As Nature Made Him Blog #2

                After finishing up the second half of, “As Nature Made Him”, it made me feel very glad to have a happy childhood. The thing that David Reimer went through was very harsh and it put him through so many psychological and physical states.  I find it impossible for David to live pass his teenage years, because it is one of the most difficult times a person goes through in school if they lack confident in them. This made him a strong person, but I don’t think there is ever a cure for a psychological problem that he had, only he could cure it himself.

                Even though the experiment seems to be a total failure, I think it is still possible because I felt that Ron and Janet, David Reimer’s parents, were too cautious about what he did. This made David doubt himself about his gender and question everything. The same goes for Dr.Money, his psychological practices is very disturbed for a child under 13 to see. His licensed should be revoked and his practice should be tabooed. David’s childhood was completely destroyed; he went through the conflict of going from one psychiatrist to another psychiatrist. He went through so many different doctors that he knew what to say what they wanted to hear. I find that once he was able to do that, a psychologist was not necessary anymore because his only problem is the forced identity that he had to play.

                From reading As Nature Made Him, I discovered that gender identity is a big issue to the world. I never thought it that way because I thought it was just male and female during birth and I thought the circumcision was a choice not a necessary process. I use to think that people have their baby circumcised because it was a religious or cultural thing and not because of a medical reason. I think that David’s play a huge role in the medical field because he went through a phase where no one had to go through before. Despite the massive bullying he had to go through, it still affected his life dramatically.

                I think if Ron and Janet just let the construction of David’s identity play it own parts, he would have had a better life. Janet should not feel guilty for the circumcision or the research study of Dr.Money because it was all an accident. The only guilt they should have is making David feel special. This made the construction of his identity fail and make him lose sight of who he should really be. From my perspective after reading this book I think nature dominates over nurture.