The Parental Struggle With the Israeli Genital Socialization Process

Abstract

The focus of this article is on how parents of children with “nonnormative” genitalia cope with the conflict between the genital socialization process and their children’s genital autonomy in the Israeli medical–sociocultural context. Based on a qualitative narrative study that included 18 parents of children born with atypical genitalia and 23 parents who had chosen not to circumcise their sons, I compare parents’ experiences and perceptions of genital autonomy and examine the challenges posed by the Israeli genital socialization process from their perspective. In this study, I aim to shed light on the stressful and powerful Israeli genital socialization process, in which the medical, familial, and religious forces reproduce gendered normative genital appearances. The parents’ physical and emotional experiences include feelings of doubt and a critical stance toward genital socialization, changes in perceptions regarding genital appearance, and parental practices that challenge the meaning and outcomes of genital surgeries.