Carla Ruiz
Professor Dinsmore
English 114B
27 April 2012
Nature
and Nurture as one
Nature
versus Nurture has been an issue that many debate about. With the book ‘As
Nature Made Him’ it was shown that even with as much of nurture that was
giving, the nature part of ‘David’ was taking over. ‘David’ was born a healthy
baby born along with his identical twin brother. After having some trouble
urinating they both were taken for a routine circumcision procedure. ‘David’
was the first one up, and unfortunately his penis was completely burned off.
Janet and Ron, ‘David’s’ parents, were presented with a dilemma, either raise
their boy as a boy and have him be abnormal since he wouldn’t have a
functioning penis, or be nurtured and brought up as a girl. Nature and Nurture
seems to be a topic that people take on separately, however it seems as if they
go hand in hand. Nature, of course, plays a role in ones life but we wouldn’t
be the people we are now if it wasn’t for the nurture we receive even before
birth.
According
to the dictionary, nature has a definition of ‘the inherent character or basic
constitution of a person or thing; while nurture has the definition of ‘to
support and encourage, as during the period of training or development.’
Instead of looking at these two definitions as two different meanings, we
should look at them as one. Dr. Money, being a pioneer, believed that it was
about nurture and not nature. David’s parents were hoping that everything this
man was promising them would become reality, that because of their little boys
incident he could be raised as a normal girl. However, little did they know
that ‘David’ was basically an experiment since he had been born as a healthy
baby male. Dr. Money suggested many things to influence his new gender
identity. Those things were being dressed as a girl, acting like a girl, and
being around things that only girls would be around. However, no matter how
much ‘David’ and his parents tried, somewhere in him he knew he wasn’t in the
correct body.
There
were actually some theories of why doctors thought the experiment didn’t work
with ‘David.’ One of those main reasons was because of his identical twin
brother, Brian. Brian was someone that ‘David’ was extremely close to since he
was someone that was familiar to him. It is to be said that because of his twin
brother, ‘David’ wasn’t able to commit to the ideas of being a female because
he saw so much of himself in Brian. Another reason according to the documentary
called ‘Dr. Money and The Boy With No Penis’ would have been due to the
constant bullying ‘David’ received throughout his school years. ‘David’ would
get made fun of, called a cavewomen, and would constantly be reminded that she
wasn’t a normal type of girl. Some believe that the reason for ‘David’s’
experiment failure was because of these negative comments towards her, however
his very own nature was informing him that he wasn’t who everyone expected him
to be, no matter how much nurture was given to him.
Also,
in the book ‘As Nature Made Him’, John Colapinto mentions studies that were
done with girls born with an excess amount of testosterone compared to other
girls. The research available states how the girls with the excess testosterone
were born with masculinized genitals and in some cases there was a partially
fused labia. Girls born with this way, their nature grew up acting like boys, a
kind of tomboy traits. So instead of these girls growing up and playing with
dolls and make up, they played with boy toys and dressed in a male type of
clothing. Just like in the case of ‘David’ nature played a bigger role than
just being nurtured into a different gender identity.
In
the society we live in today, we see certain gender roles that are appropriate
for a male and a female. According to an article titled, “The differences
between men and women” it states how “society teaches little girls to be
feminine and little boys to be masculine; society that tells women to respond
to babies and men to respond to sports and warfare.” I believe this to be
completely true because even when one enters kindergarten, you see the little
girls with their dolls and dresses, while when you see little boys you see them
playing rough and playing with their toy cars. Plus, while children watch
television they see the differences between a male and female. For example, in
the show ‘Phineas and Ferb’ you see the difference between the males and
females. Candace and Isabella, two girls in the show, are always seen in a
skirt and shirt or in a dress. Candace is seen as an older sister of Phineas
and Ferb. She is always on her phone either gossiping or talking about the boy
she likes. She is constantly worried about the way she looks. Isabella is a
girl that is friends with Phineas and Ferb, is part of the girl scouts and
always has a bow in her hair. She is always imagining Phineas declaring that he
likes her as much as she does. She is seen as a girl who does anything to be
around the boy who she likes. Linda, Phineas and Ferbs mother also portrays the
feminine role. She is always seen either cooking or shopping for things that
are needed around the house. Plus, in the end of the day she always has a snack
for the kids. The males however, are in regular male attire, shorts/pants and a
shirt. Phineas and Ferb are always coming up with new inventions that the girls
end up helping with instead of making up their own ideas. The boys’ father, Lawrence,
is either reading the newspaper or is clueless of what is really going on
around him. Plus, when he leaves to go off and work, he leaves Linda, his wife,
in charge of the kids and home. Children spend countless hours in front of a
television throughout a day, it is bound to have some sort of influence on what
they perceive as a male and female trait.
Even though some may not realize it or
want to admit it, our identity is basically set as soon as the sex of a child
is determined. We all know that when we see a baby anywhere and they are
wearing pink then it’s a girl and if they are wearing blue then it’s a boy.
Plus depending on the sex of the baby, it will determine the certain objects
located in their room. I just recently went to a baby shower for one of my
sister in law relatives. All the decoration that was located in the hall had to
do with the sex of the baby, which was a girl. The decorations were all pink
and all the presents located on the tables seemed to be pink as well, sometimes
yellow. When the opening of the presents occurred it seemed that everything
they were receiving was pink. Pink blankets, pink shirts, pink shorts, princess
clothing, and etc. They also received little bows and of course the needed
essentials for caring for a newborn. Throughout the whole opening of the
presents you never saw a toy car, or any color like blue or green. Throughout
the whole baby shower, the soon to be parents were discussing the future of
their baby girl. They stated, “ we want her to start off taking classes in
ballet, then to go into gymnastics where then she would join a cheerleading
squad just like her mother.” When someone asked what if she wants to join a
sport like basketball, they automatically said, “No, that’s not something for a
girl to be involved in.” I couldn’t help but think what is an appropriate thing
for a girl to be involved in. However, in these times, one becomes greatly
influenced by what we see and hear from others. When you think of a girl
involved in sports like basketball you automatically assume she is a tomboy or
a lesbian. Also, if you a boy that is on the cheer team rather than involved in
football then he’s gay. Our outlook towards society becomes judgmental when
it’s something that isn’t “normal” to see.
Nature
and Nurture are the reasons to why we are who we are today. Our nature, what we
are born as, is what starts us up when looking at our identity and behavior.
However, our environment, like the television and the people around us, affect
us in how we view our identity.
When we take a closer look at our
identity, we must look at our nature and nurture together and not separately
like most do.
Work
Cited
“Candace Disconnected.” Phineas and Ferb. Disney Channel. 24
April 2012. Television.
“The Differences Between Men and
Women.” National Review 17 May 2004: 15. General
OneFile. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
Colapinto, John “As Nature Made Him:
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl.” New York:
Harper Collins, 2000. Print.
Moreno, Liliana. Personal interview. 21
April 2012.
“Nature” “Nurture” The Merriam-Webster
Dictionary. 2012.
