You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In his paper “Humanizing Different Archetypal Expressions of Gender Expansiveness” (JAP, 69[5], 809–826), Robert Tyminski provides a compelling argument against gender essentialism. Personality traits such as “instrumentality” do not sort according to sex—both girls and boys may show this trait, just as both sexes may also evidence high rates of “expressiveness”. In other words, sex does not determine personality. In addition, society should not impose certain behavioural expectations on a person because of their sex. Here, we agree with Tyminski. Girls and boys should be free to express themselves in whatever way is most authentic to them without being hemmed in by rigid sex-role stereotypes.
It is a surprise, therefore, that Tyminski cites the fact that Kerry likes “things girls like” such as jewellery, cooking, baking, and make-up as evidence that he is gender fluid. Rather than helping his young patient understand that sex should not limit one's tastes, and just as importantly that tastes define neither sex nor gender, Tyminski affirms Kerry's self-diagnosis of being gender fluid. This may have the effect of leading Kerry to believe that he cannot be a boy or a man unless he conforms to rigid family and societal gender roles expectations. Moreover, there is no mention that encouraging this self-diagnosis without addressing the reality that Kerry is a biological male may lead to a lifetime of serious medical interventions with their attendant risks (D'Angelo, 2024). Though many young people who identify as nonbinary or gender queer will not choose to medicalize, a significant number do (Zwickl et al., 2024). Tyminski's paper doesn't address the issue of potential medicalization. We feel that if Tyminski had distinguished biological
sex from gender expression more clearly, it might have helped his young patient come to terms with his changing body and his unique personality in a way that would have diminished the risk of potential medical harm (Cass, 2024).
Tymin