Tuesday, 23 June 2009
What causes gender variance?
Zoe Brain
http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-causes-gender-variance.html (http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-causes-gender-variance.html)
That's the title of a blog post that contains an impressive list of articles touching the subject, over at GenderLines.
Well ... the short answer is simply that we don't really know for sure. There's plenty of evidence that shows the biology of gender variant people to be unique, in terms of our genetics and brain structure and stuff, but the problem is that we haven't a clear idea yet of what causes these biological variations. There are plenty of possible causes, but nothing where scientists can say with 100% certainty "This is it."
Of course, it's debatable if there is even a single cause – with such a complex biology touching on brain chemistry, our endocrine system and even our genetics, there are quite possibly many factors at work that all influence a developing baby in the womb.