I believe that everything happens for a reason. There are things we can not explain but those only exist because we haven't learned enough as a species yet. There are multitudes of theories as to why homosexuality exists but scarce few to explain transgenderism. There has been evidence of transgender people since the time we started to study, document, and keep medical observations of the human body. Leading me to believe that transgenderism is not a new thing, it could for all we know have gone back to the BC eras. Too often we look at things we don't expect and mark them off as mistakes. We don't analyze what exactly happened for that instance to occur which is such a flaw in our design as humans. Did nature really make the 'mistake' of creating people that are different mentally than their physical body would suggest? Is it possible that transgenderism could be a side effect of something that happened or will happen to our species? I could even go as far as to suggest that transgenderism may be a sign of the weakening of the barrier between the male and female sexes. Maybe one day one of them will be phased out? What possible reasons can you imagine there to be that would produce such a distinction from a person's physical and mental sex?
I doubt that it could be a weakening between the sexes, that wouldn't make too much sense from a genetic standpoint. If I had to guess, I'd say the problem may have arisen somewhere in the transition from reptile to mammal, but it was so minor at the time that it didn't really stop the genes from being passed on. It would be interesting to see a study of transgender tendencies in other mammals and in a few more distant relatives to see where it may have originated. It could be residual from certain reptiles that actually do switch genders. I find it very likely that we will eventually have an explanation.
I read an article on this, the theory was that when a baby is in the womb it gets a wash of hormones to the brain that determine the sex of the baby, and sometimes the mother's body gets it wrong. So you have a baby with a male body with a distinctly female brain. I find this has merit. Just my views and all.
I'll start by saying I haven't done much research on this. This is a really basic way of explaining it because I'm lazy lol but I think people are whatever gender in two different ways: physically and mentally. Usually they match up; and, in my opinion, when they don't that's when transgenderism happens. I think my theory is pretty similar to what Naren said, that sometimes things get a bit mixed up.
Basically what Naren said - except that sex is genetically assigned by sex chromosomes (XX for girl, XY for boy) before that cascade of sex hormones begin to effect the development of the fetus. The 'XX' or 'XY' assignment just sets a template - it typically assures that one will develop the XX/XY-matching gonads, initiate the creation of sex-differentiated neuronal connections in the brain, and (I think - not sure on this part) set a basic guideline of hormone exposure to be had in the mother's womb. Those all develop after sex is assigned - so if, for some reason (probably atypical gene expression), the fetus gets exposed to sex-atypical amounts of hormones (such that it is skewed toward those levels typical of the opposite sex), then the baby will probably be much more likely to experience gender dysphoria. To put it more simply though (since I've realized I am rambling): Sex (whether one is physically male or female) is established, in the womb, before sexual differentiation (the degree to which a brain is 'masculinized' or 'feminized' by sex hormones) occurs. That masculinization or feminization helps to facilitate gender (the psychological sense of identifying with the characteristics typically associated with a certain sex). Since those two processes, while usually connected, occur apart in the womb, and so can sometimes contradict one another - getting female gonads but male sex hormones, male gonads but female hormones - etc. And I'm still rambling - lol sorry
I can't speak as to the why it happens, I'm no expert in that. However one thing that I can guess is that anyone that is transgender, considering everything that they have to go through and face, odds are they will become a very humble, caring, and loving person. When you face prejudice simply because people don't understand you, you will come out of it as a better person, definitively better than anyone of the haters. Honestly I wish that everyone could have that kind of personality. I don't know if you believe in a divine plan or if everything in the universe is just a random series of events, but this is a result that I see, and it seems like a step in the right direction.
