The Tragic Case That Proved Gender Can’t Be Assigned
In 1966, doctors decided to change an infant’s gender. They kept the reassignment a secret.
Warning: Includes content that may be disturbing to some, including a brief description of a traumatic childhood accident.
In the 1960s, the theory of social conditioning was a dominant force in psychology. Researchers were exploring the ways that the world could shape our identities, and gender was one piece of the puzzle. Many psychologists believed that gender was learned — in other words, that it was just one more behavior sculpted by social influence.
This wasn’t idle watercooler talk. When psychologists met with intersex patients, they needed to help them make decisions about surgery, hormone treatments, and other medical interventions that would alter the course of their lives. (Intersex is a broad category that includes people who have sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definition of male or female.) Decades later, these cases help inform our understanding of gender.
One of the most dramatic examples is the case of David Reimer. In 1965, a botched circumcision with an electrocautery needle burned away eight-month-old David Reimer’s entire penis. His distraught parents made a life-altering decision, and brought…
