By Dei Civitas on ‘X’.
John Money, a psychologist and sexologist whose work in the mid-20th century helped popularize the notion of “gender” as distinct from biological sex, left behind a deeply controversial and tragic legacy. While his theories profoundly influenced modern discussions on identity, they also introduced confusion, contributed to significant psychological harm, and challenged the very nature of what it means to be male or female.
Gender: From Grammar to Identity Confusion
The word “gender” once lived exclusively in the realm of language and grammar. Derived from the Latin genus, meaning type or kind, it was a way to categorize nouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter. These grammatical categories were based on language structures and had nothing to do with biological differences in humans. For centuries, “sex” was the only term used to describe the biological distinction between male and female.
But in the 1950s, John Money took the grammatical term “gender” and applied it to human beings, asserting that one’s gender identity was separate from their biological sex. According to Money, gender was a social construct, something that could be moulded by upbringing and environment. He claimed that how people identify themselves—whether male or female—could differ from their biological reality, thus introducing a new level of confusion between body and identity.
While Money’s theory was radical, the consequences of applying it were far more damaging than liberating. His approach ignored the biological realities of sex and led to harmful experiments on children, attempting to force them to conform to an identity that clashed with their bodies.
The Reimer Case: A Tragedy of Unethical Experimentation
Nowhere was this more evident than in the heartbreaking case of David Reimer, who became the centerpiece of Money’s theory that gender could be reassigned and socially conditioned. Born in 1965 as one of twin boys, David (initially named Bruce) suffered a botched circumcision that left him without a functioning male reproductive organ. His parents, desperate for guidance, turned to John Money, who saw this as an opportunity to prove his gender theories.
Money advised that Bruce should be raised as a girl and undergo gender reassignment surgery, renaming him Brenda. Despite clear signs that David never accepted the female identity imposed on him, Money aggressively pursued the experiment, forcing the child into deeply invasive and abusive therapy sessions. These sessions included making David and his twin brother, Brian, participate in disturbing and inappropriate activities under the guise of psychological therapy.
While Money hailed the experiment as a success, it was anything but. David Reimer never embraced the female identity and suffered from severe psychological trauma throughout his childhood. By age 14, he transitioned back to living as a male, reclaiming his name, David, but the damage had already been done. His life was marked by depression, confusion, and emotional pain from years of forced treatments.
The fallout didn’t end there…. Continue
Catholic Critique 