy. His name is Maurice. He looks like a girl to us because we tend to make assumptions about a baby or toddler’s gender based on clothes and hair. This is a Victorian photograph and at that time in the UK babies and young children often had long curls and wore skirts whatever their gender.
CLICK > The photo below shows Maurice as an adult. Young Victorian boys were dressed like girls, but nonetheless comfortably developed gender identities as boys.
Therefore we may infer that their dress, in their early years, did not lead boys of that era to self-identify as girls.

6. Typical Gender Identity Development
© Gender Matters
Typical Gender Identity Development
Usually a baby having male external sex characteristics will identify as a boy, and will grow to adulthood comfortably identifying himself as a man.
Similarly, a baby having female external sex characteristics will identify as a girl and will grow up comfortably identifying herself as a woman.
This is sometimes referred to as being cisgender
So what else do we look for? Well, of course, we look at the genitalia. Does baby have a penis or not? We assume if we see that, we know for certain whether the baby will identify as a girl or a boy
The vast majority of people identify comfortably in line with the way that they look, so it is assumed that all babies will. So, babies are registered at birth on the basis of external appearance alone as ‘male’ or ‘female’, and a gender identity (boy or girl) is assumed, at that time, on the basis of external appearance alone.
Note that the words male and female denote sex; they don’t really denote gender but they are often used in exactly the same way, because, in most people, sex and gender identity match
People whose sex and gender identity match may be referred to as cisgender 6

7. X chromosomes X or Y Mother Father X Y X X X Y male fetus female fetus
Click > So where does it all begin?
In TYPICAL development of boy and girl babies it starts with the chromosomes
We have 26 pairs of chromosomes - one pair will be XX or XY. These are the sex chromosomes and they carry the genes that prompt sex differentiation into male and female. Chromosomes are present in all the cells of our body; they carry our ‘genes’. Genes are small sections of DNA (the double helix) through which we inherit characteristics from our parents.
Genes are the reason you may have your Dad’s nose, or your Mum’s eyes, for instance.
Click > click> We get an X chromosome from Mum – always. Without that there is no viable foetus. This comes from the egg that is formed in the ovary
And we get either an X or a Y from Dad – from the sperm that is formed in the testes
Click > Where the sperm from Dad is carrying an X chromosome, it combines with the egg to give two X chromosomes,
Click > resulting in a female fetus
Click > if the sperm is carrying a Y chromosome, it combines with the X to give XY chromosomes
Click > resulting in a male fetus.
That’s why sex chromosomes are depicted as XX in a female fetus, and XY in a male fetus.
Regardless of our chromosomes, all of us, at the very earliest stage of development in the womb (uterus) have both reproductive tracts, so we could go develop either way
But, TYPICALLY if the sperm carries a Y chromosome, certain genes on it (SRY and ZFY) trigger the testes to produce testosterone and that masculinises the fetus.
Without the Y chromosome there is no trigger to masculinise the fetus.
So, the presence of testosterone in a male fetus, and the absence of it in a female fetus, is a critical factor in sex differentiation.
However, it is not the only factor; the process is complex and not all of it is understood. For example, recent research in mice shows that there are genes on other chromosomes (not the sex chromosomes) that maintain feminization of the ovaries in adulthood. It is likely that further research in humans will reveal even more complex interactions between genes and hormone environment.
X Y
male fetus ©

8. man woman Internal features External features Internal features
Male brain
Female brain
Male gonads: testes
Female gonads: ovaries
Sex differentiation affects our whole bodies: the skeleton (men are usually taller) , musculature (men are usually physically stronger), reproductive organs are distinctly different and sex appearance diverges during puberty as ‘secondary sex characteristics’ develop, as in this image.
Testes and ovaries are called ‘gonads’ – they manufacture sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen.
Click > Importantly, also, the BRAIN is different.
Male hormones, e.g. testosterone
Female hormones, e.g. oestrogen
man woman

