The National Institutes of Health has studied and reported on sex and gender for quite some time. The specific differences between the male and the female brain, the impact of social factors vs biological factors on human behavior, and more are consistently under consideration from a research perspective. Engendering a wide range of dug-in political views, big feelings from religious extremists, and a fair number of controversies, questions of identity and the individual’s right to regard themselves as they wish are a hot button issue. And it takes a whole lot more than language to truly decipher these complexities.
How this research could change the world
Looking at sex and gender separately as these modern studies do, opens the door to a more respectful outlook where all people can be free to be who they are.
According to a Trevor Project survey trans and nonbinary youth experience higher rates of mental health difficulties when their identities are not respected… not that this should be a surprise to anybody. Surely, a more reasoned approach, lifting confusions and explorations from pejorative terms like “disorders,” opens a wider possibility for all people to enjoy life to the fullest.
The above findings could very well bolster the argument for gender-affirming care. And seeing that, as it stands presently, a good many states restrict this kind of care, if findings could be proved by the scientific method (though it seems that method is never enough for those digging in over what they feel gender has to be) we could get closer to freedoms and good health for all.
