In my Psych and Gender class we watched a video about a set of twins. As the twins were being circumsized (mind you, they're both boys) one of the nurses accidently burned off one of the boys penis's. The doctor told the parents of the boys to raise the boy who got his penis burnt off as a girl. The doctor was doing an experiment of Nature v. Nuture. This relates to this class because the doctor reported that the experiment was a success, when it really wasn't. They tried to sue, but they couldn't prove anything. It ended up that both of the twins committed suicide later on in life. Here's the sight....
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I also watched this movie in Gender Differences class. I feel the psychology is focused a lot on the social psychology when it comes to crime. Considering the peer group has a HUGE influence on crime I feel like this is an okay thing. However, this video showed us that even though a boy was raised as a girl by society this was by no means a success. The girl had a horrible time fitting in and accepting the gender role. When she was finally told she was actually a he, things somewhat started looked up. He started following the male gender roles, got married, and even had a child. Unfortunately the emotional effects were far too great for him to handle and he did end up taking his own life. I feel like this example, however, shows us the importance of not neglecting psychology in a biological way when dealing with law. Maybe someone is pressured into a crime because of a peer group, but there may be other reasons biologically embedded in people that cause them to act to the way they do. This debate is a big one, but when dealing with the law we must look at many factors of psychology.
This is a very interesting case, and based upon what I know about the circumstances, Dr. Money was only thinking about one thing: Money. Despite the play on words, his research did inevitably benefit many people in similar situations. In a paper that I wrote for another class, I did some quick and dirty investigations about gender, and was shocked at some of the situations I encountered. First of all, with the discovery of conditions such as AIS and intersexed people, it has been shown that gender is a social construct, but it is one that we must deal with on a daily basis. For example, what does someone diagnosed with AIS do when they have to go to the bathroom in a public place? They have to make a choice, "What am I". I called the Blackhawk County department of Vital Records to ask about a marriage license and a birth certificate. The woman I spoke with actually hung up on me when I asked her if gender had to be listed on the license/certificate! This is a really complex and interesting issue, and I hope that the general public becomes more educated on the plight of the intersexed and others with similar circumstances.