9. JOAN JOHN JOHN www.gires.org.uk
And this story helps us understand how powerful the brain is in predisposing us to identify as boys or girls. It was called the John/Joan case; it became very famous, and we learn a lot from it.
Identical twin boys were born in the 1960s.
Click > One of them – John (not his real name) – lost his penis in a circumcision operation that went wrong. The parents were told that as long as the child was made to look like a girl, which involved further surgery to the genitalia, and he was raised as a girl – he would be a girl ! So they raised John as Joan and this is a picture of her living as a girl – Joan.
click
For 30 years the doctors who had treated this child, kept the real truth a secret.
The child had never identified comfortably as a girl and in adolescence refused to continue living as a girl.
Click > He started to live as a boy again, and as an adult man, he married a woman with three children.
So this child’s development was, in fact ‘typical’ because if he hadn’t lost his penis, and if doctors hadn’t interfered to try to make him into a girl, he would always have identified as a boy, just like his twin brother. They both had XY chromosomes and were typical boys.
Sadly, both twins took their own lives in their thirties. The family always blamed the doctor who had first advised raising the child as a girl. This decision, although well-intentioned at the time, destabilised the future of the entire family.
What we learn from this sad story is that, right from the start, something in John’s brain was telling him he was a boy despite the way he looked on the outside, and despite the fact that everyone treated him as a girl.
This is true for all of us. Society reinforces masculine and feminine behaviours, and the family of this child treated her as a girl, but just being raised in this way did not make her identify as a girl. The identification comes from within us, just as it did with John, and it prevented him from being able to identify as Joan, even though there was constant pressure on him to do so.
This decision, although well-intentioned at the time, destabilised the future of the entire family.
Extension information (if the group is responding well and the teacher feels secure enough in their knowledge of intersex):
This section can be omitted if preferred
A few children are born with medical conditions that cause their genitalia to look neither clearly male nor female so they are, in a way, in the same situation that John was.
Encouraged by what was believed (for 30 years) to be a successful outcome in the John/Joan case, infants born with indeterminate (ambiguous) genitalia were often also surgically altered to look like girls, even though some of them had XY chromosomes. When these infants grew up, many of them were very angry that such important decisions had been taken without their consent because, like John, they knew who they were and sometimes their bodies had been made to look quite different from the way they identified.
(Question: do you think it is right to decide for a children whether they are boys or girls)
Medical practitioners have also learned from their stories and from the John/Joan story, and no longer automatically operate on babies with ambiguous genitalia to make them look female.
JOHN

10. So, just to reinforce the point, it’s the brain that tells you whether you are a boy or a girl
The brains of trans people are ‘hard-wired’ slightly differently from the majority of the population. These differences have been found in a number of studies on the brains of trans people, compared with the brains of non-trans people.
So, just to reinforce the point, it’s the brain that tells you whether you’re a boy or a girl or something in between, a bit of both perhaps. It’s not the way you look on the outside – although this has a powerful influence on our thinking
And it’s not the way you’re raised, although this too, has a powerful impact on how you see yourself. But unless the brain is in sync. These factors will be overruled.
The key factor in making us identify as boys or girls, men or women, or somewhere in between, is the BRAIN,
Click > and we know that the brains of trans people are a little bit different from other men and women in parts of the brain that are ‘hard wired’, which means they cannot be altered or rewired. ©

11. Gender Identity Development
But what happens when the brain, and therefore the gender identity, does not ‘match up’ with sex appearance?
But I’m a boy!
But I’m a girl!
So what happens if the brain doesn’t match up with the sex appearance?
In a very small number of people the brain tells them something different from their appearance, right from birth. In other words, their ‘gender identity’ is at odds with their appearance. People who experience this kind of mismatch may be described as gender variant or gender non-conforming. This may cause significant discomfort sometimes described as gender dysphoria (dysphoria means unhappiness). It sometimes takes many years for a person to work out the source of their discomfort. Many try hard to conform to what is expected of them.
When this happens it is known as gender variance or gender nonconformity. When it causes discomfort and stress, doctors refer to it as gender dysphoria ©

12. Lili Elbe was assigned male at birth and raised as a boy
She‘transitioned’, in the 1930s, in other words:
she ‘affirmed’ her gender identity, by changing her gender role (social role)
this process may be helped by taking:
feminising hormones, and possibly,
having surgery
Click > click> This is Lili Elbe who was assigned as male at birth and raised as a boy: she is a trans woman or woman of trans history. She ‘transition’ in the 1930s, when most people hadn’t even heard of transgender people.
When gender discomfort is severe, people may
(click>) ‘affirm’ their gender identity, by undergoing ‘transition’ to live in the other gender role.
(click>)They may have medical treatment: female hormones, if they identify as women, like Lili Elbe; and
(click>) some will have surgery to make their genital appearance match their gender identity.
She was one of the first people to have this kind of surgery - gender confirmation surgery
As a man she became an accomplished artist, but abandoned her profession following gender confirmation surgery.

