It seems that during the last
several years there has been a
burgeoning interest in
transsexuality and
transgenderism within certain
academic circles. The issue of
gender and its determination via
biological versus cultural
influences was recently brought
to the forefront with the
publication of a book on the
famous John/Joan case (Colapinto,
2000). Accordingly, perhaps more
than ever, transsexuality and
transgenderism are pertinent
topics within undergraduate
courses in human sexuality.
Books on gender issues can be
used successfully in such
courses (Nicolai, 2000) and,
fortunately, there have been
several videos produced in the
last several years whose aim is
education regarding
transsexuality and
transgenderism. Each of these
videos will be reviewed
separately below.
Boy or Girl? When Doctors Choose
a Child's Sex
This video is actually a segment
from the ABC News program
"Primetime Live" which
apparently was televised during
1999. Accordingly, the
production values are high and
the brief video (approximately
15 minutes) is in a format
viewers are used to seeing. The
video focuses primarily on two
particular cases: "Jade" a
chromosomal male born without
external genitalia and who is
being raised as a girl, and
David Reimer, the famous
John/Joan case from the
sexological literature (a
chromosomal male who lost his
penis during an accident and was
subsequently raised as a girl;
see Colapinto, 2000).
In the video, Jade is 4 years of
age and had previously undergone
surgery to fashion a vagina. Dr.
John Gearhart, the Johns Hopkins
pediatric endocrinologist
treating Jade, is interviewed,
and one of the most interesting
and educationally beneficial
portions of the video is a brief
segment during which Dr.
Gearhart shows the interviewer a
series of slides of infant
genitalia. Of course, in each
case the genitalia do not match
the chromosomal sex. I think it
is often the case that students
read or hear about ambiguous
genitalia but do not fully
appreciate how impossible it can
be to determine an infant's sex
by visual inspection.
Also of interest for members of
a sexuality course is the
implicit debate between those
who believe individuals like
Jade will grow up to be happy,
adjusted women and those who
believe it is misguided to
attempt to determine a child's
sex. In this regard, Dr.
Gearhart is portrayed as the
proponent, and Dr. Milton
Diamond the opponent, of infant
sex re-assignment. In the video,
Dr. William Reiner is also
featured for his ongoing study
of Jade and 15 other chromosomal
males who are being raised as
females. In this context, the
viewer sees Jade during a play
session in the laboratory.
Although Jade looks like a
little girl, her play is
characteristically male.
After Jade's case, the video
shifts to David Reimer. However,
the video was produced prior to
the public disclosure of
John/Joan's identity. So, David
Reimer is interviewed while
sitting in the shadows, and his
voice is distorted to maintain
his anonymity. After publication
of Colapinto's (2000) book,
David Reimer appeared on several
television shows, so there is
video footage available
elsewhere that shows the real
person behind the famous
John/Joan Case.
Despite a fairly balanced
presentation of the issues,
there are some subtle aspects of
this video that transgender and
transsexual advocates would find
problematic. For example, in
portraying intersex infants,
reference is made to "birth
defects," "grossly malformed"
genitalia, and the ability to
"fix" the problem.
Hermaphrodites Speak
This video is offered through
the Intersex Society of North
American (ISNA) and runs about
30 minutes. The filming took
place during what is billed as
the "first retreat weekend" of
the ISNA (which took place
during 1996). The entire program
revolves around a group of nine
intersex individuals sitting
outdoors, on the ground, in
somewhat of a circle. The
members of the group pass a
microphone as each makes an
introduction and describes some
of the experiences that led to
this point in their respective
lives.
Cheryl Chase is identified as
the organizer of the retreat,
and she is seated among this
group of individuals featured in
the video (and acts somewhat as
the host of this group
discussion). The group, though
small, represents a fair range
of diversity with regard to
ascribed gender at birth, degree
of genital ambiguity, age, and
so forth. However, there are
some themes that are common to
the members of the group.
Primarily, what comes through
clearly is the anger at the
medical establishment for having
taken away the individuals'
rights to choose whether and how
their bodies would be modified
via surgery and hormones. The
other primary theme is the sense
of isolation and "differentness"
each person felt while growing
up, hence the relief and
celebration at having found
Cheryl Chase and the ISNA.
The video appears to have been
shot using a standard camcorder,
with perhaps an untrained
operator behind the viewfinder.
Accordingly, the production
values are very low. The video
appears as it would if one's
uncle Louie were taping a family
gathering. In a sense this is a
weakness of the video, as we are
all used to professionally
produced footage. On the other
hand, the amateur nature of the
video lends a sense of
authenticity and conveys at a
very basic level that this is a
sort of "family gathering" for
these folks. As a viewer, we
have been allowed to peek in on
a small part of the retreat.
