After reading all of these articles, I've found myself really fascinated with the topic and trying to find more information on the issues and people mentioned in the articles. One of my friends is taking another intro to women's studies course that is doing some similar readings right now and I've found it so interesting to talk to her about it and what she thinks and gets from the readings. In the most recent readings I was taken aback to hear the description of the genital surgery performed. Although I know that the author picks such powerful words for the description to make a point, there's no nice way to describe cutting off testicles and shaving back or cutting parts of an over-sized clitoris. The idea of performing a medically unnecessary life-altering surgery without the consent of the individual seems ludicrous. While sex-reassignment surgery might become a desired path later in life for those individuals born with ambiguous genitalia, it's shouldn't be up to the doctor to make the decision of which sex the child should become. While they say that they can find the "true sex" in one of the articles it mentions that something like 90% of all infant sex-reassignment are to "turn" the children into girls. There is no way that only 10% of children are more male or would grow up to have more male characteristics. Yet, to quote from Dealing Dualism it's easier to "dig a hole than build a pole." It's apparent in the story of Cheryl Chase, who was by one set of doctors labeled a boy and by another set a girl, that it's not as clear cut as it seems doctors would like the parents to believe.
The idea that Money introduced, that it doesn't matter which sex is picked, and children can be "successfully" brought up as either a boy or a girl has been shown time and time again to not be true. I read an additional article that told the whole story about the twin boys Bruce and Brian. During the circumcision Bruce's penis was completely mutilated. It was decided by the doctor that instead of living with a deformed penis, it would be better for all to turn Bruce into a girl and rename him Brenda. While Money, who continued to see him for years, reported that he had grown into a normal and happy girl, this was far from the truth. By the age of 13, he had become very depressed and threatened to commit suicide if he had to return to Money. Later, another re-assignment surgery was done in order to turn Brenda into a man, David. He went on to get married; but unfortunately, the trauma and damage was to profound, David committed suicide at the age of 38. After I read this whole story I couldn't imagine how a doctor could argue that it doesn't matter how the child is born, only how they are raised and what sex they remember.
Sex, gender and sexuality are so much more than simply what the genitalia look like. It's something that can't be fully realized when the individual is an infant, and shouldn't have to be. Not performing surgery doesn't mean that the child is going to be raised as a different third gender as opposed to choosing the raise them as either a girl or a boy. It simply means that an irreversible and life changing surgery won't be performed without consent of the individual. Moving away from the idea that these children need to be "fixed" because they're sick and any record must be hidden is one of the first ideas that needs to change before there can be any hopes of further change.