David Reimer

When Reimer was a baby, a doctor botched his circumcision, and sex researcher Dr. John Money convinced Reimer's parents of his theory that "gender identity" (a term Money coined) was not assigned by nature, but by nurture. He thus got them to castrate the child and raise him as a girl. Money said the "success" of the reassignment "proved" his theory, in part because Reimer was a perfect test subject: he had an identical twin brother. It was literally a textbook case, written up in medical, psychiatric and other texts as proof that gender was malleable -- and widely promoted by Dr. Money. But Money apparently never let on that over time, the experiment actually proved to be a disaster: Reimer, who was renamed "Brenda", preferred toy guns to dolls, and never adapted to his female personality. At 14, "Brenda" refused to continue taking artificial hormones, and when he learned the truth about his childhood he reclaimed his male identity, and the name David. But the psychological scars of his childhood, coupled with the death of his twin two years ago, overcame him. He committed suicide on May 4 in his hometown of Winnipeg, Man., Canada. He was 38. From This is True for 9 May 2004 Suggestions for further reading: The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man by Brett McKay, Kate McKay Amazon Price: $11.55 Customer Review: its not a bad book. im sure i will end up referencing it in the future if ever i need to tie off a boat anchor. really, this book can be judged by its cover. there are too many praise reviews in my opinion. reading all of these reviews, i believed th...   Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge Classics) by Judith Butler Amazon Price: $13.46 Customer Review: Most of the existing reviews give a good idea of how this book has come across to Amazon readers. I decided to create a review because I had a couple of points to add. The first is a reiteration - Butler's prose is, in places, exceedingly difficult t...   Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School by C. J. Pascoe Amazon Price: $14.93 Customer Review: My book came on time and was just as the seller described its condition, I was very pleased.   The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Amazon Price: $10.20 Customer Review: The lesbian and gay book group at the NYC LGBT Center read this book and discussed it on March 2, 2010. I guess that science fiction isn't very popular since we had such a small group show up for this book. Those who did read the book fo...   The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals by Stephanie A. Brill, Rachel Pepper Amazon Price: $11.53 Customer Review: I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who has a gender non-conforming child or who is trying to understand what it means to be transgender and what the implications are. Well written, easy to understand, compassionate and pulls no punches. ...   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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