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Dr. Stoller presents very provocative findings relevant to the problem of the biological aspects of gender identity, findings which should be considered seriously by clinicians and experimentalists alike.
I disagree, however, with his concept of a “biological force.” This type of theoretical concept leads to Stoller's intention to “look at these cases for clues as to whether the sex abnormality influenced gender behavior or whether the observed effects were psychologically produced.” Such a dichotomy (biological or psychological) is no longer tenable in psychobiological theory.
Experience always “works upon” a biological substrate and modifies that substrate; the biological substrate always sets the limits for the effects of experience. In the present context,
experience (or psychological factors) influences gender via the neural and neuroendocrine system of the organism; experience does not and cannot cause gender behavior in vacuuo.
Likewise, no “biological force” can determine gender by itself. The biological and psychological determinants of behavior must interact to yield gender characteristic behaviors. For these reasons I feel that any concept such as “biological force” which stresses “either-or” conditions will contribute very little to our understanding of the ontogeny of gender.
On a less pedantic plane, two substantive facets of Stoller's data deserve comment. First, in all six of Stoller's cases in which feminine orientation was observed, functional hypogonadism was also found. This observation parallels many observations on the hormonal determinants of sexual differentiation in animals, observations which indicate that an a-hormonal condition during critical stages of maturation results in the development of female-type genital and behavioral systems.
For example, the male rat functionally gonadectomized prior to birth by treatment of the pregnant female with anti-androgenic compounds will exhibit complete vaginal development.1 Further, the male rat gonad