Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “No scientific evidence was found for the third gender”
President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan was the guest of the live broadcast program titled 'Günebakan' on TRT Türkiye’nin Sesi Radyosu (TRT Türkiye’s Voice Radio). Tarhan, who made evaluations about the subject of ‘genderlesness’, explained with scientific bases that there was no scientific evidence for a third gender. Pointing to an article published in the Nature journal Science in 2019, Tarhan said that the scientific study conducted on gender in Oxford and Harvard concluded that there is no third gender other than male and female.
"No scientific evidence has been found regarding the third sex"
President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan once again drew attention to the importance of motherhood and fatherhood models in childhood. Tarhan stated that "The starting point of the debate is about freedom in the world, especially after the 1960s. Especially about sexual freedom... There is a sociological change taking place with the feminist women's liberation movement. In this sociological change, some medical information has now begun to be misused. However, there is a paper published on the journal Nature Science in recent years, especially in 2019. The gender-related genes of 477,000 people were examined. It is a big work that Oxford, Harvard is included in the study. That work was published. Nature is a study that can be seen when searched as 'no gay gene' on the internet. Here, it was investigated to ask 'Is there a third gender other than men and women, is there any scientific evidence about them?' and no scientific evidence was found.”.
Pointing out that this movement’s sociological affects still continue today, although the article was published in 2019, Tarhan said that there is a confusion of concepts on the subject of sexual identity. Tarhan clarified the discussions:
Childhood is important...
Tarhan stated that "There is a biological sex. Biological sex is determined by chromosomes, not genes. Female is XX, and male is XY. It is very clear and unambiguous. There are two specific genders, but gender is divided into a female role and a male role. There is an exception to this. In the role of a woman, there may be people, biologically female, who want to be a man, or there may be people, biologically male, who want to be a woman. 'Are these people sick, is it a medical illness, is it a psychological illness?' This was also investigated. Scientists executed studies on whether there is a genetic basis and there is a hormonal response, and the result was that no genetic effect was found... However, it was understood that the models of motherhood and fatherhood in childhood age and childhood traumas are important here.".
"One must quit it on their own, not by force"
Tarhan mentioned that the environment affecting genes is an epigenetic condition and stated that "When a son is being raised, he can identify himself with his mother and not with his father in terms of sexual role even if the child is a male, if the mother is a mother who devalues and humiliates the opposite sex, if the mother is overly attached and fond of the child. Since this is at a young age, when the child reaches a certain age, it is as if the environment we call epigenetics affects the genes. This condition is epigenetic. Sometimes it is the other way around. For example; there are no sons in the family, and all the children are daughters... The whole family dresses the daughter like a boy since a young age because they say ‘we did not have a boy,' raises her like a boy and gives her a gun and so on... She plays with these toys given... Everyone behaves the same way. When the child reaches the age of puberty, they say, 'Come on, you are not a boy, you are a girl, act like a girl.'. Then, the child says "No, I will not, I'm happier that way," she says because that is how she learned. It is then thought that changing identity is like changing clothes. Life events, experiences, stories, social learnings and emotional learnings experienced at a young age are written as scenarios in the brain. If it happens after the age of 18, that person should quit this one their own because one has made it a lifestyle, and it will not be by force.".
A child takes three things as an example...
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan also underlined that it is very important for parents to be conscious in this process. Tarhan stated "One gets better if the person wants it to get better. It is late after the age of 18. When you feel this in the child, you should not pass the age of 12-13. For this reason, this is more important than an investment in a stone, in the ground. The result of this comes later. It is going to be seen in 10 years and 20 years. Decision makers here have a serious responsibility and loyalty and so do parents... Since a child takes 3 things as an example at home. A child takes the mother, the father and the relationship of the parents as an example. If the home environment is warm and good, the child's development is healthy. For example, the child is curious, learns from the Internet and so on, asks the parents, and then takes a stand by saying this is wrong, this is not our culture and our virtues. The parents need to be conscious here, and the parents need to be educated. This is also a responsibility. It is important that this is clear in the responsibility of education policies in parental education. Children should definitely be under the supervision of parents until the age of 5-6 years. Such gender related films should be watched together at the same time. When they see the error there, they need to explain why this is so, why it is right and why it is not right, together with the way we talk about the wrong and the reasons.".
Children are changing their identities as protest...
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that spending time with children prevents most of the problems and said that "Raising a child at this time is more difficult than it was 50 years ago because the difficult thing is to educate, not to eat and drink. The child eats, drinks and grows up in some way, however, it is not easy to educate and give the child the right character education. For this reason, parents should have the right to do this; a parent should not say, 'I meet the basic needs of the children, and that’s enough!' Thinking about the future 'Will I be able to raise a good child?' and spending time with children about it prevents many of these problems. We look at the children we have problems with in this regard. Often, children who are always so emotionally neglected, who are not happy in the family, turn to this as a protest. They change their identity in protest against their mother and father. ‘That's how I feel’ they say about their sexual identity. They make their mother and father nervous, and enjoy this. These are always clinical cases. It is very important at this time. In order to prevent such misdirection and in our education system, we need to develop methods for this. Families need to be made aware of this in schools.".
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)