Sexuality identity

development and
gender and gender
development
Vanesa Sierra & Luis Sepulveda
What are 3 to 5 privileges you
benefit from?
What is Unifying
Model?

➔ Start at 6:25

➔ End 10:45
➔ https://wildcast.nmu.edu/episode.php
?id=40D34013-393D-65FE-C7AE-
9F428B73D80F
 Case Study 1

A student approaches you because they

are confused about an experience I had
with another student of the same
generator. The student is worried
because she had an experience with
another female, that she has to identify as
lesbian now. Based upon the Unifying
model, what would you suggest to the
student and why?
 Case Study 2

A student casually lets you know they

have never been on a date and they have
no desire to have any relationships with
anyone, they spend most days watching
horror movies and hanging out with their
beloved pet. They are constantly stressed
about settling down and starting a family
like their parents want them to do. They
are happy in their life and the way it is
now. Based upon the Unifying model,
what would you suggest to the student
and why?
Cass Model
 The Coleman model pertains to adolescent gay
and lesbian identity. Coleman’s (1982) model
highlights attachments over five stages. In
stage one, the pre-coming out stage, people
suspect that they might be gay. During stage

Coleman Model
two, the coming out stage, people have
thoughts about same gender attraction and tell
others. In stage three, the exploration stage,
people date, and, if they are adolescents, they
might show deficits in sexual exploration.
During stage four, the first relations stage,
intimacy is sought out. In stage five, the
integration stage, personal and professional
lives are integrated.
D’Augelli
Sex, Gender and
Gender Identity
Sex
● Used to refer to biologically based
differences between males and females.
“Biological and physiological characteristics
that define men and women”
Gender
● “Refers to the socially
constructed role, behaviors,
activities and attributes that
given society considers
appropriate for men and women”
Terms
Gender Identity
➔ A person’s inner sense of their gender, whether it’s male, female, a
combination of both, fluid or neither.

➔ Transgender people’s gender identity is different from the gender they

were assigned at birth. Your gender identity may not be obvious to other
people.
➔ Kay Bussey
➔ It is important to recognize that sex and gender are not synonyms
◆ No matter one’s
gender identity,
➔ Research provides evidence that in most cases gender identity, or sense it “is not fixed in
of self as masculine, feminine, both, or neither, any point in
◆ begins developing in early childhood, time, but rather
is an ongoing
process that
transforms over
the life course”
Gender in a binary System

○ In this binary system, sex,

gender identity, gender
role, and sexual orientation
are assumed to align.
 Cognitive
Cognitive development theory

● Cognitive-developmental theory views the

Development
understanding of gender as the outcome of
having passed through three stages of cognitive
maturation that pertain specifically to gender.

Theory Bem’s (1983) gender schema theory

● Gender schema theory was introduced by
& psychologist Sandra Bem and asserted that
children learn about male and female roles

Gender Schema from the culture in which they live.

○ According to the theory, children adjust
their behavior to align with the gender

Theory norms of their culture from the earliest

stages of social development.
Trans* Students
➔ An umbrella term to describe people
whose gender identity or gender
expression is different from the gender
they were assigned at birth.
➔ Not all transgender people change their
bodies with hormones or surgery, and not
all match their gender identity with their
gender expression.
➔ See a short video on the history
of Trans people
Being Respectful
 Biological male/female, born a man/woman: Considered
derogatory. Use “assigned male/female at birth” or
“designated male/female at birth.”

Gender identity disorder: This is an obsolete medical and

Terms to Avoid
psychological term for gender dysphoria.

MTF and FTM: Old acronyms for male-to-female and female

-to-male. Transgender woman and transgender man are
generally accepted terms instead.

Sexual orientation: This refers to a person’s romantic or

sexual attraction to others. It is not the same as gender
identity.

Tranny: Offensive to most transgender people, even though

some may use it to describe themselves.
 ● 22-year old trans* women from
Pennsylvania
● Breaking numerous records in
swimming
○ Subject of fierce debate
because of her status as a
transgengerd athlete
● Competed on the Pennsylvania’s
men’s team for three years

Lia Thomas
○ November 16, 2019
● The NCAA Policy for Transgender
Student-Athlete Participation
guidelines say
○ Stated that Lia would only be
allowed to compete as part of
a women's team "until
completing one calendar
year of testosterone
suppression treatment."
What people are saying
"unsuccessful as a male
swimmer"
"shockingly unfair" that she
should compete in women's
swimming.
“We fully support Lia Thomas
in her decision to affirm her
gender identity and to
transition from a man to a
woman. Lia has every right to
live her life authentically,”
“She’s followed all the rules
that she’s supposed to
follow,”
”Biologically, Lia holds an
unfair advantage over
competition in the women’s
category, as evidenced by her
rankings that have bounced
from #462 as a male to #1 as
a female”
What does this
mean when working
with college
Students? students gender cannot be
assumed in all cases to
match what is expected
based on their sex
 Final Thoughts
People of Cis Hetrosexual There needs to
different presenters be more research
backgrounds in this area of
study.
Reference page
Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Student development in college : Theory, research, and practice. John

Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Simons, J. D., College, M., & Beck, M. J. (n.d.). Sexual and Gender Minority Identity Development: 30.

Transgender Health Program. OHSU. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://www.ohsu.edu/transgender-

health/transgender-health-program-terms-and-tips

WildCast @ NMU. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://wildcast.nmu.edu/episode.php?id=40D34013-393D-65FE-

C7AE-9F428B73D80F