A new theory of gender nonconformity in children
I know -- when you read this you will react the way I did: Why didn't I think of this first?
I was today days old when I learned that, in addition to the promotion of facilitated communication by one faculty member in the UVA Department of Psychology (Dr. Vikram Jaswal: https://jaswallab.org/resources/tribe-uva-partnership/ ), UVA also hosts a faculty research lab focusing on reincarnation and past lives, along with a variety of other woo-related topics.
This research group is called the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), is housed in the UVA med school, and includes 7 PHD or MD faculty researchers plus several support staff.
DOPS home page: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/
The home page for the group describes the DOPS mission as ” the rigorous evaluation of empirical evidence for exceptional human experiences and capacities that bear on whether mind and brain are distinct and separable and whether consciousness survives physical death.”
List of DOPS publicastions: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/publications/
I certainly have not read all of the DOPS journal articles, but one that quickly caught my attention, and amuses me no end, is:
Marieta Pehlivanova, Monica J. Janke, Jack Lee & Jim B. Tucker (2018) Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Children’s Past-Life Memories, International Journal of Sexual Health, 30:4, 380-389, DOI: 10.1080/19317611.2018.1523266
I can do better than to quote the abstract in full:
This study examines childhood gender nonconformity (GNC) in conjunction with the phenomenon in which young children describe memories of a purported previous life. Methods: In a case-control study of 469 children reporting past-life memories, we used logistic regression to examine predictors of GNC, measured by documented gender nonconforming behaviors. Results: Children who remembered a life involving a different natal sex were much more likely to exhibit GNC than children who remembered a same-sex life. Conclusions: After exploring potential explanations, we conclude that past-life memories represent a novel factor that may be associated with the development of GNC.
Finally – we have a new and compelling explanation for gender nonconformity in children: Such children are the reincarnations of someone of a different sex from the sex they are now! Brilliant!
And on the DOPS “Children who report memories of previous lives” page, they have provided a helpful list of the kinds of statements a child might utter that could well be indicative of the children remembering a past life: Again – I can do no better than to copy, without comment, the list in full:
Types of Statements a Child Might Make
“You’re not my mommy/daddy.”
“I have another mommy/daddy.”
“When I was big, I …(used to have blue eyes/had a car, etc.).”
“That happened before I was in mommy’s tummy.”
“I have a wife/husband/children.”
“I used to…(drive a truck/live in another town, etc.)”
“I died … (in a car accident/after I fell, etc.)”
“Remember when I …(lived in that other house/was your daddy, etc.)
OK – one comment. You can’t make this stuff up!