ABSTRACT
T h e earliest sense of self, i n c l u d i n g b o d y self, is located i n a male or i n a female body, w h i l e the characteristics of gender are being def ined a n d f o r m e d . T h e earliest i m p r i n t s of gender ident i f i ca t ion are fashioned by the representations of anatomy a n d physio logy, ident i f i ca t ion w i t h the gender of p r i m a r y caregivers, a n d the intersubjective shaping of gender and sexual ident i f icat ion characteristics and traits are taught and modeled .
