Psychological & Philosophical Understanding of Gender Identities
Exploring the relationship between desire, self, and trans identities
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In the recent past, there has been a surge in the Trans identities. Both the number of people who identified as being Trans and the societal pressure to conform to the normativity have increased. This makes one wonder what it is that psychology and philosophy seem to miss. We shall revisit some concepts from psychoanalyst Jacques Marie Lacan and explore gender in the context of Jungian Shadow & personality development. For more details on Lacanian concepts about human love and sexuality, feel free to check the earlier article on Love. We shall explore some of the possible reasons behind the Trans Identity formations.
Psychosexuality of Human Love
The emotion of love (i.e., eros) has been a subject of study for centuries and various explanations have been proposed. The most prominent ones are the ones that focus on a psychosexual basis of such emotion. Freud was the earliest in such attempts who posited that human love and behaviors surrounding love can be explained by a psychosexual development theory. Lacan further developed his ideas and explained the concept of desire in relation to Lack. More specifically, he believed that human desire is a desire that the other desires the person who is having the desire. He supported his argumentation using Freud’s concept of Castration Anxiety/Penis Envy.
Castration Anxiety is the feeling of dread and discomfort/dysphoria in prepubescent/teenage boys/girls who are biologically transitioning to adulthood (i.e., phallic stage of psychosexual development according to Freud). In girls, it manifests itself in the form of penis envy. Lacan uses a symbolic term to explain such a condition as a Lack. In boys, such Lack is the symbolic lack of male organs (i.e., symbolic impotence) and in girls, it appears as symbolic envy of male organs. The reason for such castration/lack/envy is attributed to underdeveloped sexuality. Since a boy has a subconscious desire to be desired by the female counterpart (e.g., the mother, because of her being the first female contact), he subconsciously develops a feeling of Lack (of Phallus, according to Lacan). The same goes for a girl, who has a subconscious desire to be desired by the father and therefore, develops a subconscious envy for the phallus. Such dilemma is later resolved when the boy/girl figures out what the person whose approval/affection he/she wants, actually desires (i.e., masculine man in case of a woman/feminine woman in case of a man). This makes a boy take the traits/role of masculinity and a woman take the traits of femininity.
Transgender and Transsexual Identities
So far so good, such psychoanalytic philosophy explains the sexuality of traditional cis-gender roles however, it doesn’t explain Transgender/Transsexual/Nonbinary Identities. If a man’s gender identity is shaped by Desiree’s desire then why would a man want to play a gender role of an opposite sex? One often explanation coming from Trans critics is that transgender men are perhaps closeted gay men and therefore, in order to attract the attention of cis-gender men, they play a female gender role. However, this can be easily debunked by the fact that most/many of transgender people are heterosexual. There is also the prevalence of bisexual and asexual people in the trans umbrella. One could argue here that only Transsexual women are perhaps the closeted gay men who want the attention of cis-gender men, therefore, go through all the turmoil of labor and pain of transition. However, it still doesn’t explain the phenomenon of heterosexual/asexual/bisexual transgender women.
Another attempt to explain the phenomenon of Transgenderism can be made by seeing it in relation to a Lesbian identity. More specifically, it could be argued that Trans women are taking up the role of women to attract the attention of lesbians. A counter argument would be that lesbians are not attracted to male genitalia, therefore, such role playing can’t be genuine. However, a response to such argument could be that since Lesbian identity is grounded in sub-roles (i.e., Butch/Femme) therefore, Transgender woman/man identity can be explained in relation to a Lesbian identity. This could also get support from the Freudian concept of Penis Envy which often manifests itself in lesbian sexual play (i.e., the use of strap-ons in sex). Although such an explanation would be quickly dismissed by some Lesbians as a misuse of a fetish as a cause. However, ironically, all sexual identities are what else if not merely an expression of fetishistic play?!
As there has been a rise in single-parent households (or same-sex), it has directly affected the psychosexuality of growing children and teens. While the phallic stage fixations were resolved/enforced eventually due to the presence of an opposite partner (i.e., fatherly/motherly figure), such fixations persist and maybe mutate into Trans identities. Transsexuality, in particular, can be thought of as the outcome of such single or same-sex parenting. With having lack of a father figure, the unresolved fixations might get resolved in the opposite way. Transgender expression, however, may or may not directly relate to single parenthood. However, both can be nevertheless, considered a dysregulation/deviation of the phallic stage resolution.
Furthermore, as society advances in terms of technology and awareness, it no longer requires typical gender roles to function. Males/Females who were not particularly comfortable or were unsuited for the assigned gender roles are opting out of the gender role play and reshaping the play altogether. This may be hinting at the presence of a gender spectrum all along, it is only that it is being discovered and recognized only lately. Thus, giving people a choice and a broader space to play a particular role within society.
Nonbinary Identities
So far, we have dealt with the possible explanations of Transgender and Transexual identities. However, there is a range of sub-identities under the Trans umbrella which are called Nonbinary identities (e.g., Agender, Bi-gender, Gender Nonconformity, Gender fluid, genderqueer, etc.). Such identities are the most difficult to explain. Typical references to Freudian symbolism and Lacanian psychoanalysis fails to explain such expressions. These non-binary identities have been around since the dawn of time in contrast to the other trans identities which are relatively newer phenomena.
