Gender Identity Disorder

Gender identity is a psychological concept that refers to one's subjective sense of being male or female. The intensity of gender identity exists along a continuum and therefore may vary between individuals. Gender identity disorder is a mental disorder in which gender identity is incongruent with anatomical sex (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). As a consequence, individuals with gender identity disorder experience varying degrees of dissatisfaction with their designated anatomical birth sex. In extreme cases (transsexualism) they express and pursue their desire to live and have the body of a person of the opposite sex as well as be viewed socially as a person of the opposite sex.

Keywords: gender identity; transsexualism; intersex; anatomical sex; cross-dressing