Money and his colleagues suggest that humans are essentially neutral at birth. This concept is refuted by many but actually makes a lot of sense. Once we are born we become the people we are based on the environment in which we live and how we are raised...It all comes down to how we define sex. I think that the research and evaluations of intersexual children and how doctors deal with that can tell us a lot and is where a lot of our theories about sex and gender derive from.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Of gender and genitals
Guys, I don't know about you, but I was frightened reading this chapter of "Sexing the Body". What scared me the most was thinking about women and men like the fifty-year old from Dewhurst and Gordon's research: after she had lived her entire life as a female, at fifty two she was diagnosed as a male pseudo-hermaphrodite--finding out she has lived her entire life in the wrong body. I can't even imgine the despair and the disappointment that comes with this haunting realization. The fact that a random doctor gets to decide for an entire family, directly out of the womb, what sex he or she will be, is unnerving to me. Why is it that "intersexual children must be corrected immediatly"(48)? Why can't the child grow up and become the person he or she feels most comfortable to be?, and therefore deal with the consequences of inter-sexuality, at that point? In the very beginning of the chapter I think the most crucial fact was stated: "In the development of masculinity, femininity, and inclinations toward homo- or hetero-sexuality, nurture is more than nurture"(46). The idea that we are morphed by our environment and from our surroundings once we are born is a commonality across the world. Cultures everywhere believe in this theory so why the necessity to perform surgery on children as soon as they are born?
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I one hundred percent agree with Courtney that these readings were disturbing. The line "infant genital surgery is cosmetic surgery performed to achieve a social result-reshaping a sexually ambiguous body so that it conforms to our two-sex system" (80) I think really sums up societies view on intersex individuals. We struggle with what we don't understand, and I think based off of this reading it is clear that there still is not one "correct" way to deal with children that are born in between sexes. A point that I found very interesting was that Fasuto-Sterling kept emphasizing that all interactions with the child, were carefully sculpted to reiterate the fact that they were meant to be the sex that the doctor chose for them. It was never a question of what sex they were but rather that they had parts that were there that were not supposed to be. Which I think is going back to the point that Courtney mentions of how it was once believed that we all start out neutral. Personally I have a very hard time accepting that it is all nurture that determines what gender a person is. I think that the example of John and Joan are the perfect example to prove that nature does have an impact on a person's identity. It is clear that we still need to learn much more about individuals who are born intersexed, since it is such a common occurrence, despite what parents may be told. Our belief that there are two distinct sexes has lead to destruction of many individuals, it is just hard since we still do not know the correct way to approach the situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. I was disturbed reading these chapters. But why are we disturbed? I think maybe it's because we are so used to having only male and female that when we add more into the picture it becomes frightening and grotesque. I also think that since we have not had enough experience with those who are intersex that we don't know much information about them so we don't know what to make of them. Our society, as Emily said, has led to the destruction of individuals who aren't male or female. I think with more time and acceptance, we could possibly move away from just having two sexes.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to just let those who are intersex live our their lives until they approach just before puberty. Then we should let them decide how they want to live out their lives: as males, female, or to stay as intersex. I don't think doctors should be the ones deciding once the child is born. But if we let those who are intersex decide, aren't we really letting the parents decide? If a child is born intersex and the parents were hoping for a boy wouldn't they just raise their child as a boy and hope that in turn their child would want to stay a male? While Emily and Courtney say that nurture isn't everything, I feel that we need to see the importance that nurture does play whether it be small or not. I agree that nurture isn't the sole deciding factor but it does influence children.
Actually, I think I am not disturbed by the reading. And I think what Anne discusses in "Of Gender and Genitals" is important. Because before reading the history and popular ways of how physicians manage newborn intersexuals, I would easily think that the best way to manage is to take surgical acts, if a girl born with an extra genital then cut it, if a boy born without that then make one for him. However, now I not only acknowledged that there are many different types of newborn heterosexuals but also knew that there are a lot of factors to consider not only "normal" characteristics consistent with sex. For example, we need to consider whether their sex is consistent with their inner motives, sexual orientation, and self conviction.
ReplyDeleteI think it is the exact individual's right, even parents cannot involve in choice making, to determine what s/he want to be and s/he can even choose to remain with original body. But I also agree with EricaD that until s/he can make proper choice, s/he must have already suffered a lot since there is no place in contemporary society for intersexuals.
So, I feel guilty about my opinion that intersexuals can actually remain what they are and doctors should stop what they are doing now. Because I just state my opinion, but they are who suffered from it. I also feel frustrated because though I largely agree with Anne, but there seems no other choices for these 1.728% of population now.
Before there is more appropriate management available, just let it be.