What textbook or study shows that it is considered normal for a child to not only be sexually ambiguous, but that it is normal for children to dress up or act in the opposite gender?

March 7, 2005 10:34 PM

What textbook or study shows that it is considered normal for a child to not only be sexually ambiguous, but that it is normal for children to dress up or act in the opposite gender?

I want to provide it as a reference to my college paper, but my current textbook (Exploring Human Sexuality: Making Healthy Decisions by Richard D. McAnulty and M. Michele Burnette) provides no solid grounds. Am I stepping on any toes by asking this? My google-fu is not exceptional. Specifically, I wrote this:

Precious little information is garnered by his mother and father as they quickly explain to his Grandmother Elisabeth that he has done this in the past, but never before a guest. (08:50) This shows a strong emotional bond towards female gender typed behavior (Page 137: Gender Identity and Page 137: Gender Identity Disorder) but does not solidify any assumption by the viewer that Ludovic sees himself as a girl. This is currently known to be a normal characteristic in children (????)

posted by Dean Keaton to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

(Chapter 9, page 31: Why is my post under sports, hobbies and recreation?)
posted by Dean Keaton at 10:36 PM on March 7, 2005

I would strongly suggest visiting a school library, not the web. You're bound to find a study much easier there.
posted by mathowie at 11:02 PM on March 7, 2005

I would be doing it either way. AskMe isn't my only source. :)
posted by Dean Keaton at 11:07 PM on March 7, 2005

I had a good look around.

There is some stuff out there of academic quality but most articles seem to be establishing data about gender ambiguity as a disorder. (but I didn't delve very deeply)

I got to the above site via: findarticles
posted by peacay at 11:58 PM on March 7, 2005

PubMed. Sweet, sweet, PubMed. Or the magically delicious new NCBI Cross-Database search!
posted by schroedinger at 12:16 AM on March 8, 2005

Wow, now that was helpful.
posted by Dean Keaton at 1:01 AM on March 8, 2005

If your college library subscribes to PsychInfo, that might be the best place to look.
posted by gnat at 6:54 AM on March 8, 2005

Try ISI Web of Science too, available through your trusty school library.
posted by The Michael The at 8:52 AM on March 8, 2005

I hope that's about Ludovic in Ma Vie en Rose. What a great movie.

If you still aren't finding what you want, you could always ask the librarians in your science or social sciences library, or even in the regular one. They are good at the research.
posted by librarina at 9:30 AM on March 8, 2005

I think the DSM-IV's section on fetishes mentions that crossdressing play is normal in kids, but I threw out my DSM-IV years ago. It also might have been in Kaplan and Sadock, and not the DSM proper.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:10 PM on March 9, 2005