13. Caroline Cossey – Tula – trans woman or woman of trans history
Model and ‘Bond girl’ s
Unusual chromosomes
XXXY, XXY, XYY, XXY, XXYYY, mosaicism etc.
But most of those assigned male at birth who identify as girls/women
have typical XY chromosomes
In 1974, Caroline Cossey, had gender confirmation surgery to make her genital appearance female. She later obtained legal rights as a woman from the European Court of Human Rights. However, the UK government appealed that decision, and the right was taken away from her. That right has now been re-established as we shall see in a minute
She eventually married in She and her husband live in Georgia, USA
Under the name Tula, she was a successful model and had a small role in a James Bond movie.
We have so far looked at TYPICAL chromosomes but there are a number ATYPICAL (unusual) conditions where the usual rules of sex development don’t apply. (I mentioned some: ‘intersex/DSD, a few moments ago, where the genitalia at birth are neither clearly male nor female) but this is an example of a different kind of intersex condition.
Caroline Cossey has unusual chromosomes – XXXY – and she was very feminine in her appearance even before she transitioned to live as a woman.
There are many varieties of unusual chromosome configurations, for instance: XXY, XYY, XXYY, and so on. Although most people with these kinds of variations do not experience a mismatch between their brain and their appearance, there are a greater number of trans women in these groups than in the population generally. It is even possible to have what is known as mosaicism, where some cells in the body have one chromosome configuration, and other cells have something different. This is just one of the many ways in which nature is so varied. ©

14.
People who are born looking male and are registered on the birth certificate as male, but who identify as women are known as trans women
People who are born looking female and are registered on the birth certificate as female, but who identity as men are known as trans men. The man in this photo is currently ( ) the President of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health. He was assigned female at birth. We used to think that there were more trans women than trans men, but the numbers appear to be becoming more equal.
We used to think that there were more trans women than trans men, but now the numbers are becoming more equal.

15. Non-binary or gender queer
Non-binary or gender queer
Many people do not identify at one end of the gender spectrum or the other, and may be:
Somewhere in between
A bit of both
They may describe themselves in many different ways: pan gender, poly gender, bi-gender, neutrois;
Some people feel they are just human beings without any gender identification and describe themselves as non-gender.
Although we always think of people as being one thing or the other: boy or girl, man or woman, as mentioned on a previous slide, some people identify between or outside these two extremes. They may be bit of both, and closer to one end of the spectrum or the other, or completely neutral. A few people don’t see themselves as having a ‘gender’ at all, and may describe themselves as non-gender.
The may use different pronouns: some use, ‘they’ and ‘their’. Some use new pronouns, like ‘per’, ‘zie’, and ‘fey’. Titles may be written as Mx, instead of the usual Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms.

16. Transition and treatment
Transition and treatment
Hormones:
Trans women may take female hormones (oestrogen) that make the body look more feminine; they grow breasts; skin softens;
Trans men may take testosterone which makes them look more masculine; they grow beards, have male-pattern baldness; voice deepens;
Transition of the social role means changing the name, living at home and at work, and in leisure pursuits, in the gender role that matches the gender identity, not the sex assigned at birth.
For many trans people, transition (change of role) is supported by medical treatment
Trans women take the female hormone, oestrogen, that feminises the body so that over a period of about 2 years their breasts develop and their bodies become rounder on the hips; their skin softens.
Trans men take testosterone which makes their facial and body hair grow and may lead to male-pattern baldness; their voices deepen.
In addition, trans people may change their gender role completely so that in every aspect of their lives: social, family and leisure, they are living in the gender role that doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.

