I’d Rather Be a Man Without a Penis Than a Woman
Decades later, I’m still pissed about this statement
Years ago, at an informal gathering of lawyers, one of my (male) law partners made the aforesaid statement. So how did the subject come up, you ask?
Well, during said informal gathering, a terrible electrocautery circumcision accident and the life of the injured boy (one of a set of twin boys) was discussed. It was such big news that the New York Times deemed it worthy of a report, in 1985, quoted below, in part.
‘The burns to one infant were so severe that his penis was destroyed. A sex change operation has been performed so that the child will be raised as a female, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the child’s parents.’
‘Baby Doe is now a female person, who has been rendered sterile and completely incapable of reproduction, and who will require medical monitoring and hormonal therapy throughout the remainder of her life.’
To say the experiment was not a success would be an understatement. Despite efforts to raise him as a girl, he knew he was not a girl, grew up to be a man, and shot himself at age thirty-eight. Notably, his twin brother also took his own life.
