Lisa Downing, Iain Morland, and Nikki Sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226186580
- eISBN:
- 9780226186757
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226186757.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
One of the twentieth century’s most controversial sexologists—or “fuckologists,” to use his own term—John Money was considered a trailblazing scientist and sexual libertarian by some, but damned by ...
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One of the twentieth century’s most controversial sexologists—or “fuckologists,” to use his own term—John Money was considered a trailblazing scientist and sexual libertarian by some, but damned by others as a fraud and a pervert. This is the first book to contextualize and interrogate Money’s writings and practices across his three key diagnostic concepts, “hermaphroditism,” “transsexualism,” and “paraphilia.” The book offers a multidisciplinary critique of the tensions and controversies that engendered and followed from Money’s work. He invented the concept of gender in the 1950s, yet fought its uptake by feminists. He backed surgical treatments for transsexuality, but argued that gender roles were set by reproductive capacity. He shaped the treatment of intersex, advocating experimental sex changes for children with ambiguous genitalia. He pioneered drug therapy for sex offenders, yet took an ambivalent stance towards pedophilia. In his most publicized case study, Money oversaw the reassignment of David Reimer as female following a circumcision accident in infancy. Heralded by many as proof that gender is pliable, the case was later discredited when Reimer revealed that he had lived as a male since his early teens. Bringing Money’s ideas into dialogue with both the theoretical humanities and the history of medicine, the book also addresses Money’s lesser-known work on topics such as animal behavior, cybernetics, brain development, and the philosophy of science.Less
One of the twentieth century’s most controversial sexologists—or “fuckologists,” to use his own term—John Money was considered a trailblazing scientist and sexual libertarian by some, but damned by others as a fraud and a pervert. This is the first book to contextualize and interrogate Money’s writings and practices across his three key diagnostic concepts, “hermaphroditism,” “transsexualism,” and “paraphilia.” The book offers a multidisciplinary critique of the tensions and controversies that engendered and followed from Money’s work. He invented the concept of gender in the 1950s, yet fought its uptake by feminists. He backed surgical treatments for transsexuality, but argued that gender roles were set by reproductive capacity. He shaped the treatment of intersex, advocating experimental sex changes for children with ambiguous genitalia. He pioneered drug therapy for sex offenders, yet took an ambivalent stance towards pedophilia. In his most publicized case study, Money oversaw the reassignment of David Reimer as female following a circumcision accident in infancy. Heralded by many as proof that gender is pliable, the case was later discredited when Reimer revealed that he had lived as a male since his early teens. Bringing Money’s ideas into dialogue with both the theoretical humanities and the history of medicine, the book also addresses Money’s lesser-known work on topics such as animal behavior, cybernetics, brain development, and the philosophy of science.
Iain Morland
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226186580
- eISBN:
- 9780226186757
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226186757.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
Authored by Iain Morland, this chapter explains John Money’s unique impact on the medical treatment of intersex by situating his work in relation to twentieth-century discourses of humanism. Arguing ...
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Authored by Iain Morland, this chapter explains John Money’s unique impact on the medical treatment of intersex by situating his work in relation to twentieth-century discourses of humanism. Arguing that Money invoked humanism in his signature claims that gender and genitals are malleable in infancy, the chapter shows how Money borrowed authority from contemporary scientific theories of human adaptability. His purported humanism had the mutually reinforcing effects of facilitating the uptake of Money’s ideas about intersex, while also instituting gender as a core human quality, flexible by definition. The chapter details the confluence in Money’s work of humanist discourses from across the century: psychologist Alfred Adler’s inferiority theory; the popularization of cosmetic surgery after World War I; the post-World War II scientific rejection of race; the medical recognition and treatment of transsexuality; and changing sexual norms during the 1960s. It explores how these discourses converged in Money’s test case for intersex treatment—the story of David Reimer.Less
Authored by Iain Morland, this chapter explains John Money’s unique impact on the medical treatment of intersex by situating his work in relation to twentieth-century discourses of humanism. Arguing that Money invoked humanism in his signature claims that gender and genitals are malleable in infancy, the chapter shows how Money borrowed authority from contemporary scientific theories of human adaptability. His purported humanism had the mutually reinforcing effects of facilitating the uptake of Money’s ideas about intersex, while also instituting gender as a core human quality, flexible by definition. The chapter details the confluence in Money’s work of humanist discourses from across the century: psychologist Alfred Adler’s inferiority theory; the popularization of cosmetic surgery after World War I; the post-World War II scientific rejection of race; the medical recognition and treatment of transsexuality; and changing sexual norms during the 1960s. It explores how these discourses converged in Money’s test case for intersex treatment—the story of David Reimer.
