Analysis Essay on A Boy's Child

When children are born, family experiences may determine the identity of a child. The way parents treat each other can be a determiner of the identity of a child. For this reason, a boy child can start to identify as a girl in the early development stages, especially between ages three and five. Similarly, the same can happen for a girl child, who can identify herself as a male. However, after they reach their adolescent stage, due to therapy, just like the one which was administered by Zucker to Chris and Joh, they can successfully change the identity, which could correct their identity to mirror that they were born with. However, in some instances, it cannot work because the child has already been accustomed to the identity. For example, even though Chris identity was corrected by the therapy administered by Zucker, the therapy had no effect on Johns. For this reason, Zucker's claim that John and Chris are examples of his success stories is not convincing primarily because the therapy was ineffective on John, who is a man, loved other men. As such, the therapy is not convincing.

The stories of John and Chris begun the same way, however, as time went on, they moved in the opposite direction, and that is why Zuckers claims are not convincing. John, according to the stories, at a young age of four, started to identify himself as a girl. For example, at that age, as the story highlights, he had bins that were full of Barbies and Disney princess movies. He also dressed in homemade costumes. According to the story, he once at a hardware store, when he looked at a glittery chandelier, wept and said that he did not want to be a daddy, instead, he wanted to be a mommy. His parents let him grow long hair just like girls, but they approached Zucker for therapy. Zucker believed that his behavior was attributed to medical trauma in early childhood, and from that, he developed a dependency on his mother because he had a dominant personality. The parents, in assistance of Zucker, put away the girl-toys and videos and replaced them with neutral ones. They would distract him by offering to ride bikes or take a walk. They also used terms like, boys do not wear pink, they wear blue, and also would attempt to change his mindset by saying that, Daddy is smarter than Mommy. Even when he called for her mother at night, dad would always go.

John said that he liked the therapy because it made him feel happy. However, John had never changed his childhood identity, as later revealed by Caroline. When she walked downstairs to say goodnight, she found him draped in a blanket, vamping. Carolines view was that the therapy was not a cure, and he later broke off news that he was gay. As such, Zuckers therapy was not a success. However, it was in the case of Chris. While she was young, she peed standing up and played with boys. She did not like girl-toys as she would pop their heads up. She did not like being called a girl because she freaked out and screamed when her father, Mike said that she was a girl. After her parents took her to Zucker, and after four years of no progress, Chris finally responded positively to the therapy. A month after she got her periods she started playing with other girls by joining the softball team. She even went shopping with her mother to buy girls clothes and even got her ears pierces. She also gave away her boys clothes.

Therefore, it can be concluded that Zuckers remarks that Chris and John are a success story are not convincing because only one of the stories was successful. John was not a success, but Chris was. As such, the therapy can work or cannot work, depending on the subject. Zucker did not know that John was still engulfed in his childhood identity because he kept it a secret. However, he eventually revealed that he was gay. For this reason, Zucker stories are no convincing.