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Alright, I retract my plea for softer language in an attempt to quell potential offense, you're right, truth is more important. I read through the study you posted, as well as several follow up studies, and my opinions on this are now varied. What you're suggesting, is essentially, that neurological gender identity relates, or at least is affected by (or perhaps affects) sexual orientation. Thus, neurologically, androphilic men should have more in common with androphilic women, than gynephilic men (general assumption).
A study that does coroberate that seems to be a study on transmen (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B007WHZsf9YfR0I2MTFWd0lFc2s/edit?pli=1). In this, white matter microstructures were studied and gynephilic transmen were shown to have brain structures which resembled masculine brains more so than feminine brains. This shows a link between sexual orientation and gendered brain structure. The same is shown in the study you posted, in which gynephilic transwomen were shown to share structural links to gynephilic men, over androphilic women. You stated that the subjects show no feminization in the brain, which is outright wrong, but perhaps you were just zealously selling the point.
There wasn't an ideological motivation, I followed an informal theoretical pathway - gathering evidence and then forming a point of view. The caption which supersedes the link to the article is a copy and paste from an article referencing the study. I didn't feel like delving into that information when it was a dot point to tie-in the perspective put forward.
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I thought I'd point that out for those who don't follow up and read the papers. In all the studies, trans people are shown to sit somewhere in between the two gendered brain structures, either leaning more toward one gender or the other,
No, the study I linked you to illustrated no feminisation but a separate neural aspect. Therefore not -all- studies proclaim androgyny. But I do agree/believe neural androgyny waivers between individuals and that neurological studies, due to the complexity of the brain - it's not possible to measure absolute everything.
Quotebut never really completely within the other gender (for example, androphilic transwomen share more in common with androphilic women than gynephilic transwomen do, but all three have very different structures, androphilic transwomen do not have completely feminized brains, and do not sit in the same category as natal androphilic women). All of these studies are pre-hormones, so that may change things as well, but I suppose for the sake of this discussion that's irrelevant.
A problem I do have with the studies so far is the lack of diversity in the sample groups, which could really change things. For example, where is the study comparing androphilic men, androphilic women, androphilic transmen, and androphilic transwomen? And then the reverse (gynephilic men, women, transmen, and transwomen) and then the comparative study between both of those studies? What about bisexuality? Including these things would truly create a trans spectrum in which a lot more of this would become clear. There are certainly feminine androphilic men, but then there are also very masculine androphilic men - would they each have different brain structures that sit on opposite ends of the trans spectrum? And do I, as a gynephilic transwoman, have more in common neurologically with gynephilic men, or gynephilic women? I'd posture the latter, but there is no study yet which has attempted to have a look at this link.
I think it can possibly be gathered that brain areas can co-operate with independant gender persuasions interlocking into one being. But - attraction to the andro is a feminine neurological trait, perhaps it can operate in isolation of other gender-persuaded parts of the brain, but suggestions so far is that it doesn't and may even be relating to connections between certain areas and not an enlargement or decrease in matter. It must also be taken into account that many studies gathered on transgender neurology is from people on cross-hormone therapy, leading them to be obsolete. Although I believe neural androgyny exists in persuasions exist, I don't believe in the credibility of studies (being most of them) which can't be credited for with samples already undergone cross hormone therapy.
QuoteRegardless, ALL of this suggests fundamental differences in brain structure which would have a biological basis, or in the very least, biological and perhaps partially psychological. The study you posted showed differences in transwomen's putamens and thalamus', and since they are not susceptible to neurological processes (aka brain plasticity), this suggests innate biological basis for trans conditions. None of this suggests biological gender is fluid (which you said in your follow up you agreed with partially), simply that gender identity relates to sexual orientation and neurological structure and chemistry, which is very interesting in my opinion.
Gender persuasion doesn't make a straight-forward proclamation of biological neurology in gender, simply persuasions. Possibly in people, the development of the frontal lobe overcomes the decision-making and self-conceptualisation mechanisms rendering a level of thought abstraction which then experiences only mild levels of "feeling" persuasions of gender orientation into their being.
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In the end, what I take from all this is none of these things are purely psychological, but have biological basis'. What makes me a female on the inside is more than culture, more than brain structure, and more than life events. I'm coming to realize it's probably a mixture of all three.
Agreed, with the addition that my point of view on the psychological basis is also partially influenced by the countless people who have undergone HRT and SRS to only proclaim they see themselves as non-binary, not because of the ineffectiveness of the surgery to assimilate themselves into the opposite gender, but to their depth of self-discovery and their enlightenment on their perspective of gender.
It also has to be countered, that if you follow what I'm writing, it doesn't follow an ideological pattern but is quite impartial.