17. Surgery Not everyone who changes gender role wants to have surgery;©
Not everyone who changes gender role wants to have surgery;
The first surgery that trans men have is chest reconstruction – that is, taking the breast tissue away and making the chest look like a man’s chest;
Trans women may have implants to make their breasts bigger if the hormones have not already made them big enough;
Trans women often have their genitalia refashioned to give them female appearance; trans men may also have genital surgery;
It is rude to ask if a person has had surgery
Click > Some trans people have a real disgust for their bodies and really need to have surgical correction, but not everyone wants or needs to go that far.
Click > Trans men almost always have chest reconstruction. The breast tissue is removed and the chest is made to look like a male chest.
Click > women may also need to make their breasts bigger if the oestrogen therapy hasn’t achieved this
Click > Both trans women and trans men may have genital surgery to bring their bodies as closely in line with the gender identity as possible. The surgery for trans men is much more difficult to do, and often requires several operations, so fewer trans men opt for this surgery although many have their uterus and ovaries removed.
This kind of surgery leads to infertility so, of course, it is no longer possible for trans people to have children once they have undertaken this treatment. They can store reproductive material before surgery, but this means coming off hormones for a period of time which many are not willing to do.
Click > you should never ask a person if they have had sugery – it’s rude

18. Gender identity is not the same thing as sexual orientation
Trans men and trans women, like anyone else, may be:
gay (men who are attracted to men);
lesbian (women who are attracted to women);
bisexual (men and women who are attracted to both men and women);
heterosexual (attracted to people of the opposite sex) or
asexual (not attracted to either men or women).
Click > read text
•Trans men and trans women, like anyone else, may be: •gay (men who are attracted to men) Click > •lesbian (women who are attracted to women); Click >•heterosexual (attracted to people of the opposite sex); Click >•bisexual (attracted to both men and women); or Click >•asexual (not attracted to either men or women).
If more detail required ask young people to think about how you describe a relationship where a man and a woman are married = straight (heterosexual); one partner transitions, then the relationship is….gay (or is it?)
Two women are in a civil partnership (lesbian couple), one partner transitions, then the relationship is straight (or is it?)
How do peple see themselves in these situations? ©

19. Ordinary people – ordinary lives
Ordinary people – ordinary lives
Most people with a trans history just want to get on with their lives as ordinary men and women, like this couple, both of them trans and legally married, photographed with their daughter. Her father (on the left) was, in fact, her biological mother. Trans men can still give birth if they have not had genital surgery and still have their uterus (womb).
These two people have both transitioned. They are married. Their daughter is in the middle; her father, on the left of the picture, is her biological mother. Her step-mother is on the right.

20. Treatment in puberty
A few young people who feel extremely unhappy with the mismatch between the way they look and the way they identify as boys or girls, have treatment to stop their puberty for a few years.
This gives them time to make up their minds whether they will be more comfortable living as men, or as women, or maybe somewhere in between.
Young people who do feel able to say who they really are, or who simply can’t hide it, may be able to have treatment that will help them through their teenage years and make life easier for them as adults.
This involves taking medication to block the hormones that cause the physical changes associated with puberty. This can be done for a few years, giving them time to be absolutely sure about whether they will live as men or women in adulthood.

21. Identical male twins
Safe, reversible; diagnostic phase
Trans girls on hormone blocking medication will not grow facial and body hair, and their voices will not drop; their growth will be arrested before they become too tall
Trans boys will not grow breasts or have periods, and they may grow a little taller
All these things help the person blend in with other men and women as adults
This blocking treatment is reversible, so anyone taking this medication can just stop and the body will start to make the pubertal changes that were on hold
In this photo, Nicole had been given a hormone-blocker for three years to suppress her puberty, and oestrogen for one year so that her face remained feminine, and she didn’t grow facial hair. Oestrogen stopped her growing – she is now 4” shorter than her identical twin brother and she is starting to grow breasts.
Not everyone wants to have surgery to make their genitalia look like the other sex, in this case female but, in any case, this cannot be done before the age of 18.
Nicole (on left) has been on GnRHa for 3 years to suppress her male puberty; estradiol for one year.
Without that medication she would have looked like her identical twin brother: 4” taller, facial hair, Adam’s apple  voice dropped ©