One attempt to explain such identities could be that such non-binary identities are a manifestation of holistic love, desirelessness, or spiritual awakening. A side-effect of ego-desolation is the experience of holistic love. In the state of pure being, the gender role disappears, which is just a narcissistic mask of the ego. Desire is what shapes and structures a person’s gender identity. In the case of either the absence of desire or the lack of clear specification of the ‘object of desire’, concrete gender identity/expression disappears. It is not uncommon for spiritually awakened people to have a nonbinary gender expression. In this way, a true nonbinary expression is the most developed form of sexuality and gender role/expression. However, as with another gender/sexual identities, there can be weak nonbinary roles/expressions originating from an underdeveloped/unresolved aspect of a psyche. Such nonbinary expressions could be identified with their excessive obsession with desire (i.e., sex, materialism, and Attention Seeking Behavior). One could understand such nonbinary expressions as going through a stage of sexual exploration. It is quite possible, for many, to go through a prolonged sexual exploration phase and eventually reach desirelessness/spiritual awakening, as opposed to some who might arrive there shortly.
Trans-Autistic Overlap
The relationship between autism and deviation from gender identity norms is paradoxical. On one hand, autistic people have a strong sense of self and on the other hand, many autistic people identify as transgender. The increased sense of separateness from the rest compels autistic individuals to dig deeper into the social façade including the gender role play. This is often termed in autistic circles as becoming aware of “masking”. After discovering that all social relations are mediated by a persona, — which is merely a role play, an autistic individual starts to see all aspects of their self/identity as a socially constructed phenomenon. This provides the necessary space for non-normative identities to emerge and flourish. Whereby a normal person goes through life without ever questioning the social norms instilled into them by society, an autistic person has to learn them through cognitive reflections and reasoning. This allows an autistic person to become more receptive to deviations from gender norms and identities. It is also plausible that some autistic teens might indulge in such gender non-conformity and identity deviations as a form of youthful rebellion or a means to seek attention. However, if such identity deviation or non-conformity is grounded in reason, intuition, and thorough introspection, then it further reinforces the hypothesis that gender might be a spectrum rather than a discrete set of categories.
Gender as a Personality Dimension
Gender and Transgender phenomenon can be understood in the light of Carl Jung’s theory of personality development. According to Jung (and Freud), human personality/psyche development consists of three major components: Id, ego, and superego. Id consists of bodily desires and their management (e.g., the functioning/development of autonomic nervous system). In early infancy, the Id is developed. The ego is the conscious awareness of the self and is still undeveloped in infants. As a child goes through the process of ego development (i.e., object permanence, acquisition of name, recognition of the bodily appearance of the self and the others etc.), it establishes the basis of the self. At around age three, moral expectations are slowly introduced to the child (e.g., in the form of toilet training). This is when the superego of a child starts to develop. The ego plays an important role in mediating the demands of the Id and the expectations of the superego. At around age five, the superego is developed to the level needed for the management of bodily impulses. Now it is the next stage of superego development which is the indoctrination of behavioral expectations and social norms. Note that this is when the child also starts formal schooling. This implies that it is at this stage when a child starts to learn to mediate between the self and others. The ego starts to split into two subcomponents: persona and Shadow. The child learns to play the social game by exhibiting the approved set of behaviors (e.g., asking permission to go to the toilet or not making noise in the class, etc.). This constructs the persona of the person. However, due to the unresolved conflicts between the superego and the Id — arising as a consequence of such imposition, a hidden part of the psyche starts to form. It is part of the self which is unknown to the child and consists of the traits, beliefs and desires that form a parallel self, called Shadow. This Shadow is buried under all the ego defense mechanisms (check out those if you are unfamiliar) which it develops in order to mediate between the superego and the Id. This is also the stage of life where gender awareness happens as a result of the interaction with the opposite sex, provided that there wasn’t any gender segregation, in which case, it can be delayed further. The concept of gender is enforced/learned as part of the ego development as a child transitions to the prepubescent stage (a Latent stage in the Freudian timeline). By that time, both the ego and the superego are fully developed and incorporate the gender aspect of the psyche as part of the individual’s identity. The Shadow self is also developed in parallel and may or may not be drastically different from the persona.
Gender formation can be thought of as a part of the process of ego formation. Consequently, the transgender identity is more of an abolition of the superego and expression of the Shadow than a typical “transformation”. In an unhealthy transgender identity, the complete absence of the superego happens resulting in a strong conflict between the individual and the society. However, in healthy trans identities/expressions, the Shadow self is integrated with the persona. Such integration reshapes the ego of the person and therefore, a new identity may or may not emerge as a consequence. The egoic reformation consists of both the aspects of the Persona and the Shadow self. A transgender identity formation early in life may not go through the Shadow integration phase as there wasn’t a strong Shadow formed in the first place. In such trans identity formations, a weak superego regulation exists. A lack of superego regulation during the stage of ego development, causes a person to not form a strong sense of self thereby could lead to problems with self-esteem and impulse/ethical regulations later in life. For example, it is not uncommon to see the formation/emergence of a Narcissistic personality in transsexual/transgender identities. Whether it is the nature of trans identities which attracts the Narcissists or the process itself which breeds Narcissism remains a topic of study.
Conclusions
There has been a lot of talk recently about emerging gender/sexual identities, however, there are also a lot of controversies surrounding such concepts. In this article, we have explored some of the speculative argumentations and a personality model which might explain the reasons behind Trans identities in relation to desire, and the self. Nonbinary identities which are often understood as the subset of the Trans umbrella are perhaps the least explained and explored concepts. Understanding Non-binary identities can give insight into the whole spectrum of identities. Furthermore, autistic-trans overlap is also an interesting phenomenon that compels one to see gender in a different light, perhaps in relation to the concept of self. This also coincides with the psychological understanding of personality/self-formation — mainly the egoic development part of personality development. The consequence of such an understanding could be that we might have to understand the whole gender paradigm in a different way. Maybe one wouldn’t need as many letters as one needs these days to label people enclosed in multiple bins.
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