“John [the father] kept saying, "You have a penis. That means you’re a boy." One day, Shannon noticed that her son had been in the bathroom an awfully long time and pushed the door open. "He had a pair of my best, sharpest sewing scissors poised, ready to cut. Penis in the scissors. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'This doesn’t belong here. So I’m going to cut it off.' I said, 'You can’t do that.' He said, 'Why not?' I said, 'Because if you ever want to have girl parts, they need that to make them.' I pulled that one right out of my ass. He handed me the scissors and said, 'Okay.”

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About Andrew Solomon

American writer on politics, culture and psychology

Andrew Solomon is an American writer on politics, culture and psychology. He has 93 quotes on the site and has written widely across major magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, and Travel and Leisure. His work ranges across subjects such as depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan, Libyan politics, and deaf culture. That breadth gives his writing a distinctly public and reflective character, moving between personal and political life, culture, and mental health.

More from Andrew Solomon (93 quotes) →

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Books by Andrew Solomon

The Noonday Demon

2001

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Far From the Tree

2012

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