| In humans, at least, hormones are responsible for the majority of developmental differences. Chromosomes usually determine what hormones will be released at different stages of development, but this doesn't always hold true - e.g. de la Chapelle syndrome and complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Trans men and women usually undergo hormone replacement therapy which sends their body through a second puberty; they develop the secondary sex characteristics of their transitioned sex. These hormones also influence emotional responses and other psychological aspects in the same way they would influence a cis (non-trans) person. Several studies [1] have shown that there are similarities in brain structure of trans individuals to their cis counterparts. The most common hypothesis used to explain physiological differences in trans individuals is that infants are exposed to androgen levels that are either too high or too low, causing the brain to sexually differentiate towards a different sex than other parts of the body. So, while trans women may have benefited from male privilege in their lives pre-transition, they may not necessarily "think like men". (And the inverse is true for trans men.) In addition, wages for trans women tend to fall post-transition, while wages for trans men increase. [2] Amber faces the same sexism as all women, and her physiology and brain structure are likely quite different than those of a cis man. That she was assigned male at birth is less relevant than you think. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_transsexualism#Brain_...
[2] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/lgbt_wage_gap... |