#david reimer

[morbidology]

In 1966, 8-month old David Reimer was being circumcised at a Winnipeg hospital. During the procedure, a general practitioner filling in for the regular surgeon seared the boy’s penis with an electric cauterizing machine. His penis was so badly burned that it eventually fell off.

David’s parents sought advice from Dr. John Money, a sex researcher at a Baltimore hospital. Money decided to use David as an experiment to prove that gender depends on how a child is raised.. Money claimed parental influences and society formed sexual identity. He suggested that the rest of David’s genitals be removed and that he be prescribed female hormones. David would live as a girl, it was determined. His name was changed to “Brenda” and his progress was compared with that of his identical twin, Brian. As they grew older, the differences between the two diminished. “I tried really hard to rear her as a gentle lady but it didn’t work,” said David’s mother.

Despite being dressed in girl’s clothing combined with years of counselling and therapy as well as hormone treatments, David insisted he was a boy. When David was 15-years-old, he learnt about the botched surgery from his father. From that point onward, he rejected further treatment, including an operation that was planned to create a vagina. David underwent surgery to remove his breasts and to construct a penis. He changed his name back to David and eventually went on to get married. He was never able to father children himself but became an outstanding stepfather.

His case created an upheaval in theories on sexual identity. Tragically, on the 4th of May, 2004, David took his own life by shooting himself in the head.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/commitment-bias

What is the Commitment Bias? Commitment bias, also known as the escalation of commitment, describes our tendency to remain committed to our past behaviors, particularly those exhibited publicly, even if they do not have desirable outcomes.

It's not only the wave of kids themselves who will require therapy and support for what was done to them, but also - and possibly even more so - the parents who got caught up in this hysteria and psychologically, and possibly medically, damaged their kids.

It's a classic parental tenet that "I would die for my child." But the cognitive walls necessary to actually deny and avoid admitting that you are the one who permanently damaged your own child must be the highest, thickest ones of all. And what happens when those finally come down?

[moviemosaics]

Every Body

directed by Julie Cohen, 2023

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

David Reimer, une histoire qui fait froid. Né de sexe masculin, David n'était qu'un bébé lorsqu'une circoncision qui a mal tourné l'a laissé sans pénis. C’est alors que surgit le psychologue John Money, qui considérait cet accident déchirant comme un ticket en or pour tester ses théories selon lesquelles le genre était une construction sociale. Son projet ? Élever David comme une fille et prouvez que l'éducation peut l'emporter sur la nature en termes d'identité de genre. David a été renommé Brenda et l'expérience a commencé, non seulement ce changement a été un choc total pour son système, mais les méthodes utilisées par Money pour renforcer l’identité féminine étaient tout simplement abusives. Le traitement comprenait des répétitions humiliantes de comportements féminins stéréotypés et pire encore, le tout sous couvert de progrès scientifique. À mesure que David grandissait, les conséquences psychologiques devenaient douloureusement évidentes. Bien qu'il ait été élevé sous le nom de Brenda, il ne s'est jamais identifié comme une femme. La détresse causée par une vie qui ne correspondait pas à sa véritable personnalité l’a conduit à une grave dépression. Finalement, après avoir appris la vérité sur son enfance, David a repris son identité masculine, mais les dégâts ont été profonds. Cette histoire n’a malheureusement pas une fin heureuse. Accablé par une dépression permanente et par la destruction psychologie de ce qui lui a été fait, David s'est tragiquement suicidé à l'âge de 38 ans. Un exemple qui donne à réfléchir et déchirant de la mesure dans laquelle l'ambition scientifique peut dérailler lorsqu'elle n'est pas contrôlée par des normes éthiques

[megashadowdragon]

The Monster Behind Gender Theory, and the Atrocious Lie He Based It On

@bottlepiecemuses

[doctornerdington]

Oh man, David Reimer on my dash. Wow. He was a Winnipeg Mennonite, and his story is absolutely harrowing. I still remember the shock and horror here when he died. Never thought to randomly see him on tumblr.

Pour one out for a real one.

[queerslovehorror]

broke: angela is the villain in sleepaway camp

woke: angela is a trans femme/masc analogy and so making her the villain is transphobia

bespoke: angela is represented as an intersex individual and deserves to burn down the world for how people treat her

[disast3rtransp0rt]

Here is an article written by an established, well-researched journalist:

"Reimer later agreed to work with a second sexologist named Milton Diamond on the expectation that speaking about his experience might prevent physicians from making similar decisions for other infants.

Diamond criticized Money’s study for its lack of evidence and worked with Reimer to debunk Money’s theory that gender identity could be totally taught or learned. In 1997, around the time Reimer began speaking publicly about his childhood ordeal, Diamond’s study was published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The breakthrough paper laid the foundation against performing sex reassignment surgery on intersex infants, which was once considered a “fix” for their gender non-conforming biology."

[emphasis mine]

Is he "female socialized" or is he just a standard flamboyant sensitive artsy gay dude who would honestly be indiscernible from any other fem gay guy if you didn't see him as a walking vagina first and foremost.

[piedoesnotequalpi]

Now taking volunteers for people who want to help me resurrect John Money so I can kill him again

[tamaharu]

you know im starting to think i enjoy thinking about gender

[chaifootsteps]

Look, if trans Bridget puts the wind in your sails more power to you, but if you think "Deciding to raise a baby as the opposite sex is the exact same thing as raising a kid who'll eventually grow up to be trans as cis and that's why it's no big deal" you should not be allowed near kids.

[puella-ae]

2024-07-24

hypothetically, you can just keep taking the gnrh agonist, right there's no practical reason to, obviously but you *could* if you really wanted?

