transamerica

I really like the movie Transamerica because I think it sheds a positive light on being transexual, a sexuality that makes most people uncomfortable. First, I have to say that there is a difference between gender and sex, gender being a sexual identity and sex being biological. Therefore, I think gender can cross boundaries since it is a social construct. Gender is defined by terms of feminine and masculine rather than male or female (which is biological sex). We learn gender from society, and how as a male or female we are supposed to have certain characteristics and traits. If someone crosses those boundaries, then they are cross gendered. In class today, we discussed the actual operation of changing your sex and how that sheds light on gender. I think if someone sees themself as more of a women or more of a men then despite their genitalia they should be able to change. The way a man acts or the way a female acts is socially constructed and if you want to fully be the other gender then why not? It can make someone feel more complete.
Another interesting point that was brought up in class is the point of having to identify people. If we don't know what gender a person is we become very uncomfortable and really want to know. There is a performance artist named Adrian Piper who was an african american female who identified herself as black. She was, however, very lightskinned so everyone thought she was white. She frequently had people exchanging racist comments in front of her because they thought that she was white. Her performance art was to pass out calling cards to those people who made rascist comments, exposing her ethnic background. Her point was that people always have to categorize and identify others into certain groups. Piper didn't think it mattered that we don't exactly know someones race, and called attention to other peoples racism to make them uncomfortable and see the point. Now this can be related back to Transamerica, which brings up the same point that we need to identify people into gender groups. If someone is bi-gendered then we get really uncomfortable with the fact that they can't be both. I think gender can be very flexible and have imbetween roles. Who cares if someone wants to change the gender boundaries or even their sex for that matter.
I also thought that Transamerica is very interesting when juxtaposed with Fight Club, where they are striving to be as masculine as they can be in order to be happy. Here a male is trying to be happy by being the opposite of masculine...some people just want to be reconditioned