Film Review 1- Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She

Film Review 1: “Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She” 7 Feb 2012

In class on February 7, we watched the film “Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She”. This film is a real eye opener and interesting to watch to someone like me who doesn’t necessarily know more than the basic facts when it comes to being educated on transgender, transsexual, and what it is like living as someone who is gay, or someone who identifies with the opposite gender. There were parts that were difficult to watch; and at times I wanted to look away from what I was seeing. But it was almost like morbid curiosity; I couldn’t tear my eyes away. What is it about films like these that can grab a person in such a way that keeps them watching even when they want to look away?

From what I took from it, the main thesis of the film was basically different stories told from the people who have a lifestyle that is often discriminated against, judged, and in “normal” standards for society is considered morally wrong, disgraceful, and even disgusting to some. In some extreme cases, people have even been tortured to death for being transgender, just for being who they are. The film made the viewer see how many preconceived notions people have about being transgender, gay, hermaphrodite ect. From an outsiders’ point of view, we have no idea what its like to be hated for having a lifestyle of something that is beyond your control. As they said in the film, people don’t choose to identify with the opposite sex; it’s just the way things are.

The main arguments that support the thesis of the film forces society to question certain things about themselves which invokes a fear and a certain amount of anger for being forced to take off the rosy colored glasses and look at a lifestyle that causes us to in a way partake in this “deviant” lifestyle and abandon norms of society and feel what its like to be considered deviant for just being different in a way that is considered unnatural. One point that is made is that not only is someone who is transgender discriminated against, any person that is close to them or may have any significant part in their upbringing, especially their parents and family, get discriminated against as well because of preconceived notions that are completely asinine that say the way someone is raised will decide or contribute to a persons “choice” to being transgender or not. Because of this, people that are different are afraid of a society that says this lifestyle is not normal.

The most significant argument that supported the thesis was expressing very strongly how important to know what the actual meaning of sexual orientation means. It’s about what sexual preference you have, whether it’s the same sex as you or the opposite sex. It’s not a choice, despite what many close minded people think. Just like gender isn’t a choice, and gender can’t just be classified as male and female anymore. According to the article “The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Aren’t Enough”, if you group everyone into those two categories, you aren’t taking into consideration how often biological differences occur during a persons development which can create oddities which results in confirming male and female can’t be the only two sexes, and even the five sexes discussed in the article could still be underestimating how many gender possibilities could result (Fausto-Sterling, par. 5).

The thesis of this film relates to the course in a pretty obvious way, in my opinion. The class is all about Social Deviance. We all know what deviance means by now. Behaviors or oddities that go against societies norms. What is more deviant to society and in the opinion of many people than being transgender or gay or possibly having sexual parts that aren’t considered just male or female?

The points I found most convincing was the detailed explanations and examples that didn’t just tell you, but showed the discriminations, hostility and hardships that result in being different than what you are supposed to be according to society. Hearing these things from the people who experience in their everyday lives always does more to convince you and causes you to feel how real it is.

I wouldn’t say there were any points that made the topic less convincing to me; however, not having firsthand experience with this lifestyle makes it difficult to put yourself in those shoes. I can empathize, but I have no idea what it must be like to have to deal with some of the difficulties that occur and the feelings one must have when just being who you are can shun you in society.

The point that stood out the most for me in the film when it was simply stated that variation is the norm, biology loves it and society hates it. Honestly, probably most of our ‘society’ probably doesn’t even know why they hate it; just because they are “supposed” to hate variation of the norm. I would study this point by doing something similar as discussed in the article “Transgender Warriors”, interviewing someone with firsthand experience, and also looking at how close minded these views have been over a timeline, and compare them to views of today and try to come to a conclusion about why after even all these years and how much the world can change society still holds on to these same over thought and uninformed ideas that being transgender or the like is so damn deviant and lets waste our time hating that especially when its not going to change the fact that some people are different (Transgender Warriors, Feinberg). You don’t have to agree with it or even understand it, just accept it. Accept it and move on.


Works Cited
Feinberg, Leslie. “Transgender Warriors.” Beacon Press, 1996.
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. “The Five Sexes: Why Male And Female Aren’t Enough.” The Sciences, April, 1993.