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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   27509 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 6, 2023

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grow a small sort-of micropenis

Nope, that's the effect of testosterone on the clitoris. That's because both the clitoris and the penis develop, during gestation, from the same tissue:

The male and female human fetal external genitalia start out at the indifferent stage (8–9 weeks’ gestation) and grow differentially into a penis or clitoris, which are fully formed by 17–18 weeks gestation (wholemount ontogeny to 16-weeks gestation).

A micropenis is a different thing:

Micropenis is a medical term for a small but normally structured penis. Hormonal or genetic factors can cause this condition. Healthcare providers often note the condition during the newborn to early childhood period.

As long as no other health concerns are present, a micropenis can function normally. People with micropenis are still able to urinate (pee) and have erections.

To get a 'neo-penis' you need surgery.

Spatial and verbal abilities also change following HRT (this is where the infamous brain scan study of transwomen comes from).

There seems to be a lot of fascinating biology at work here:

In a new study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, treatment of transgender individuals with cross-sex hormones is shown to result in changes in subcortical brain areas related to memory and emotion.

...After the treatment period, oestradiol levels were increased in MtF individuals, whereas levels of testosterone and progesterone were decreased. Conversely, in FtM individuals, levels of oestradiol and progesterone were decreased, whereas testosterone levels increased markedly. Analysis of brain structures revealed volume changes predominantly in MtF individuals, particularly in the hippocampus — a region involved in neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity. Specifically, oestradiol plus anti-androgen treatment reduced hippocampal volume in MtF individuals, which was accompanied by a global increase in ventricular structures. Moreover, reduced plasma levels of progesterone in MtF individuals correlated with reductions in grey matter structures in the right hippocampus and right caudate. Overall, the findings suggest that high doses of cross-sex hormones alter structures in the adult human brain.

That's from 2016, there's another study from 2021 which also records changes but it's murkier since both trans men and trans women had increases in certain area as contrasted with cis men and cis women:

Conclusion Long-term GHT seems to have a considerable impact on GMD and GMM in the brain of transgender individuals. Specific effects of either androgenizing or feminizing sex steroids must be taken into account in most regions, however, in selected structures both types of GHT affected GMD and GMM in the same way, pointing towards mechanisms that are induced by GHT irrespective of whether feminizing or androgenizing steroids are used. The combined approach in analyzing structural MRI data has the potential to shed light on changes of GM as reflected by both morphometric as well as microstructural analyses after GHT in a longitudinal design and in comparison to cisgender individuals. Nevertheless, larger sample sizes are needed to detect reliable associations between GM and potential MAO-A density changes induced by GHT.

A 2019 study suggests that there's a mosaic effect; male and female brains have differences, but also similarities, and you can't say that "this bit is specifically male, that bit specifically female"; brains of cis as well as trans individuals can have both male and female traits:

Cross-sectional studies One small cross-sectional study assessed the effects of at least 2 years of GAHT in 18 FTMs and 17 MTFs after gender-affirming surgery. Neuroanatomical differences in the brain were found to be region-specific between transgender individuals and their biological sex as well as their gender identity, suggesting localization of influence by sex hormones on brain structure [105]. More specifically, the mean neuroanatomical volume for the amygdala, putamen, and corpus callosum of MTFs was found to be significantly different from those of cisgender women, but not cisgender men (consistent with the natal sex of MTFs). FTMs, on the other hand, differed from cisgender women in the third ventricle and nucleus accumbens, which is consistent with their preferred gender, and differed from cisgender men in the medial temporal lobe structures and cerebellum. FTMs differed from both cismen and ciswomen in fusiform volume. These findings suggest that brain structures are not uniformly influenced by GAHT, and that while some structures become more like those of the preferred gender, others may not, or fall somewhere in the middle. This lends credence to the concept of the gender mosaic, which falls between the two rigidly defined binary gender identities.

The 2019 study is really good, a lot of details about how brains and brain structures differ in the sexes.

EDIT: Though this now makes me wonder, what if the solution is not "this child suffers dysphoria, they're trans, put them on puberty blockers" but "this child suffers dysphoria, this is a result of natal lack of/excess of hormones in utero, put them on extra doses of natal sex hormones"? That might be one reason why there are kids who go through puberty and then decide they're not trans; all they needed was for the 'proper' dosage of hormones to kick in and adjust their brain chemistry to their natal sex?

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