Despite the amateur nature of
the video footage, the sound
quality is fine, probably
because the participants spoke
directly into a microphone
passed among them.
Investigative Reports:
Transgender Revolution
This video is an episode of
"Investigative Reports,"
produced by the Arts and
Entertainment (A&E) Network.
Accordingly, the production
values are high and the video
easily holds the viewer's
attention (despite a running
time of 50 minutes). In addition
to the high production values,
one of the advantages of this
video is that it is comprised of
four more-or-less independent
segments, each approximately ten
minutes in length.
The first of these four segments
features the story of a
female-to-male transsexual who
has served as an exemplary
police officer for several
years. Through this individual's
experience, a few broader issues
are addressed: persecution in
the work place, phalloplasty,
the relationship with one's
primary partner, and use of the
Internet to form a support
network for transsexual
individuals.
The second segment features a
sort of "macho male" who
eventually transitioned to
living as a woman. Here the
focus is on the personal pain
before deciding to transition,
and the proactive stance this
individual has taken in the
transgendered community.
Interviews with family members
and photos from childhood and
early adulthood highlight the
lifelong process involved in
arriving at the current place in
this individual's life, and the
conclusion is that this is how
the individual was "meant" to
live.
The third segment features a
genetic female who has been
living as a male with the help
of androgen therapy. This
individual works in a
male-dominated field and is
known to everyone (except family
members) as a typical male. So,
throughout the segment the
individual's identity is hidden
by not showing his or his female
partner's face. However, it is
clear from this individual's
body and movements that he has
no difficulty "passing" as a
male. The segment focuses on
this person's decision to
undergo sex-reassignment
surgery, the legal an social
advantages and disadvantages of
doing so, and the medical
process involved.
The last segment focuses more
broadly on persecution and hate
crimes against transsexual and
transgendered people, and
includes a brief description of
the Teena Brandon case. The
video ends by briefly addressing
the socially constructed nature
of gender.
Multiple Genders: Mind and Body
in Conflict
This video is an episode of the
British television program
"Heart of the Matter," and runs
approximately 40 minutes. The
program opens with an obligatory
introduction to the topic of
this episode, then quickly
launches into an overview
segment that is similar to those
one would see in an American
news magazine program. This
"news" segment (approximately 10
minutes in length) is hosted by
Dr. Stephen Whittle and features
a description of intersex, a
case of an American photographer
living as an intersex
individual, and a case of a
married, chromosomally male
individual who wants to maintain
aspects of both a male and
female identity (e.g.,
maintaining both developed
breasts and a penis, dressing as
a male one day and as a female
the next)
The program
shifts to a
panel
discussion
that is
maintained
for
approximately
10 minutes.
The panel is
comprised of
five
individuals,
including
Dr. Stephen
Whittle, the
American
photographer
portrayed in
the previous
segment, and
a vicar who
maintains
the
traditional
Christian
view. The
ensuing
debate
focuses
around the
issue of
whether
there are
two genders
or more, and
whether
genital
surgery
should be
performed on
infants.
From the
panel
discussion,
the video
segways to a
brief (about
3 minutes)
interview
with a
couple who
adopted a
child under
a storm of
controversy.
One member
of the
couple is a
gay male and
the other
individual
has
Klinefelter's
syndrome.
From this
point, the
video
returns to
the panel
who spend
about 10
minutes
debating
such issues
as how one
would raise
children in
a family
headed by a
transgendered
individual.
As the video
revolves
around
talking,
some viewers
may have
difficulty
understanding
some of the
British and
Scottish
accents.
XXXY
This brief
video only
runs
approximately
10 minutes,
but is a
well-done
presentation
of two
intersex
individuals.
Each person
describes
their
respective
experience:
one
individual
is a
chromosomal
male born
with
hypospadias
and raised
as a male,
the other an
individual
with XXXY
chromosomes
(hence the
title of the
video) who
was raised
as a girl
and is
currently
attracted to
women. Each
of these
individuals
share the
emotional
and social
problems
they faced,
and both
wish that
they had had
a choice as
to the
surgeries
each
underwent
(rather than
having
surgeries
imposed upon
them as
infants and
young
children).
The video is
an
effective,
well-done
(albeit
brief)
presentation
of two
compelling
individuals
whose
chromosomal
and genital
circumstances
differed,
but who
shared some
overlapping
experiences
as a result
of their
atypical
development.
