Leticia
Arellano
Nature vs. Nurture
For many years
Nature v. Nurture has been a topic well-spoken about. People bring up the
subject when dealing on the upbringing of a child. When having a child whether
it’s a girl or boy you automatically get into a state of mind that well if I
had a girl I have raise it like a girl and if I had a boy I have to raise it as
a boy. Parents from the very moment they have a child they incline themselves
to raise their child as the gender they were born in. In the following novel
“As Nature Made Him” we see this as the main topic. It’s brought up when the
Reimers twin baby boy suffered an accident. The accident caused lot of problems
to the family; they had to decide whether or not to raise their child as a boy,
who will never be a normal functioning male. Then they came across Dr. Money
who brought up the idea of raising their twin boy as a girl and if they
nurtured him as a girl he would live a normal and healthy life as a woman. Many people debate that Nature may play a
huge role in someone’s life but the nurturing of a child as they grow up plays
a bigger role in shaping their identity.
Parents and society have a tremendous impact on the upbringing of a
child, but is really enough to trump nature?
David Reimer was a
naturally born identical twin boy. He and his brother Brian went in one day for
a minor circumcision but something went wrong and the doctor performing the
procedure accidently burned David’s penis completely off. His parents Janet and
Ron were in complete shock and lost in what to do with their son. They were
afraid that if they raised him as a boy with no penis or a reconstructed penis
he would be teased and not live a completely normal life. Then one night Janet
came across Dr. Money who has had performed procedures were he has turned a
naturally born male into a woman, but keep in mind that these people were heterosexual.
He also performed these procedures on babies who were born with both genitals
of a boy and girl he would pick the best gender that the baby can have a normal
life in. Janet was in complete awe that she gave him a call they met with him
and he finally one day convinced them that changing their son’s gender from male
to female was the best solution to their problem. On their first meeting with
Dr. Money Janet recalls, “I looked up to him as a God” says Janet “I accepted
whatever he said” (Colapinto 50). Clearly we see that Dr. made everything he
said sound so convincing and reassuring to the Reimers that they were convinced
this ‘procedure’ was indeed going to work. What they didn’t know that for Dr.
Money this was an experiment because he had done these procedures on
hermaphrodites and heterosexuals not a naturally baby born with an assigned
gender. He made Janet and Ron believe that if they nurtured him as a girl that
it he would believe he was a girl. Janet and Ron didn’t until later catch on
that the procedure performed on their son was merely an experiment.
With so much going on in society it’s really no wonder
that Dr. Money and the Reimers really and genuinely thought that raising their
baby boy as a girl after his traumatic accident would actually work. Dr. Money gave
the Reimers strict rules on how to raise their new daughter. He specifically
told them to dress him into girl clothes, buy him girl toys and teach him how
to act like a girl, basically nurture her into this new identity and gender.
From early on David showed signs that he was never interested in any of that
stuff he just wanted to play with his brother stuff and acted more like a boy
then a girl. This gradually frustrated Dr. Money and as David got older he
tried to basically brainwash him into thinking that he was a girl and was born
that way. Dr. Money would take notes on this and one day published his
experiment that woman and men are ‘equal’ in every way and there upbringing is
what determines there gender identity and stated that his experiment actually had
worked. As a surprise many people believed him, they praised him for his
success, but there was one discovery that changed the view of Dr. Money’s claim
that a naturally born baby boy cannot be raised as a girl. In the following
documentary “Sex: Unknown” Roger Gorksey’s intern student makes a discovery
that the male and female are similar but there is one part of the brain that
defines if you’re a male or female. That one part of the brain gives you your
gender identity and not your upbringing as a child.
