Is castrating young boys ethical?

[Violet]

You don't have an argument, because the comparison between cutting balls (and permanently destroying sexual reproduction/sex life) and letting kids choosing a hobby (influencing opportunties) is faulty.

In life we make choices, even kids. Removing testicles is not a kid's choice, it's mutilation.

Kids can make the choice to remove their testicles. It isn't always a smart choice, but they can make that choice (it's within their ability, at the end of the day... "the only rules are what a man can do... and what he can't").

The key here, is that such things usually aren't the kid's choice. And if they are, then that choice is usually thought up, reasoned to them, and propagandized by their parents. And children will often do a lot to please their parents, whether they be children of 10 or 60.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFuJ-r_TJWQ

@Tara: humans didn't live long enough back then to often experience osteoporosis. I mean, they'd get some mild forms of it of course.. but never an intense form like they might have had living 40 years longer.

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Yeah, happy cherrypicking halfway a discussion.

Considering I'm giving almost every response in this thread a response, I really don't think that I'm cherrypicking.

Now... if you'd like to can your emotional bag of worms and actually contribute something useful to this thread: I welcome you to. Not that you have to, mind: there's always a fair share of whiners on this forum to go around

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Wrong. Reimer was 22 months old when he underwent sex reassignment surgery. Worse still, it was under the recommendation of a trumped-up psychologist, John Money, and not a psychiatrist/physician. Money counted this case as a success, Reimer blew his head off with a sawn-off shotgun at age 38. Fair to say he disagreed with Money....

To be fair, he didn't undergo vaginoplasty (as we're understanding it for this purpose): he had a botched circumcision which led to his penis being destroyed.

The boys parents were then concerned about the boy's future sex life without a penis, and then went to a doctor who thought that sexual identity was largely learned (rather than largely innate), who then

Then, the boys parents had him (and his twin, also male) sexually abused by having the one with a functioning penis hump David doggystyle. And missionary. And other sexual abuses that were undoubtable not even spoken of. I mean...

Dr. Money also forced the children to take their "clothes off" and engage in "genital inspections".[4] On at "least one occasion", Dr. Money took a photograph of the two children doing these activities.[4] Dr. Money's rationale for these various treatments was his belief that "childhood 'sexual rehearsal play'" was important for a "healthy adult gender identity".[4]

Money was wrong, absolutely (at least, so far as the scientific method has demonstrated). And messing with the genitals of a child ESPECIALLY before puberty at *anything but their behest* is wrong too (to me).

It's one thing to allow them to live as the other gender, it's another to give them hormones or surgery.

So... I lived 100% as a woman at school starting in 7th grade. Didn't pretend to be anything else. And at the time, I even mostly looked the part.

Didn't stop me from being bullied endlessly, beaten, threatened, etc as a result. Hormones alone would have gone a long way towards this (it's a lot harder for men to publicly punch a visibly attractive girl and save face with the rest of the 'pretty girl population', and putting her up to a locker and humping her publicly wouldn't be anywhere near as likely to result in *her* getting suspended for a few days).

Looks go a long ways in the politics of middle school and high school. And things only get worse if over time you're getting worse. I finally had to stop being stubborn and just shave my face when I was in 9th grade, and the testosterone flooding through me was making me look absolutely ghoulish.

Yeah... it's one thing to just let your child be, and it's another thing to protect them... or to even listen to them.