Biological: Evaluating Biological Influences on Gender Development

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  • Case of David Reimer: Supports the argument that biological factors influence gender development significantly. He was born physically and chromosomally male, but raised as a female. David himself said he felt more like a male. Even though his upbringing was that of a female, his biological status as a male was strong enough to override this.
  • Use of animal research: Gives us new knowledge about how human sex may also be determined, as long as we assume humans and animals develop it in the same way. Using animals is also useful for studying biological influences on gender development as they are born shortly after conception. Studying the pre-natal development (e.g. on rats) is therefore much faster and more practical.
  • Pseudo-hermaphrodites: May both support and refute the influence of biological factors on gender development. E.g. The case of Daphne Went - into adulthood lives successfully as a female despite having a Y chromosome that makes her genetically male. This evidence would refute…

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