Final answer:
Dr. John Money, a key figure in David Reimer's early life, believed that cultural and social upbringing were more important than biological factors in determining someone's gender identity. Money's theory was called into question after the difficulties faced by Reimer, impacting the medical community's approach to intersex children and gender identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
From the film "Intersexion," we learned about David Reimer's case and Dr. John Money's significant influence in his early life. Dr. Money advocated for the belief that cultural and social upbringing played the most important role in determining an individual's gender identity. His theory of psychosexual neutrality suggested that gender identity is essentially neutral at birth and shaped later through socialization. The tragic outcome of Reimer's case, in which he struggled with the gender identity assigned to him based on Dr. Money's guidance, has prompted a more cautious approach within the medical and scientific communities toward intersex cases and the classification of gender.
Money's theory stood in contrast to the belief that biological factors are the primary determinants of gender identity. The case underscored the complexities of gender identity and the potential damage of prematurely assigning a gender based on social expectations rather than recognizing the multidimensional spectrum of gender that is influenced by a dynamic interplay of biological, environmental, and cultural factors.