Sissies, Mama's Boys, and Tomboys: Is Children's Gender Nonconformity More Acceptable When Nonconforming Traits Are Positive?

The evaluation of gender nonconformity in children was examined in two studies. In Study 1, 48 young adults evaluated the positivity of culturally popular labels for gender nonconformity, including "tomboy," "sissy," and two new labels generated in a pilot study, "mama's boy" and "brat." The "mama's boy" was described as a boy who has positive feminine traits (gentle and well-mannered) as opposed to the "sissy" who was described as having negative feminine traits (crying and easily frightened). 

In Study 2, 161 young adults read descriptions of gender-typical and nonconforming children, evaluating them in several domains. The label "mama's boy" was considered negative in Study 1 but an unlabeled positive nonconforming boy was rated as likable and competent in Study 2. However, participants worried about nonconforming boys, saying they would encourage them to behave differently and describing such children with derogatory sexual orientation slurs. "Tomboy" was generally considered a positive label in Study 1. 

In Study 2, gender nonconforming girls were considered neither likable nor dislikeable, and neither competent nor incompetent, reflecting ambivalence about girls' nonconformity. It may be that we use gender nonconformity labels as indicators of sexual orientation, even in young children. Therefore, even when an individual displays objectively positive traits, the stigma associated with homosexuality taints judgments about their nonconforming behavior.

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By:  Coyle EF1, Fulcher M2, Trübutschek D3,4,5.

• 1Department of Psychology, Beloit College, 700 College Street, Beloit, WI, 53511, USA. emilyfcoyle@gmail.com.
• 2Department of Psychology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA, USA.
• 3Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif/Yvette, France.
• 4Ecole des Neurosciences de Paris Ile-de-France, Paris, France.
• 5Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
• Arch Sex Behav. 2016 Mar 7. 

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In the Name of Brevity: The Problem with Binary HIV Risk Categories

According to the 'Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations' there are five groups of people at elevated risk of HIV, including 'transgender women or transgender men who have receptive anal sex with men'. Although cost effectiveness strategies and best practice lessons recommend targeting specific populations for HIV prevention, existing risk categories lack specificity, and may in fact cause further confusion. 

Existing categories of risk often perpetuate notions of gender and sexuality that can erroneously exclude, alienate, and stigmatise those who are at the highest risk and thus should be prioritised. 

We review the troubled history of the MSM category and the problematic conflation of trans feminine individuals and MSM in much of the existing HIV literature, and how this practice has stymied progress in slowing the HIV epidemic in the most at-risk groups, including those who do not fit neatly into binary notions of gender and sex. We draw from examples in the field, specifically among trans feminine people in Beirut and San Francisco, to illustrate the lived experiences of individuals whose identities may not fit into Euro-Atlantic constructs of HIV prevention categories.

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By:  Kaplan RL1, Sevelius J2, Ribeiro K3.

• 1 Department of Obstetrics , Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences, University of California , San Francisco , CA , USA.
• 2 Department of Medicine , Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, University of California , San Francisco , CA , USA.
• 3 CRESPPA-LabToP, Université Paris 8 , Villejuif , France.
• Glob Public Health. 2016 Jan 29:1-11. 

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Comparison of Masculine and Feminine Gender Roles in Iranian Patients with Gender Identity Disorder

INTRODUCTION:

Gender identity disorders (GID) are heterogeneous disorders that may be influenced by culture and social norms.

AIM:

The aim of this study was to determine masculine and feminine gender roles in a group of Iranian patients with GID and compare these roles with two control groups.

METHODS:

Twelve male-to-female (MF) and 27 female-to-male (FM) individuals with GID referred to Tehran Psychiatric Institute in Tehran, I. R. Iran were evaluated by self-report inventories and were compared with two groups of healthy controls (81 men and 89 women). Diagnoses were established based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria. Data analysis was done using analysis of variance and chi-squared test.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Masculine and feminine gender roles were assessed by two questionnaires: (i) Gender-Masculine (GM) and Gender-Feminine (GF) scales derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory-2 (MMPI-2); (ii) Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI).

RESULTS:

In the scales of masculinity, MF-GID individuals scored as male controls, but lower than female controls. FM-GID individuals scored similar to female controls and higher than male controls. In femininity scales, MF-GID individuals and control women seemed similar, and both scored higher than the other groups. FM-GID persons were considered less feminine than both controls in the GF scale of MMPI-2, but not in the BSRI. In both scales, FM-GID persons had higher scores than control women and MF-GID individuals.

CONCLUSION:

Iranian FM-GID individuals were less feminine than normal men. However, MF-GID individuals were similar to normal women or more feminine. Cultural considerations remain to be investigated.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/jM57MD

By:  Alavi K1, Eftekhar M1, Jalali Nadoushan AH1.

• 1Mental Health Research Center Department of Psychiatry Iran University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran. 

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Effects of Gendered Behavior on Testosterone in Women and Men

Testosterone is typically understood to contribute to maleness and masculinity, although it also responds to behaviors such as competition. Competition is crucial to evolution and may increase testosterone but also is selectively discouraged for women and encouraged for men via gender norms. 

We conducted an experiment to test how gender norms might modulate testosterone as mediated by two possible gender→testosterone pathways. Using a novel experimental design, participants (trained actors) performed a specific type of competition (wielding power) in stereotypically masculine vs. feminine ways. 

We hypothesized in H1 (stereotyped behavior) that wielding power increases testosterone regardless of how it is performed, vs. H2 (stereotyped performance), that wielding power performed in masculine but not feminine ways increases testosterone. We found that wielding power increased testosterone in women compared with a control, regardless of whether it was performed in gender-stereotyped masculine or feminine ways. 

Results supported H1 over H2: stereotyped behavior but not performance modulated testosterone. These results also supported theory that competition modulates testosterone over masculinity. Our findings thus support a gender→testosterone pathway mediated by competitive behavior. 

Accordingly, cultural pushes for men to wield power and women to avoid doing so may partially explain, in addition to heritable factors, why testosterone levels tend to be higher in men than in women: A lifetime of gender socialization could contribute to "sex differences" in testosterone. 

Our experiment opens up new questions of gender→testosterone pathways, highlighting the potential of examining nature/nurture interactions and effects of socialization on human biology.

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By: van Anders SM1, Steiger J2, Goldey KL3.

• 1Departments of Psychology and Women's Studies, Program in Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Science, Technology, and Society Programs, and Biosocial Methods Collaborative, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; smva@umich.edu.
• 2The New Theater of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20052; Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Players Theatre Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109;
• 3Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.  

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