22. How many trans people are there?
Currently living in the UK, there are about 26,000 people who have sought medical help.
The underlying trans and non-binary population seems to be at least 1% of the total population.
The specialised clinics where trans and non-binary people can access treatment are unable to keep up with the growing numbers of people seeking treatment. They are rising by at least 20% per annum, and in the child and adolescent service, the rise is 50% per annum.
Read slide as is: click for each bullet point
There are many more people experiencing gender variance than was previously thought, so it’s important to remember that if you make a general comment that is disrespectful or pokes fun at a group of people, you can never be sure that someone close to you isn’t affected by what you say. It could be that a person you know actually experiences gender variance, so you could be hurting their feelings and making them scared to come ‘out’

23. Equality and Human Rights
The Equality Act 2010 made ‘gender reassignment’ a ‘protected characteristic’:
Trans people must not suffer discrimination, harassment or victimisation
Employers and service providers, schools, colleges and universities must make sure that trans people have equal opportunities, and are socially included.
The Human Rights Act 1998 entitles us all to fair, respectful treatment, and to dignity and privacy.
The Equality Act, 2010, makes ‘gender reassignment’ a protected characteristic. It protects trans people and those mistaken for a trans person (even if they are not) from discrimination. It also protects people who are ‘associated’ with them – like family members, for instance. Under the Equality Act, you are protected if you undergo, or intend to undergo a process (or a part of a process) which could include changing things like your name, pronouns, dress, having medical treatment, e.g. hormones.
A trans person, just like anyone else, is protected by the Human Rights Act 1998 which entitles us all to respect, privacy, dignity and equality

24. Gender Recognition Act, 2004
The Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), can be used to obtain a new birth certificate
People who have a GRC have a new legal gender status ‘for all purposes’
It is not necessary to have had any medical treatment to be granted a GRC, but you do have to show that you have lived continuously in your new role for two years, and intend to continue in that role.
Must be 18 y.o.
Click > The GRC can be used to obtain a new birth certificate
Click > People who have a GRC have a new legal gender status for all ‘purposes’
A woman of trans history called Christine Goodwin, won her case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (2002), and as a result, the law was changed in the UK with the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act in This gives people a new gender status and a new birth certificate. The law started to be used in 2005 and since then about 3,500 people have obtained a GRC. Many more trans people don’t have a GRC, sometimes this is because they are married, and they don’t want to change the status of that marriage (into a same-sex marriage or a civil partnership). Others may already be in a same sex relationship (civil partnership or same-sex marriage) and if one of the them has transitioned and wants a GRC, they will have to change into ‘marriage’.
A person with a GRC becomes ‘for all purposes’ a member of the affirmed gender.
Surgery is not necessary in order to obtain a GRC, but a trans person is required to show that they have been ‘diagnosed’ with gender dysphoria, and that they intend to live for the rest of their lives in the affirmed gender.

25. Gender variant children & young people
Because being trans is something people are born with, children and teenagers with this condition have a difficult time
They may want to dress differently and behave differently, but sometimes they are afraid that if they show this, they will be bullied and teased at school.
So, often they hide their true feelings
Being trans is something you are born with, and more children and young people now come ‘out’ as trans, gender variant or non-binary, but others hide their discomfort and just try to fit in. They may want to dress differently but they are scared of being bullied and teased at school or even of being rejected by family members. So they repress their true feelings and this can make them very depressed. Sometimes they don’t come out until middle age or even old age, because they are scared of losing their jobs and losing their families.
How do you feel about that?

26. Inclusion
Bullying, teasing and being unkind to people because they are a bit different, is a bad thing to do.
We should always welcome, support and celebrate the differences between individuals. It makes our school, and our society a safer, happier place for everyone.
Would you bully someone who seemed ‘different?
Would you want to make them unhappy just because they aren’t like you?
Is that fair?
Develop conversation about bullying people who are different

27. NATURE LOVES VARIETY Society needs to love it too
THE END
NATURE LOVES VARIETY Society needs to love it too
As we saw earlier, nature is very varied. People may be different in all sorts of ways. It’s just how the world is. In an ideal world all these differences would be celebrated because they make our society a better place.
Nature loves variety. Society needs to love it too
Brainstorm: What can we do in our class to celebrate diversity and make people who are different feel welcome. What event or activity can the class come up with and take ownership of.
© Gender Identity Research and Education Society
© Gender Matters