SEX DIFFERENCES – JOHN MONEY FASCINATING CASE 3

The investigations of these individuals suggest that perhaps testosterone has a stronger role in developing a gender-identity than John Money thought. Their ’sex changes’ suggest that testosterone in pre-natal life may sensitize the brain circuits concerned with gender-identity, and if this is followed at puberty by the testosterone surge which occurs in genetic males who have testicles, a male gender-identity will be activated, and a male gender-identity will be confirmed.

There are problems about this theory, as the Dominican individuals’ genitals were not identical with those of a girl, but only resembled a girl’s vulva, and the children may have been treated in such a way that the parents expressed doubt about their gender-identity. Moreover, in their society there are considerable advantages in being a man, and when a choice appeared the individuals would have opted to be identified as males, to be able to pursue masculine activities.

Males seem to have greater difficulty in establishing an exact, clearly defined gender-identity than females. This is suggested by the fact that there are more male homosexuals than there are female homosexuals. It is also suggested by the observation that exhibitionists, voyeurs, and narratophiliacs are rarely women. A male exhibitionist is only able to become aroused sexually if he exposes his penis to a shocked female who flees from the sight. A voyeur only gets his sexual ‘kicks’ by spying on a woman as she undresses. A narratophiliac only gets sexual arousal and can only reach orgasm while talking in a ‘dirty’ sexual manner over the telephone to a woman who usually does not know his identity. There may also be a sex difference in the way men and women are sexually excited, although this is now disputed. More men appear to be sexually aroused by vision than women; more women appear to be sexually aroused by touch than men. More boys than girls masturbate in adolescence, and more fantasize about visual images during masturbation, or have visual images during wet dreams.

Recent research casts doubts on the sex differences in sexual arousal. It has been found that many women are sexually excited by the sight of an attractive man, and many men are more aroused by body contact with their lover than by the way she looks.

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