You Don't
Know Dick:
Courageous
Hearts of
Transsexual
Men
This
award-winning
documentary
features six
individuals
who were all
born and
raised as
females, but
who
currently
live as men.
Running
approximately
50 minutes,
the video
revolves
around
first-person
accounts
from these
six
individuals.
This
"talking
head"
approach to
any topic
can be
deadly
boring, so
it is a
credit to
the makers
of this
video that
such is not
the case
here. To
achieve this
effect, the
comments
from the six
individuals
are
clustered
according to
topic,
rather than
focusing on
each of the
six
individuals
sequentially.
Also, there
are points
where video
of these
individuals
from
childhood is
interspersed,
and popular
music is
sometimes
used as a
backdrop for
providing
some
commentary
on such
footage.
Even when
the viewer
is presented
with a
"talking
head," the
camera
frequently
shifts
angles or
zooms in or
out to
provide a
sense of
movement and
life.
The first
third of the
video
addresses
the
realization
each
individual
had
regarding
their gender
identity,
their
decisions to
"change"
gender, and
the
immediate
repercussions
for doing
so. From
there a
variety of
issues are
tackled as
the video
progresses.
Such issues
include
reactions
from friends
and family,
life in the
workplace,
effects of
testosterone,
surgery,
intimate
relationships,
sexual
activity,
and
children's
reactions to
having
"lost" their
mother to
sex change.
One of the
most
powerful
aspects of
this video
is the
visual
portrayal of
the degree
to which
testosterone
alters
appearance.
In most of
these six
cases, there
would be no
doubt that
all who meet
these people
would label
them male.
One of the
individuals
is a
bodybuilder
and has
developed
musculature
that most
men would
envy. So,
when the
viewer is
confronted
with a
photograph
of this
individual
posing nude,
the stark
contrast
between the
clearly
masculine
body and the
lack of
penis is
quite
powerful.
With regard
to the link
between body
and gender,
one of the
six
individuals
makes the
point that
there have
always been
transgendered
individuals,
and in those
cultures
that lacked
the
technology
to change
the body via
hormones and
surgery,
members of
those
cultures
agreed that
certain
individuals
were the
other gender
because they
asserted
themselves
to be.
However, in
contemporary
Western
culture our
social
agreements
as to one's
gender has
to do with
appearance
of the body,
particularly
of the
genitals.
The video
closes with
brief
updates as
to what each
of the six
individuals
has done
more
recently. At
least two of
the
individuals
have
published
books
relating to
their
experiences
as
transgendered,
and all
continue to
be
successful
in various
ways.
CONCLUSION
Which video
is best? Of
course the
answer
depends on
the intended
use, the
issues one
wants to
address, and
the messages
one wants to
send. Each
of the
videos
described
here has
something to
offer, but
for use in
an
undergraduate
sexuality
course I
have some
opinions as
to the top
choices. If
cost were
not an issue
(when is
this ever
the case?),
then my
recommendations
would
include Boy
or Girl?
When Doctors
Choose a
Child's Sex,
Transgender
Revolution,
XXXY, and
You Don't
Know Dick.
Of course,
any one
instructor
is liable
not to have
the funds to
purchase
these four
videos, nor
the class
time to show
even
selected
clips from
all of them.
For the
price and
the quality,
it is
difficult to
justify not
owning
Transgender
Revolution.
However,
depending on
the aims of
the
instructor,
some of the
other videos
may be more
valuable. In
the end, it
is
refreshing
to be
considering
which videos
to select
from among a
group of
high-quality,
educationally
relevant
productions
rather than
scouring to
find some
video
resource on
a topic that
is at least
somewhat
relevant for
education.
Investigative Reports: Transgender Revolution [video]. Produced by the Arts and Entertainment Network. 1998. Available from the Arts and Entertainment Network, AandE.com, 1-888-423-1212. VHS, $19.95.
REFERENCES
Colapinto,
J. (2000).
As nature
made him:
The boy who
was raised
as a girl.
New York:
HarperCollins.
Nicolai, K.
(2000). The
pedagogical
value of As
nature made
him: The boy
who was
raised as a
girl [review
of the book
As nature
made him:
The boy who
was raised
as a girl].
The Journal
of Sex
Research,
37, 379-382.
Reviewed by
Michael W.
Wiederman,
Ph.D.,
Department
of Human
Relations,
Columbia
College,
1301
Columbia
College
Drive,
Columbia, SC
29203;
e-mail:
mwiederman@colacoll.edu.
COPYRIGHT
2001 Society
for the
Scientific
Study of
Sexuality,
Inc.
COPYRIGHT
2001 Gale
Group
