The Creation of Identity

Virtually everything the author writes about relates, in one way or another, relates to issues relating to the question of how identity is created. She explores the shaping of Harry’s physical identity (i.e. in her discussions of his surgery and hormone treatments) in much the same way as she explores the shaping of the identity of her unborn child. She does this in her discussions of everything from the choice of his name to the choice of how much to hold him to her realization of how much he physically resembles his maternal grandfather.

Meanwhile, she explores the shaping of her own intellectual and philosophical identity (i.e. in her discussions of her relationships with female mentors) in much the same way as she explores the shaping of her identity as a mother. This she does primarily in discussion of ways in which...