[asking for a friend, or something]

[lizbethborden]

Hey guys. If you didn't know this person is going around claiming that John Money (responsible for the horrific David Reimer case) invented radical feminism on the basis of the paper they wrote for their 100-level English class. They even have a little cheerleader telling everyone to read their highly sourced and professional work on this complex subject and telling us we should write an academic paper in response if we don't believe this thesis. I reiterate that this is an essay for a 100-level undergraduate English course. The human individual responsible for this is in their 30s, and they share all their payment apps at the bottom of their pinned post because of how exhausting and traumatizing it was for them to source and write this college freshman English paper. I love this website never change.

[tanadrin]

I really want to know what SVU implies about Americans. It’s a show that probably does imply quite a bit about my psyche, but I’m too close to the specifics to get it. Sort of a fish don’t have a word for water scenario

uhhh i mean it's sort of the ur-liberal (derogatory) show, isn't it? it's a show that takes lurid sex crimes from the headlines and fictionalizes them to create a world where there is constant predatory threat from the Other of various stripes, in a way that's even more heightened than original-flavor L&O. it's kind of a true crime vibe before true crime really took off. and yet it abjures its own reactionary nature: sure, the cops are valiant defenders of innocence and purity of children/women/the middle class, and when they rough up a suspect it's only because he had it coming, but they're gonna occasionally take pains to make sure you know they're cool with gay people or whatever, you know, those nice normal gay folks.

and of course take all this with a grain of salt bc this is a random slice from the middle-early years of a show with a 25-year (!) run, it's not a comprehensive study by any means. and sometimes it really is just going for the maximum gonzo factor, like doing an episode pretty closely based on the case of David Reimer, which doesn't seem to have any deeper themes beyond "holy shit that was fucked up, wasn't it?" and is kind of an interesting text to pair alongside the House episode with the intersex kid in that it's lowkey TV by and for cis people acknowledging that hey maybe cis people need to chill the fuck out about gender roles and gender expectations. but it's also not. y'know. sophisticated. or sensitive. in its exploration of these themes. there's an inescapable element of circus-sideshow-prurience to the whole thing.

it's worth comparing, I think, to the original CSI, another long-running cop show that occasionally featured lurid sexual crimes and also tried to be progressive in its naughties milquetoast liberal way but also couldn't help but gawking in a pretty unsympathetic way at trans and intersex people (and people with unusual physical characteristics in general, sometimes). what, exactly, that comparison says is an exercise for the viewer who likes trashy cop shows as much as i do, but there's so much there. beyond gender and sexuality, too. race. class. organized crime. immigration. jesus christ why did they make ming na-wen put on that accent.

but shows like SVU are one of the reasons why even though crime is at historic lows in the US you cannot convince people that the world is incredibly safe, much safer than it was in the 90s, 80s, and 70s. the culture has absorbed that there is not only a constant all-pervading sense of sexual Threat but that people who are incredibly reactive to that threat, and who respond with violence and anger and paranoia like the cops on the show do, are on the side of righteousness. and it's a phenomenally popular long-running show that will exist for as long as its star wants it to. we love being told to be afraid!

[locaiintersex]

Locaisex

[Locaisex] is a (extremely placeholder, submit term) term for any person exhibiting what would otherwise be considered an intersex variation, but which was not caused by a natural bodily state they were born with or would have developed naturally at puberty, and instead was drastically altered from such unnaturally post-birth or at puberty.

As a label based in differing intercommunity definitions, the line between [Locaisex] and Intersex is often ambiguous. Some people may have experiences that lead to them considering themselves Intersex or [Locaisex] for the same cause. Other people may lean more towards either label as they discover details about their condition, or community definitions shift to include their experiences explicitly.

This includes, but is not limited to:

Mutilation or Injury resulting in Intersex-typical experiences or reassignment (David Reimers circumcision & reassignment is the primary example as is other cases of injury/mutilation based sex reassignment)

Post-Natal environmental exposures leading to hormone alterations, such as chemical, medicinal, or radiological (SEE: Diethylstilbestrol associated hormone alterations)

Atypical hormone development due to otherwise acquired conditions, such as tumors (many of which likely require some level of medical neglect in order to occur this way. autoimmune conditions pre-puberty causing permanent alterations which mimic hormonal-intersex experiences for example would be considered technically perisex by some due to non-natal nature)

In certain cases, some forms of longterm stress induced hypogonadism (usually which is for some reason undiagnosed for long periods of time)

Forced medication, medical abuse, or other atypical experiences which, while not technically falling under the 'traditional' Intersex umbrella (being non-natal), result in similar experiences.

[Locaisex] is socially an intersex label (as it covers people subject to intersexism, intersexist medical abuse, intersexist policy, ect) with some politically intersex qualities (legal protections against non-consensual cosmetic alterations, plausible inclusion under anti-hatecrime laws specifically intended to protect those with genital/hormonal/genological differences, legal precedent wrt cosmetic-mutilation or similar intersex-typical legalized medical malpractice, ect) - which intended to 'catch' anyone who would see the 'natal only' 'biologically' intersex definition, assume this would disinclude them from intersex resources/legal advocacy/social support, and fall through the cracks.

If at all plausible, i would like other Intersex, Mesosex, Sex Variant, and people matching this definition to interact with this blog, provide examples, and submit alternative names & flag proposals!

You should also look into the revised definition of Mesosex by @ipso-faculty & the Sex Variant label.

🖕🫵Edit yall can't read: ADMIN IS LITERALLY DIAGNOSED INTERSEX. THEY JUST CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE. FAKECLAIMERS KUNG POW PENIS YOURSELF NOW🫵🖕