'I Boy': A family's challenge to understand
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Dec. 1, 2012
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/i-boy-a-familys-challenge-to-understand-gender-36548ed-181711881.htmlIsabella, a pink-cheeked lightning bolt in a Dora the Explorer shirt, uttered her first sentence around age 2; it was nothing her parents had expected. The two little words foretold a struggle over a fact of her birth.
When those two words had a chance to sink in, the child's mother, Jennifer, remembers thinking: Well, that might explain the interest in Matchbox cars. Maybe, Isabella just wanted to be like the other kids at day care; most were boys. Or maybe the child was simply confused.
At least it was only a phase, the mother told herself. It would pass.
That summer, clothes became a problem. Isabella kicked and screamed when Mom adorned her in pretty pink dresses. The child spilled salsa all over them, something that never seemed to happen when Isabella wore shorts and T-shirts.
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companion articles
Just 2 sexes? Maybe not
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Dec. 1, 2012
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/181704471.htmlWhat if one of the fundamental rules of biology is wrong?
One of the first things we learn about the world is that there are two sexes: male and female. Hundreds of official forms and documents we fill out over a lifetime reinforce this picture of biology.
But in 1993, the journal The Sciences published a provocative cover article, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough."
"Western culture is deeply committed to the idea that there are only two sexes," wrote Brown University biology professor Anne Fausto-Sterling, describing how government has used this presumption as the basis for laws on voting, marriage and the military draft.
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Scientific studies used to report 'I boy'
By Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Dec. 1, 2012
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/181711891.htmlHere is a list of scientific studies consulted during the reporting of this story.
