Scarleteen

My mother keeps saying that sexual abuse causes "gender issues", and upon being asked for proof she says there is studies done that say it, and says about a CNN article.

I can't find it, anyone want to go on a newsstory hunt?

Hi there KittyPink,

In doing some rooting around, I couldn't find anything that makes that claim either. The closest thing related to sexual assault and gender identity this article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/20/health/ch ... index.html, which linked to this article from the journal of Pediatrics that basically correlates the two: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289524/, but not in the way your mother was asserting. Rather than "sexual abuse causes gender issues", it said that children and adolescents who displayed gender nonconforming behavior or identities reported higher rates of abuse (whether inside or the family or without). So having a gender identity that others perceive as different leads to significant risk of abuse, most likely due to bullying from peers, harassment, and more. This might seem like a "no duh" kind of conclusion, but it actually shows the significance of the discrimination that transgender and gender nonconforming youth face.

How does it make you feel to hear your mother talk about gender and abuse in that way? What does it feel like to come up empty when you try to understand where she's getting those ideas from?

Where's she getting those ideas from is probably denial, simply misreading the article, transphobia, or some other inherent bias. (Especially around an article from my stepfather's mother, which states overbearing females (or males) in a child's life will cause gender identity issues.) Although, I would say that is ironic considering how she acts; which is like an overbearing female... As far as my reaction, as long as it's a peaceful conversation I'm just a little irritated. Coming up empty on reasons, well, just plain frustrating.