Whipping Girl: A Class Analysis

In last week’s class I truly felt like the class had some of the best conversations we had ever had, at least in my opinion. I had a really great conversation with my small group about some of the previous readings and how we at times, felt awkward due to having far different opinions of the readings than our other classmates, especially when it came to the parenting books we had read, such as the one discussing how to come to terms with having an intersex child. I also really enjoyed how the clinical graduate students and the counseling graduate students helped explain why disorders such as gender dysphoria and gender identity even existed within the DSM. All in all, I felt like the whole class really came together and had a great conversation
On Page 24, within the first chapter, Serano makes a point to mention that “a person’s sex is defined based on the presence or absence of a penis”. I found this quote important because it made me think about how important genitalia is and how much control it clearly has on a person’s life. I feel like in class we constantly bring up the fact that we do not necessarily think about the genitals a person possesses when we first meet them or talk to them, but it’s interesting that our genitalia is what put us into categories/stereotypes right off the bat. I don’t ever tend to think about the fact that I have a vagina when I think about what makes me, me. I think about all the things I have accomplished, what things I love to do, what things I may hate, but I never think about my genitalia as an important part of me, though after this reading along with previous readings, it is clear that a person’s genitalia is far more relevant than I have ever imagined, especially if it is ambiguous or not what you were necessarily born