Society has had for many years much influence when it
comes to gender identity. Society itself puts out so many things that continue
to separate females and males. For instance with toys, clothes, career, even
the way you act. If you’re a girl/female you are supposed to dress a certain
way and act a certain, or have a certain job. In the following article ‘Gender
roles in Society’ the author states, “A female is
usually expected, obliged to do, or interested in household work, child care
and education, leaving professional and social roles more for the males”(Magar
1). You can see so much of this in television shows, toys for girls, magazines
and so much more. On the other hand if you’re a boy/male you get the image that
you have to be tough, only were a certain colors and you’re the person who is
most likely to support the family. In ‘Gender roles in Society’ there
definition of a male is, “For instance, males are
more interested in or perform physically tough activities like, working in
heavy industries, and defense services while females perform tasks like raising
children, cooking, embroidery and so on” (Magar). Again stating that
females should be the stay at home mother while the male is the tough and
successful person in the family.
In
the world that we are living in today society has so much influence, they put
so much out there, they somewhat have some influence on your gender identity.
This would probably be one reason why now a day parents are choosing to raise
their child gender neutral. Gender neutral is basically raising a child who
doesn’t really know about genders or what gender he/she is. Their parents
choose a neutral name that can be for a girl or a boy. They let the child
choose the clothes they want to wear and toys they want to play with. In the
following article “Couple
raise child as 'gender neutral' to avoid stereotyping”
talks about a couple who chose to raise their child gender neutral to avoid
stereotyping for five years but had to reveal their child’s gender because soon
the child was to start school. The couple only revealed their child sex to
people close to them and everyone else had to refer to the child as ‘the
infant’. The mother stated, “Gender affects what children wear and
what they can play with, and that shape the kind of person they become”
(Allvene 1). She is clearly stating that society has so much influence they put
so much out there on gender identity and state well if you’re a girl your
inclined to wear a dress and wear makeup and if you’re a boy their inclined to
wear pants and like sports. Society shapes who we are, so this couple decided
that if they raise their child gender neutral the child will not feel pressured
to play the role of the gender they were born into. Although the couple wanted
to avoid stereotype for their child they still go it because in our society
today we yet have to accept this type of upbringing of a child.
Lastly
the argument of Nature v. Nurture is that although nature has a big influence
on gender identity genuinely the nurturing of the child and the influence
around him/her is what most likely to determine that persons gender identity. In
the following article, ‘Gender
identity: Family as the most important influence’ it states, “It is important to understand the difference between
gender and sex. Sex is biologically determined by one reproductive organs.
Gender, however, is socially constructed” (Mason-Brown). That’s
where the nature v nurture argument comes in, this author is stating that you
may be born genetically a specific gender but the way you socialize and are
raised is what determines your gender. Family of course has the biggest impact
because they are the ones who raise you, and teach you the fundamentals of your
gender.
Therefore,
although nurture may genuinely have a huge impact on the outcome of a person’s
gender identity, I personally think nature trumps nurture. We saw it in David’s
story clearly, he was born as a male and raised as a female, yet he felt
nothing like a female because genetically he was a male and that’s how he felt.
Everyone around him tried to help him and make him believe he was a female, but
it was no help because again he was born a male. We also saw it in the
documentary Sex: Unknown the people who researched a male and female brain
discovered that male and female brains are so similar but there is one part of
the brain that specifically separates you as a female and male. Other people
may argue and say nurture is the main key to gender identity and it’s
understandable because of the society we are raised in today has a huge
influence on us; society teaches us how to dress, act and so much more. Family
also has a part in our gender identity because they are the ones who raise you.
Lastly everyone has their own opinion about Nature v. Nurture and it is going
to continue to be a debate mostly argued about, and everyone is entitled to
their own opinion.
Works Cited
Alleyne,
Richard. "Couple Raise Child 'Gender Neutral' to Avoid Stereotyping."
The Telegraph. N.p., 20 Jan 2012. Web. 29 Apr 2012.
Andrew Cohen, and Stephen Sweigart. Sex:Unknown.
N.d. Video. YoutubeWeb. 20 Apr 2012.
Colapinto, John. As Nature Made Him. New
York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000. 50. Print.
Magar, Prashant. "Gender Roles In
Society." Buzzle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2012.
Mason-Brown,
Sapphire. "Gender Identity: Family as the most important influence." Helium.com.
N.p., 24 May 2007. Web. 29 Apr 2012.
