Nature vs Nurture? Is CDing genetic, or learned (or both!)

[Valerie Nova]

Ooh, ooh! I did a term paper on this very subject! Let's see if I remember it right... it's not genetic or nurture, it's the hormones you're exposed to prenatally. So, in essence, you're born that way, but it's not genetic. Anyway, certain hormones, particularly stress hormones, can rewire random parts of the brain to be more like the opposite sex's. If the part of the brain that determines what sex you're attracted to gets rewired, you wind up bisexual or gay (depending on the level). If the part of the brain that controls speech gets rewired, you SOUND like you're gay, but may or may not be. If the majority of the brain gets rewired to the opposite sex, you're transexual. These hormones can also effect the body. Like, a lot of us LOOK more feminine than most guys. (and don't mind it one bit!) Of course, come puberty, virtually all of us have only one set of genitals, so we develop the corresponding secondary sex characteristics. As for crossdressing, obviously there isn't a gene for clothing preference, but there probably is a part of the brain controlling our desired self-perception. And so naturally, we're all stuck with brains that want us to look pretty. :p

HOWEVER, there is something called androgen insensitivity syndrome, which is genetic, and essentially causes you not to respond strongly (or at all) to testosterone. A man with this condition will probably be quite feminine both mentally and physically. And a genetic male with total androgen insensitivity will be born with a vagina, albeit, a nonfunctional one.

Then of course there's Klinefelter's syndrome, in which boys are born with the XXY genotype. They will have male genitals, but will be very feminine. I believe one of the girls in a James Bond movie actually had a Y chromosome and was born with male genitals, but looked and acted like a girl growing up, and transitioned before puberty.

But virtually all of us are in the first category. Regular guys, made more feminine by our mother's hormones.