Transamerican Transexual

Transamerica was not what I expected going into watching the film. I had previous encounters with transsexual individuals, about four years ago, which made me question whether sex-change operations were justifiable. I had a hard time believing that wanting to change your sex was not a sign of illness. At my high school, we had a day of presentations regarding rights and equality in treatment of gay, bisexual, and transsexual people. We had a transsexual who introduced herself as Sophie and then later explained why her birth certificate identifies her as Robert. Her childhood could have been the plot of a top-selling novel. The amount of abuse she took as a child, then a boy, specifically from her father and uncle, gave me goose bumps. The way she was treated by her family and her town in general was absolutely disgusting and disturbing. She failed through school and could not make it to college. A part of me at then end of her presentation could not help but wonder if she would have made the decision to become female if she was raised under “normal” and civil circumstances. She explained how she never felt normal as a child, and was never comfortable with her genitals. I do not know if I would be comfortable with my genitals had my own father and uncle sexually abused me almost on a daily basis. For that reason, I went on and carried that notion towards transsexuals ever since that day. After having finished Transamerica I am not so sure I still feel that way assuming that Bree is similar to other transsexuals in regards to personality. Overlooking the fact that she took estrogen pills, her personality was completely feminine to me. Even the way Bree interacted with her son was feminine as she was very motherly. That may be a controversial point, but I cannot help being biased based on the way I was raised. My dad was a man of few words who never showed much emotion on a daily basis, while my mother was very protective and never stopped trying to take care of me. The way Bree interacted with her sister also gave me that impression. I never spotted any masculinity in the she interacted with anyone. She nurtured herself in her secluded life as well as her son when she was forced to find him. Right now I feel that everyone holds the right to be whatever they want, and if changing sex really makes a difference in how comfortable you are with yourself then no one has the right to stop or criticize you.