The Stories:

Boy with small penis reared as girl

Semen rubbed on boys' bodies encourages growth

Twins merge into 'Man-Woman' in womb

Medicine Man with Large Boy-Harem Gains Prestige

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Boy with small penis reared as girl

A young American has revealed how he became the victim of scientific experimentation.

Charlie Spencer born in Arizona in 1966, as one of a set of healthy male twins has told reporters how his childhood and adolescence were overshadowed by a rigorous treatment programme, which was designed to transform the genital male into a female.

The treatment was imposed following an accident during his circumcision whereby his penis was partially amputated. The biologist, Dr. John Money of the John Hopkins University, advised Spencer’s parents that the possession of a dysfunctional penis could be extremely detrimental to the character development of the boy. Money recommended that they rear the child as a girl, reassuring them that surgically constructed female genitalia was far superior to the male equivalent. He also explained that as the gender identity of the child remained flexible until the age of 2 ½ years this would be a straightforward procedure.

The young child was renamed and underwent surgical and hormonal reassignment and his parents made a determined effort to socialise him as a girl.

In this case the treatment failed, however. Spencer reveals his unhappy and awkward childhood as a girl, when he was frequently depressed and sometimes felt suicidal. He was always resistant to hormonal and surgical treatment, and when his medical history was eventually revealed to him, immediately opted for a reversal of his gender reassignment. He is now well adjusted to his male gender role awaiting advanced in surgical techniques before undergoing a complete genital reconstruction.

Dr. John Money is generally regarded as the central figure in the field of gender development research today. Significantly his own articles on this particular case omit to mention the many problems that occurred. His position remains unchallenged and his ideas are very influential, particularly in the field of intersexuality management.

Money has been working in this field since the 1950s, when he coined the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are independent and malleable categories. Presently intersexual newborns, i.e. infants born with ambiguous genitalia, are, if detected immediately assigned to either the male of female category.

The apparent failure of Money’s theory of gender development in cases of accidental genital amputation such as Spencer’s, indicates the probable inadequacy of his intersexuality treatment ideas. There are currently five recognised forms of intersexuality. In one instance, children are chromosomally male, but possess a “micropenis.” This can sometimes be treated with the hormone androgen though the organ will not always be susceptible to this hormone. Money recommends that in these cases it is preferable for the child to undergo surgical reassignment into a female than to grow up with a small penis.

Money’s treatment options reflect a paradoxical situation in which society dictates biology. Infants are undeniably naturally born with various combinations of male and female genitalia, however physicians insist upon male and female as the only natural options. Furthermore, though scientists are capable of determining the exact chromosomal sex of an infant it is ultimately the aesthetic condition of possessing an appropriately sized penis, which determines the gender assignment.

Charlie Spencer’s case indicates that the current treatment philosophy may be based on false assumptions and should now be re-examined.

 

Semen rubbed on boys' bodies encourages growth

Homosexual practices between boys and adult men is commonplace I Melanesian societies, according to anthropologists. They report that such activity constitutes a normal part of every boy’s childhood.

The nature of the practices vary between societies. In some cases the boy performs oral sex on the man, in some he takes the receiver role in anal intercourse and I others the semen of adult males is rubbed onto their bodies. It is reported that a reversal of the sexual roles, which could result in the loss of some of the boy’s semen is considered damaging to the boy’s development.

The cultural belief that semen, like breast milk, is a fluid, which encourages the growth process underlies these activities. Semen is considered a scarce resource,e which contains the essence of masculinity.

Melanesians think it does not develop spontaneously but has to be introduced into the boys’ bodies in some way. The eventual development of the boy into a man is taken as evidence for the validity of their beliefs.

A comparison could be drawn between these activities and the benefits of breast feeding, with the exception that human semen is never replaced with a non-human variety.

The scientific basis of Melanesian customs is clearly unfounded, and a similar situation in our culture would be categorised as institutionalised child abuse. The boy’s do not seem to suffer any damage as a result of this custom, as they grow into healthy men. Anthropologists report that these societies are well-functioning.

This evidence clearly calls into question the basis of our own notions about homosexuality, masculinity and child development and exposes our beliefs as equally unfounded in science.

Twins merge into 'Man-Woman' in womb

Historians and Anthropologists have long reported of the occurrence of transvestite and homosexual people in Native American Indian societies. Recently new theories about ‘multi-gendered’ societies have shed new light on the nature of these individuals, which has radical implications on basic assumptions made about gender in our own culture.

There are few reason question the notion that there are only two genders, man and woman, as this appears to be based in biology. In view of recent cross-cultural investigation anthropologists imply that a re-examination of the basis of Western gender culture may be necessary as the existence of only two genders is arguable not universal.

According to a Lakote shaman the ‘Great Spirit’ made a two-spirit person alongside the creation of man and woman, as he explained to an anthropologist: “We think that if a woman has two little ones growing inside her, if she is going to have twins, sometimes instead of giving birth to two babies, they have formed up in her womb into just one half-man/half-woman kind of being… To us a man is what nature or his dreams make him. We accept him for what he wants to be. That’s up to him.”

Although biologists may dismiss these findings as unscientific, such different gender-systems clearly challenge the basis of the Western system. The research has shown that in some North American Indian societies gender may be assigned according to the occupational role preferred by an individual rather than the biological sex. In some cases an individual is said to fluctuate between genders, freely moving between male and female roles.

In these societies person’s assigned to the third or fourth genders are often granted special privileges and shown great respect. Today as a result of western preconceptions and the process of colonisation the differently gendered individuals have largely disappeared. In recent years with the growth of the lesbian, gay and transgender movement in the United States the tradition has been experiencing a revival as a young Indian homosexuals claim to be ancestors of the two-spirit people

Medicine Man with Large Boy-Harem Gains Prestige

Recent investigations of ‘homosexual’ relations in Ponorogo, East Java, indicate that it was until recently customary for spiritual leaders to take young boys as their ‘wives’.

It is reported that the boys were sometimes as young as 12 years. They would leave home to live with the medicine men. Usually the boys stemmed from a poor background, and were considered fortunate to be chosen, as the medicine man was responsible for all their living expenses including schooling, clothing and food. The boy’s families further benefited from the relationship, as they received the gift of a cow for every year of the marriage. In turn the medicine man gained prestige if he had a large harem of boy-wives.

Witness accounts confirm that this custom related to the local belief that heterosexual activity would lead to ‘soft stomach and brittle bones’.

Based on this belief it was particularly important for the medicine man to refrain from heterosexual relationships until he was spiritually and physically fully matured.

Today the situation is changing. The custom appears to be less widespread and the sexual nature of these relationships is often denied. As a result of Western influences, these societies have begun to drive these homosexual relationships underground. Furthermore, anthropologists report that it is now occasionally acceptable for a medicine man to partake in a heterosexual relationship.

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