How do gender and sexuality intersect in development?
Learning Objective: This activity will ask you to examine how gender and sexuality intersect in
development.
Our gender is related to the sexuality labels that society uses (e.g., homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual),
but the current viewpoint is to view gender and sexuality as fluid and determined by the individual.
Fluidity in gender and sexuality means that through our lifetime, we are not always at the same point on
the continuum. Sometimes an individual will feel really male, sometimes a little less male or maybe even
female. Maybe someone will identify as a heterosexual female, but date a female. These are not easy
questions to answer for those who have an intersex condition. Some of you may not think that these
labels are even necessary. Yet, I think these issues beg a larger question. How do we make sense out of
the intersection of our biological makeup and influences from the environment? For children, one
important area of concern is puberty. It marks such a milestone in both gender and sexuality in
development. This activity will ask you to reflect on your own development and to investigate
information regarding an intersex variation.
- Given your gender identity, how did you learn about puberty? What sources of information did you
have about puberty and gender? Briefly describe how puberty was explained to you, how old you were
at the time, as well as the context (e.g., puberty was explained to me at school by health teachers; they
explained biological functions, social or relationship implications in 5th grade, etc.)?
