slight rant/book suggestion
I find it amazing how people are so critical of hermaphodites or transexuals, much more than they are of homosexuals. I imagine that road must be one of the hardest to walk. Our gender is so much a part of our being that any confusion or feelings of being in the wrong body is so very sad.
I just found out about the recent suicide of David Reimer, author of the book 'As Nature Made Him: The Boy who was Raised as a Girl' . I had never heard of David Reimer before this and the circumstances of his operation (botched circumcision, looked it up on Google) are tragic. I would venture to guess that his parents did what they thought was best at the time.
I have seen other unfortunate stories on TV regarding gender reassignment done on babies or small children. In theory, the best way to handle it is to do nothing and let the individual decide when they are old enough but life isn't always that simple.
While I maintain that surgery should not be done, I feel the child has to identify with one sex or the other when he/she begins to socialize, especially at school. Not fitting into either gender group at such a young age seems more devastating to me than identifying with the wrong sex. I don't have any answers on how to make that choice other than to ask the child questions like, 'Do you think you are more like daddy or mommy' (I may be way off base here). In David Reimer's case, he was clearly a boy and should have stayed that way.
Ok, now that I got out, 'The Poisonwood Bible' is one of the best books I've ever read. It was written by Barbara Kingsolver. Each chapter is written by a different member of the family (except the father). The author does an unbelievable job at varying their personalites and allowing us to watch the story through each person's eyes. It may very well be the best book I've ever read.
A little warning though. I tried to get my sister to read it but she couldn't get through it. She claims the book 'She's come undone' by Wally Lamb is excellent. I've never read it so I can't vouch for it. I do highly recommend 'The Poisonwood Bible' though.
I just found out about the recent suicide of David Reimer, author of the book 'As Nature Made Him: The Boy who was Raised as a Girl' . I had never heard of David Reimer before this and the circumstances of his operation (botched circumcision, looked it up on Google) are tragic. I would venture to guess that his parents did what they thought was best at the time.
I have seen other unfortunate stories on TV regarding gender reassignment done on babies or small children. In theory, the best way to handle it is to do nothing and let the individual decide when they are old enough but life isn't always that simple.
While I maintain that surgery should not be done, I feel the child has to identify with one sex or the other when he/she begins to socialize, especially at school. Not fitting into either gender group at such a young age seems more devastating to me than identifying with the wrong sex. I don't have any answers on how to make that choice other than to ask the child questions like, 'Do you think you are more like daddy or mommy' (I may be way off base here). In David Reimer's case, he was clearly a boy and should have stayed that way.
Ok, now that I got out, 'The Poisonwood Bible' is one of the best books I've ever read. It was written by Barbara Kingsolver. Each chapter is written by a different member of the family (except the father). The author does an unbelievable job at varying their personalites and allowing us to watch the story through each person's eyes. It may very well be the best book I've ever read.
A little warning though. I tried to get my sister to read it but she couldn't get through it. She claims the book 'She's come undone' by Wally Lamb is excellent. I've never read it so I can't vouch for it. I do highly recommend 'The Poisonwood Bible' though.
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