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Journal of Sex Research, May, 2001 by Michael W. Wiederman
Boy or Girl? When Doctors Choose a Child's Sex [video]. Produced by ABC News. 1999. Available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences, P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543, www.films.com. VHS, $89.95.
It seems that during the last several years there has been a burgeoning interest in transsexuality and transgenderism within certain academic circles. The issue of gender and its determination via biological versus cultural influences was recently brought to the forefront with the publication of a book on the famous John/Joan case (Colapinto, 2000). Accordingly, perhaps more than ever, transsexuality and transgenderism are pertinent topics within undergraduate courses in human sexuality. Books on gender issues can be used successfully in such courses (Nicolai, 2000) and, fortunately, there have been several videos produced in the last several years whose aim is education regarding transsexuality and transgenderism. Each of these videos will be reviewed separately below.
Boy or Girl? When Doctors Choose a Child's Sex
This video is actually a segment from the ABC News program "Primetime Live" which apparently was televised during 1999. Accordingly, the production values are high and the brief video (approximately 15 minutes) is in a format viewers are used to seeing. The video focuses primarily on two particular cases: "Jade" a chromosomal male born without external genitalia and who is being raised as a girl, and David Reimer, the famous John/Joan case from the sexological literature (a chromosomal male who lost his penis during an accident and was subsequently raised as a girl; see Colapinto, 2000).
In the video, Jade is 4 years of age and had previously undergone surgery to fashion a vagina. Dr. John Gearhart, the Johns Hopkins pediatric endocrinologist treating Jade, is interviewed, and one of the most interesting and educationally beneficial portions of the video is a brief segment during which Dr. Gearhart shows the interviewer a series of slides of infant genitalia. Of course, in each case the genitalia do not match the chromosomal sex. I think it is often the case that students read or hear about ambiguous genitalia but do not fully appreciate how impossible it can be to determine an infant's sex by visual inspection.
Also of interest for members of a sexuality course is the implicit debate between those who believe individuals like Jade will grow up to be happy, adjusted women and those who believe it is misguided to attempt to determine a child's sex. In this regard, Dr. Gearhart is portrayed as the proponent, and Dr. Milton Diamond the opponent, of infant sex re-assignment. In the video, Dr. William Reiner is also featured for his ongoing study of Jade and 15 other chromosomal males who are being raised as females. In this context, the viewer sees Jade during a play session in the laboratory. Although Jade looks like a little girl, her play is characteristically male.
After Jade's case, the video shifts to David Reimer. However, the video was produced prior to the public disclosure of John/Joan's identity. So, David Reimer is interviewed while sitting in the shadows, and his voice is distorted to maintain his anonymity. After publication of Colapinto's (2000) book, David Reimer appeared on several television shows, so there is video footage available elsewhere that shows the real person behind the famous John/Joan Case.
Despite a fairly balanced presentation of the issues, there are some subtle aspects of this video that transgender and transsexual advocates would find problematic. For example, in portraying intersex infants, reference is made to "birth defects," "grossly malformed" genitalia, and the ability to "fix" the problem.
Hermaphrodites Speak
This video is offered through the Intersex Society of North American (ISNA) and runs about 30 minutes. The filming took place during what is billed as the "first retreat weekend" of the ISNA (which took place during 1996). The entire program revolves around a group of nine intersex individuals sitting outdoors, on the ground, in somewhat of a circle. The members of the group pass a microphone as each makes an introduction and describes some of the experiences that led to this point in their respective lives.
Cheryl Chase is identified as the organizer of the retreat, and she is seated among this group of individuals featured in the video (and acts somewhat as the host of this group discussion). The group, though small, represents a fair range of diversity with regard to ascribed gender at birth, degree of genital ambiguity, age, and so forth. However, there are some themes that are common to the members of the group. Primarily, what comes through clearly is the anger at the medical establishment for having taken away the individuals' rights to choose whether and how their bodies would be modified via surgery and hormones. The other primary theme is the sense of isolation and "differentness" each person felt while growing up, hence the relief and celebration at having found Cheryl Chase and the ISNA.
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