How the Society Views Gender Issues, Essay Example

The term ‘gender’ often equates with the terms ‘identity’ and ‘being’ which specifically equates to the consideration over self-value. The documentary on twins who were circumcised when they were still infants entitled Dr. Money and the Boy With No Penis presents a determining condition by which the society equates the value of one’s personality and being based on his gender. It could be analyzed that somehow, given that the documentary was shot in the past years, it could be understood how gender stereotyping affected the lives of the children. Originally, there were two boys, however, because of the circumcision that was performed on them, one of the twin’s penis was completely burnt during the procedure. As a result, the parents decided that the child be raised as a girl hence resulting to further confusion and torment to the child.

The way human individuals value how the society would react towards them or the lives they are living is a specific manner that was shown through the documentary. How important was it for a person to follow a life according to the dictation of his physical attributes specifically pointing out whether he is a girl or a boy? For this documentation, it was shown to have a high importance on the characters involved. Relating to the current condition of the society, it could be expected that the importance of gender differences and inference on how it should affect one’s life and being could have had a lesser impact on the child’s upbringing. Stereotyping a person’s behavior and being is now considered to be personal choice. If the child was born now, it could be that he would be able to live a more normal life than the taunting living situation that his parents has subjected him into. What must define a person is what he really is, his behavior, his thinking and the way he is able to use both to contribute to the development of the society. Personally, I do hope that gender division be given less care and character, morals and values be given more importance in this modern day age of social definition.

Works Cited:

Diamond, Milton; Sigmundson, HK (March 1997). “Sex reassignment at birth. Long-term review and clinical implications.”. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 151 (3): 298–304.

Colapinto, John (1997-12-11). “The True Story of John/Joan”. Rolling Stone. pp. 54–97.

Colapinto, J (2001). As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl. Harper Perennial.