The authors to argue the position of biology being the primary factor of a child’s development are Laura Smith and Charles Elliott (2011) who wrote Child Psychology & Development for Dummies, Simon Baron-Cohen (2003) who wrote The Essential Difference: The Truth about the Male & Female Brain, and Annie Fausto-Sterling (1985) who wrote Myths of Gender: Biological Theories about Men and Women. Smith and Elliott (2011) essentially state that genotype and phenotype explain a child’s behavior into adulthood. Similar to how the predisposition of alcoholism can be passed down from one generation to the next, these authors argue that genetics and temperament have a similar link that explains one’s behavior later in life in terms of becoming male, female, or LGBT (i.e., LGBT-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual) (Smith & Elliott, 2011). For instance, the authors list three types of temperaments related to genetics that include “easy, difficult,” and slow warm ups (Smith & Elliott, 2011, p. 21-22). Baron-Cohen (2003) further elaborates stating that these three temperaments combined with genetic sequencing of DNA (i.e., chromosomes #23 and #24—male XY and female XX) and hormones (i.e., Testosterone for males and estrogen/progesterone for females) determine brain functioning and sex-typical behavior for gender-typing an individual as male or female. However, if a person has no gonads to represent the chromosomes of gender, then they may be suffering from “Turner’s Syndrome” (Choi, 2001, p. 280). Otherwise in normal individuals, Barron-Cohen (2003) claims that these two first factors would establish whether an individual will be male (i.e., systematic thinking/male interests or hobbies) or female (i.e., emphatic thinking/female interests or
The authors to argue the position of biology being the primary factor of a child’s development are Laura Smith and Charles Elliott (2011) who wrote Child Psychology & Development for Dummies, Simon Baron-Cohen (2003) who wrote The Essential Difference: The Truth about the Male & Female Brain, and Annie Fausto-Sterling (1985) who wrote Myths of Gender: Biological Theories about Men and Women. Smith and Elliott (2011) essentially state that genotype and phenotype explain a child’s behavior into adulthood. Similar to how the predisposition of alcoholism can be passed down from one generation to the next, these authors argue that genetics and temperament have a similar link that explains one’s behavior later in life in terms of becoming male, female, or LGBT (i.e., LGBT-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual) (Smith & Elliott, 2011). For instance, the authors list three types of temperaments related to genetics that include “easy, difficult,” and slow warm ups (Smith & Elliott, 2011, p. 21-22). Baron-Cohen (2003) further elaborates stating that these three temperaments combined with genetic sequencing of DNA (i.e., chromosomes #23 and #24—male XY and female XX) and hormones (i.e., Testosterone for males and estrogen/progesterone for females) determine brain functioning and sex-typical behavior for gender-typing an individual as male or female. However, if a person has no gonads to represent the chromosomes of gender, then they may be suffering from “Turner’s Syndrome” (Choi, 2001, p. 280). Otherwise in normal individuals, Barron-Cohen (2003) claims that these two first factors would establish whether an individual will be male (i.e., systematic thinking/male interests or hobbies) or female (i.e., emphatic thinking/female interests or