Power, Orgasm, and the Psychohormonal Research Unit Summary The Johns Hopkins researchers put a lot of money

and energy into a 14 year old hermaphrodite which Kiira, the patient, found strange. The Doctors were acting as the gate-keepers to what she calls the penis club. Their view is that a penis is something that can penetrate a vagina instead of focusing on its purpose as a pleasure center. The vagina club then served as the default group for those who did not qualify for the penis club. At Johns Hopkins, hermaphrodite children are just made to join the vagina club, but since Kiira was 14, her treatment was different. Raised as a boy, they though male would be the route to go, and gave Kiira the label defective male. When Kiira got to the Psychohormonal Research Unit the doctor asked bluntly if Kiira would rather fuck someone or be fucked and showed a pornographic film of rough sex. Kiira wished it would have been gentle, loving sex instead of this harsher depiction. The doctors seem to think of the male as the more dominate gender with the qualities to fuck someone and the female as the default who will just have to be fucked. Surprisingly, the doctors didnt just ask how the intersex patient identified, but instead decided to inject Kiira with testosterone as a gender test which she failed. A failed male means she must be female, no blend of the two genders was ever considered, and they began preparing her for the vagina club. Now that she was part of this club, she was treated more gently and doctors no longer talk to her about fucking. In fact, over the three years she was there she never even heard the word orgasm or lesbian. In other cultures being a hermaphrodite meant you were shaman-like, and here is where Kiira found her answer to why there was so much energy invested in her genitals. She felt her genitals were more powerful since they were fascinated by them and in such a hurry to change it. During the surgery part of her left upper arm was used to make the vagina deep enough for intercourse and whatever clitoris she had was removed. It has taken her 23 years to come to terms with all the changes and now identifies herself as a feminine intersex person who admires her genitalia as something special to be proud of. She ends the chapter making a joke that she will go and find her clitoris. Analysis I really like the way Kiira told her story. She took what sounds like horrific surgical alterations and made it humorous. But I also have to take into account that this was written after she had come to terms with her intersex identity, which took her 23 years. Its ironic that a team of highly qualified Johns Hopkins doctors attempts to identify a patients gender made it so hard for the patient to find their identity. It seems their biggest flaw was following the strict dichotomy, they didnt even talk to Kiira about her preference for gender; whether that meant remain intersex or reopen at a later age. Maybe there was a surgery that would have been beneficial for Kiira that didnt involve entering the criteria for penis or vagina club.

The testosterone test is certainly not enough in my opinion to chose a gender for someone. Kiiras experience revealed some of my own misconceptions. I dont believe surgery to assign a specific gender is necessary. If someone is happy with their genitalia we shouldnt push them to change it. Each persons sex life is their own and a person shouldnt feel embarrassed about their selves as a sexual being because they dont fit the dichotomy. However when I did think about correctional surgery it never crossed my mind that a doctor would put the function of intercourse above pleasure. This doctor actually removed a fourteen year olds clitoris to make Kiira look like a member of the vagina club. Its bothered her enough that she jokes about going to find it. Thats something a patient cant get back and should have been something discussed before the surgery (assuming the surgery was to proceed either way). They never even spoke to her about orgasms and sexuality. It makes no sense that genital alteration can be discussed without either of these topics. The stance Kiira is taking is that the doctors approach gender as dominate male assignment to the penis club with strict criteria, and a default vagina club who will be dominated by the males. Do I agree with this stance? In this situation that seems to be the case. I dont like sex being described as fucking someone or the one being fucked. This could persuade a patient to want to try to become male in order to have the power. Sex instead should have been described as two people with equal power in order to give a patient more mental freedom to decide how they would like to proceed. Especially since this patient was only 14, I wonder if her parents wanted her to go through this process or if she felt mentally ready. The lack of information before and after the three years in the unit is this chapters weakness. The satire used to discuss her experience gave me a new prospective, and served as the chapters greatest strength.