Human Sexuality in "As Nature Made Him"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes John Colapinto's "As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised As a Girl" which shows that sexuality is as much about cultural mores and habits as it is about genetics. The paper discusses the book which is an analysis of how individuals come to see themselves as possessed of sexual identities and the process through which each individual learns to negotiate his or her identity as an amalgam of personal and social desires.

From the Paper:

"The book tells the story of what is in the beginning a medical tragedy. Following a botched circumcision, a family is convinced by doctors, psychiatrists and other health-care professionals to raise their infant son, Bruce, as a girl. They rename the child Brenda and spend the next 14 years trying to transform him into a her. Brenda's childhood reads as one filled with anxiety and loneliness, and her fear and confusion are present on nearly every page concerning her early childhood. The early part of this book demonstrates very clearly that human sexuality is not something that simply springs upon us in adolescence, for from preschool years Brenda is aware of a contradiction in the way her body feels and the way that other girls relate to their bodies."

More papers on Human Sexuality in "As Nature Made Him":

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• Book Review # 54832 : "Human Sexuality and Its Problems"

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