Title: Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite
Author: Lianne Simon
Genre/s: Young Adult, Contemporary, Intersex
Synopsis:
Jamie was born with one testis, one ovary, and a pixie face. He can be like other boys after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone. At least that's what his parents always say. But he sees an elfin princess in the mirror and male hormones would only turn her into a hairy little monster. To become the man his parents expect, he must put behind him the hopes and dreams of a little girl.At sixteen, the four-foot-eleven soprano leaves home school for a boys' dorm at college. The elfin princess can live in the books Jameson reads and nobody has to know he isn't like the other boys. But then a medical student tells Jamie that he should have been raised female. Suppressed childhood memories stir and Jamie begins a perilous journey to adulthood. The elfin princess can thrive, but will she risk losing her family and her education for a boyfriend who may leave her, and a toddler she may never be allowed to adopt?
When Lianne Simon asked me to review her book, Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite, I was having second thoughts about accepting it. I mean, the book was intriguing but I was unsure if I can handle its story. Luckily, my curious side won and I'm glad I accepted this book.
Jamie was almost like every other teenager, the only difference is that she was born between the sexes and in her case, she has a testis and an ovary. She was supposed to be raised a female, but due to her father's insistence, she was living her life as a boy.
I can't help but feel sorry for Jamie because all her life she's pretending to be someone she's not. She lives in so much confusion that she doesn't know who she really is and what she's meant to be. She's pretending not because she wanted to, it's because she needed to, so that she won't disappoint her father. The expectations from her parents really weigh her down.
I feel really frustrated at how the society treated her. The discrimination and misjudgment of other people towards her gender issues results in her inferiority. And you know what I realized about this? People with this kind of condition is not different from us. Yes, they may have gender issues and physical abnormalities, but what they are experiencing is just the same as ours.
We sometimes pretend to be someone were not, just so other people could accept us. We, also, encounter discrimination and misjudgment at some point in our lives. We, also, experienced pressure from our parents and friends. We all experienced the happiness of loving and the pain of losing someone. We all laugh and we all cried. And this book showed that we may be different physically but we are all equal in God's eyes.
Everyone can relate to this story, whether they're straight or gay or born between sexes. A really enjoyable read.
My Rating
