Nature/Nurture Debate on Gender with Reference to David Reimer Case

Although Robert was born and grew up under his given name Barbara as a girl, it’s believed my many that it is his right to have corrective surgery to help his identify, so that he could freely

Blum consulted University of California at Berkeley behavioral endocrinologist Marc Breedlove about how hormones contribute to gender differences. Breedlove’s studies support the idea that there are biological differences between males and females that distinguish each gender’s behavior. This suggests that it’s worthwhile to look at human evolution to understand why these biological differences exist – what is the purpose of masculinity and why do masculine traits such as aggression develop predominantly in males?

2. According to the nurture theory, predict the gender identity Bruce would express if he were not subjected to gender re-assignment surgery and raised as a boy?

The documentary Dr. Money and the Boy with No Penis depicts the tragic experience of a young boy and the psychologist who attempts to “treat” him after an unfortunate accident. In a time of little knowledge of sexual variation Dr. John Money proposed the theory that a boy could be raised as a girl, but after years of failed attempts this theory would be shattered. This story began when twins Bruce and Bryan went in to the hospital to have a routine circumcision operation at 7 months of age. On the 27th of April 1966 Bruce was the first of the two twins to be operated on, but the procedure would not go as planned. The boy’s parents were soon informed that their son’s penis had been fully burned off in a nontraditional attempt to burn the foreskin away from the penis. In a position of great confusion the Reimers became hopeful in light of such tragedy as they later became aware of the work of Dr. John Money, a man who was becoming a pioneer in the field of sex change surgery. In meeting with this man the Reimers were informed that their baby boy could live a normal life as a girl.

First of all David Reimer (then known as Bruce) was genetically born a boy however in 1966 his penis was destroyed by accident during a circumcision, his parents then took him to a psychologist and sexologists John Money. Money advised the parents to change the sex of their child since penis reconstruction wasn’t an option then, he was a supporter of the idea that gender wasn’t predetermined genetically and was from the influence of the environment.

With the establishment of these gender identity clinics, and the financial backing of philanthropist Reed Erickson, a transsexual man, the health care needs of transsexual people gained increased attention and support. Despite this new attention, the clinics used Benjamin’s model of “true” transsexuals. This differentiation between “true” transsexuals and other gender variants became a serious and highly important diagnostic decision as gender affirming surgeries were irreversible. This resulted in many transsexual individuals to be denied access to hormones and surgery. Specifically, transsexual men encountered difficulties, as transsexuality was primarily seen as a male-to-female only transition. In fact, during the late 1960s the United States leading UCLA Gender Identity Research Clinic debated whether trans men should be considered transsexuals. Many trans men themselves did not label themselves as transsexuals as they only knew about other transsexual women (Meyerowitz, 2002; Beemyn, 2014).

The nurture argument can explain why some people adopt the gender role not expected of their sex. In theory, a feminine boy would have had a set of experiences which have led him to acquire a different gender role from most boys. If gender roles are nurtured, it also explains why an individual’s gender may change over time as anything that is learnt can be unlearnt and replaced by a new set of behaviours.

Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with

According to sociobiology our sex, or, our biological differences are what determines our gender. Sociobiologists suggest that biological elements such as our hormones, chromosomes and the size of our brain are what influence our behaviour and consequently what differentiates our gender. Because men produce more testosterone and androgens than women, which are linked to strength and aggression, sociobiologists argue that this explains men’s dominant and aggressive behaviour. (Haralambos & Holborn, 2000)

2.)In the case of Rudy Alaniz like many others males, had a very masculine career serving in the army. Post the Gulf war Rudy had discovered he were intersex during an MRI.The doctor had notified Rudy that he had the sexual reproductive orangs of a female. All his life he had been tricked to believed that he was just a male, to come to find out something totally different. This had left Rudy with more question than he had answers to. He then had come to a conclusion he was sexually altered at birth. Rudy had begun to seek information to find out about his medical history, but had failed to do so.Rudy parents refused to speak on the matter, and doctors had kept his medical records hidden from him. Doctors had even stated the fact that Rudy suffered

Bradley et al., also mention a similar case in which a 2-month year old male was injured during an electrocautery circumcision and his entire penile shaft was burned and the penis eventually sloughed off. At 7-months the rest of the penis and testes were removed and the parents made the decision to reassign their son to a female and to raise him as a girl. The patient was interviewed at two separate times. The first time was at age 16 and the patient stated that she had been living a female life and had no uncertainty about being a woman. The patient mentioned that during her childhood she viewed herself as a “tomboy” but she still maintained her circle of friends to mainly girls. She wanted to have sexual intercourse with males so she arranged a vaginoplasty. She was interviewed once more at age 26 and reported that she had been attracted to women in fantasy, and enjoyed experiences with both women and men. She now

Evolutionary history effects more than just genetic behaviour level. It also effects how society socializes its members. Males –despite having the innate behaviors and perspectives on relationships— experience socialization that, in essence, reinforces gender differences in perspectives and behavior. From early childhood up until adulthood, the individual is bombarded with a plethora of advertisments that portray males as more aggressive (Henslin p. 78). In television male newscasters turn female athletes into sexual objects (78). And socialization is not limited to the media. It begins in the home –within the family. In an experiment performed by Goldberg and Lewis, Mothers were more less likely to keep their boys

From Dr. Money’s perspective, raising Bruce as a girl would allow him to live a “normal” life, if he were to live his life without a penis, he would be seen as an outsider and rejected from society. He also suggested to put Bruce on estrogen, but also surgically give him a cosmetic vagina. Dr. Money explained to Ron and Janet that Bruce/Brenda, would psychologically mature as a woman, and be attracted to men, as well as be able to have sexual intecourse, without a problem. According to Bruce’s parents, there was no reason “that it shouldn’t work” (50). However, they could have thought it out thoroughly, what if Brenda didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin? Would she feel as though something is wrong with her? This is where the topic of

However, overall these biological differences are small.. And they don't account for our stereotypical views of what is masculine and what is feminine. Some of the aggressive behavior of boys could still be contributed to individual

As evident from the generalized patterns found in differences in behaviour and outlook observed between the sexes, it may be tempting, as has been done in the past, to conclude that gender is an unavoidable aspect of human existence as determined purely from one 's genes. Indeed, human physiology is subject to sexual dimorphism; statistically significant differences in brain size and rate of maturation of specific substructures in the brain exist between males and females (Giedd, Castellanos, Rajapakese, Vaituzis, & Rapoport, 1997), yet these physical differences fail to explain how individuals form their concept of their own gender, and why they tend to conform to their perceived gender roles as defined by the society in which they live, when these roles are ever-changing. Thus, it is important to differentiate between the physical and nonphysical traits, and how the labels of femininity and masculinity should not confuse the two aspects. As defined by Unger (1979), “sex” would be used to refer to the biological differences in males and females, while “gender” describes socioculturally determined, nonphysiological traits which are arbitrarily designated as being appropriate for either females or males. With more recent awareness and interest in matters of gender nonconformity and individual gender identity, new research now explains how these concepts of gender are shaped by social influences (Perry