by Gina Bennett

Created on: August 14, 2010

I have always been a firm believer that gender identity and sexual orientation are two completely different subjects. The reason I open by saying this is alot of people manage to confuse these two to the point where who you like (physical attraction) is the same as who you are (mental awareness). First, in order to figure out whether gender is biological or mental, we need to figure out where it is defined within the body. There are two different types of gender. Your biological gender which is what your anatomy shows you as and then there is your mental gender which determines whether you are male or female, how you feel.

This is a hard topic to write about because I feel that as a transgendered individual, I am slightly biased as I have grown up experiencing a distinct discrepancy between the two. I was born as the biological gender of male, but ever since my early teens, I wanted nothing more than to look pretty and socialize with the girls. This left me feeling extremely confused as I had been brought up to believe that your physical gender is who you were and nothing could change that. Recently I've started imbibing female hormone replacements and it's like my body was saying "Finally. Just what I need." If gender is solely biological, then shouldn't your natural hormones be enough to sate this? Shouldn't your body be able to make do with what it produces? This is why I say I'm slightly biased on this topic. I've lived a life where the naturally produced hormones have had a detrimental effect and when I started my HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy), it was my brain that breathed a sigh of relief. I could finally understand things easier and actually turned myself into a more useful member of society. I am able to understand the things I did as a boy and why, and I am able to think alot clearer. It was like the testosterone that was naturally produced by my body was creating a cloud over my brain which made everything feel like it was covered with a cotton. I couldn't think properly.

I am a firm believer that gender is mental for the most part. There are some aspects that are biological but if you feel strongly enough that the biological aspects are a lie, you can have those changed to fit how you feel mentally.

Learn more about this author, Gina Bennett.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.