Multiple studies have correlated childhood gender nonconformity with eventual homosexuality. In these studies, a majority of those who identify as gay or lesbian self-report being gender nonconforming as children. Gender nonconforming children face gender policing from both adults and peers, including bullying and violence based on their gender nonconformity. Gender policing at a young age can increase the risk of alcohol use, anxiety, and depression in adulthood.
Gender nonconformity in children can have many forms, reflecting various ways in which a child relates to their gender. In literature, gender variance and gender atypicality are used synonymously with gender nonconformity. The concept of childhood gender nonconformity assumes that there is a correct way to be a girl or a boy.
There are a number of social and developmental perspectives that explore how children come to identify with a particular gender and engage in activities that are associated with this gender role. Psychoanalytic theories of gender emphasize that children begin to identify with the parent, and that girls tend to identify with their mothers and boys with their fathers. The identification is often associated with the child's realization that they do not share the same genitals with both parents.
According to Freud 's theories, this discovery leads to penis envy in girls and castration anxiety in boys. Although there is not much empirical evidence to back up Freud, his theories sparked new conversations surrounding sexuality and gender, conversations his daughter Anna Freud continued in her research.
(mh=hjQxaup6nBPK_6-u)0.jpg "Sex guide in Bern")
Social learning theory emphasizes the rewards and punishments that children receive for sex appropriate or inappropriate behaviors. One of the criticisms of social learning theory is that it assumes that children are passive, rather than active participants in their social environment. Cognitive development theory argues that children are active in defining gender and behaving in ways that reflect their perceptions of gender roles. Children are in search of regularities and consistencies in their environment, and the pursuit of cognitive consistency motivates children to behave in ways that are congruent with the societal constructions of gender.
