BertrandRussell "Hugh- why are you still talking about male and female brains?"
Because this thread is about transgenderism, which for reasons I've already explained, I think is the result of intersexed or opposite-sexed brain development.
I've attached the first page preview of a paper which illustrates quite well how sex differences in the brain can affect people's behaviour. The paper is entitled Prenatal Exposure to Female Hormones: Effect on Psychosexual Development in Boys, and compares boys who were prenatally exposed to synthetic female hormones (DES or progestins), to otherwise comparable kids who weren't exposed. I have many of the same behavioural attributes, and consider them to be the result of my brain regions controlling complex movement and instinctive social behaviour having developed as female instead of male.
"Based on clinical interviews with the 16 year old subjects and their mothers, the experimental subjects were significantly less "masculine" than the contrast diabetic sample. From judgements of athletic coordination (throwing and catching a ball, swinging a bat, and running), 48 percent or 9 out of 19 experimental subjects received ratings which were considered as indicative of female behavioural movements compared with 12.5 per cent (one of 8) of the contrast diabetic sample or 23.7 percent (5 of 22) of the combined contrast sample."
"Experimental subjects were less aggressive-assertive than the contrast diabetic populations. Of the 10 least aggressive-assertive subjects, 8 were experimental subjects, and 2 were normal contrast subjects."
"The experimentals were less competitive, placed less emphasis on physical prowess, were less success-oriented, and displayed less determination to achieve their goals than the combined contrast groups"
One other thing they mention are physical differences between the "experimentals" and unexposed boys.
"The experimental subjects were shorter (though the same age and weight) and they tended to have a shorter upper body half. The latter body morphology was considered representative of a lowered androgenicity index."
I'm actually the tallest in my family, however my leg length to upper body height is well into the female range, one of the key signs of a type of body structure known as "eunuchoid habitus", which is normally associated with intersex conditions. The fact that these researchers were easily able to spot physical as well as behavioural differences between hormone exposed kids and unexposed ones, reinforces my view that the US federal health agencies must know that the male babies who were exposed to these treatments have ended up intersexed and with female brain development as a result. Rather than admit what happened, they've opted for a cover up, which is hardly surprising considering most people's horror of intersex, and the fact that the FDA approved DES for use in pregnancy even though it caused intersexuality in rats during preliminary testing.
I've also attached a few paragraphs from that paper, talking about "Jim", one of their subjects whom they considered representative of the behavioural changes seen.
"Jim is a 16-year-old boy whose mother has moderately severe diabetes and was treated during the third trimester with diethylstilbestrol (Stilbestrol) and progesterone. Jim was always a lethargic and cautious child. He avoided rough-and-tumble play and any contact sports ... He is a good student academically but has always been a poor athlete ... He ranks himself low (lowest quartile) in his class on both physical power and level of influence. He is a loner and has always avoided competitive situations ... He has had only one fight in his life, does not like to fight ... Jim performed the athletic tasks in a decidedly feminine manner. He threw a ball awkwardly and with little force. Most of the power was generated by the elbow and wrists; he released the ball early in the arc of the throw. He swung a bat through a very short arc with little force with elbows bent and with no breaking of the wrists. He ran mincingly with arms clasped near his chest.
One of the contrast diabetic mothers, a woman with moderately severe diabetes which was recognized approximately one year after the birth of her 16-year-old son, had a second son who at the time of the study was 12 years old. She, of course, received no hormones during the pregnancy with her older son but did receive the progesterone-estrogen regimen during the pregnancy of her second son. The mother gratuitously commented that there is a marked contrast between the two children in that the younger son is an extremely poor athlete, is regarded as a "sissy" by the other boys, will never fight back when pushed, and has never developed an interest in electronic devices or chemical sets as has his older brother."
Again, there are a lot of parallels with my own experiences as a teenager, which I consider to be the result of some parts of my brain having developed as female instead of male.