• Question: if your a boy then got changed to a girl would you think different

    Asked by to Andrei, Ekbal, Gemma, Helen, Ruth on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Helen Gath

      Helen Gath answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      Good evening! Sorry it’s taken a while to get back to your question….as you might see, all the school seem to be bursting with questions.

      What’s defines a male ultimately comes down to reproductive organs, which are different for boys and girls. These organs release different hormones. Men produce more androgens, and females produce more estrogens. Interestingly, both males and females have BOTH these hormones in their bodies, but males produce far more androgens than females do, and women produce far more estrogen than men. Why are these hormones important? They stimulate the growth of your sex organs, be they male or female. These hormones can affect our behaviour as well, and they are the main reason why the characteristics of men and women are very different. It is important to pint out that these are not the only things that make men and women different.

      Now, if someone had an operation to remove those sexual organs, they would certainly behave very differently. You would be taking away a major source of that hormone which makes you either more masculine or feminine. This would change how you feel and behave, so yes, you might think differently as well. Testosterone, for example, is found in high level in boys, and can make them physically stronger. If you feel strong, you may behave and think differently. Removing these organs would not completely change your sex, there are big genetic differences between men and women.

      This question does lead to an interesting topic of ‘nature vs nurture’. Some people think how we are raised, or ‘nurtured’, will determine how we think and behave.
      Others feel it is our internal, genetic make up that makes us who we are, that this natural instinct dominates our personality and way of thinking.
      I think its a combination of both!

      This really is great question! It has definitely got me thinking deeply about it!

    • Photo: Gemma Marsden

      Gemma Marsden answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      Hi Sparky1212,

      this is a great question!
      From a genetics point of view, as a boy you have a x and y chromosome and as a girl you have 2 x chromosomes. Removing sexual organs would not change the chromosomes you have in your cells.
      Gender is more complicated than this though!
      In fact, there is a case in the US where a couple gave birth to twin boys but one of the boys was injured during a routine operation. This baby’s genitals were destroyed so the parents were advised to raise their son as a girl, without telling him the truth.
      During childhood and puberty, their son said he felt like a boy and wouldn’t take part in feminine activities. Eventually when his behaviour became dangerous, his parents told him what had happened when he was a toddler.
      He started living as a man, had re-constructive surgery and went on to live a great life.
      This case brings up some interesting questions about gender and some people feel that they are in the wrong body or the wrong gender.

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