Wren, Bernadette, Launer, John, Music, Graham, Swanepoel, Annie and Reiss, Michael (2019) Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity? BJPsych Advances . ISSN Print ISSN: 2056-4678 ; Online ISSN: 2056-4686

Full text not yet available from this repository.

Abstract

Issues of sexual reproduction lie at the core of evolutionary thinking, which often places an emphasis on how individuals attempt to maximise the number of successful offspring that they can produce. At first sight, it may therefore appear that individuals who opt for gender-affirming medical interventions are acting in ways that are evolutionarily disadvantageous. However, there are persuasive hypotheses that might make sense of such choices in evolutionary terms and we explore these here. It is premature to claim knowledge of the extent to which evolutionary arguments can usefully be applied to issues of gender identity, although worth reflecting on the extent to which nature tends towards diversity in matters of sex and gender. The importance of acknowledging and respecting different views in this domain, as well as recognising both the uncertainty and likely multiplicity of causal pathways, has implications for clinicians. We make some suggestions about how clinicians might best respond when faced with requests from patients in this area.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	First received 8 Oct 2018. Final revision 23 Apr 2019. Accepted 29 Apr 2019.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Gender Identity, Gender Diversity, Evolution, Socialevolution
Subjects:	Sex Psychology > Gender Identity
Department/People:	Special Units
URI:	https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/2006

Actions (Library Staff login required)

View Item