Educational Media Reviews Online

Given the overall cultural interest in and confusion regarding transsexuality and the social discourse over “non-traditional” parenting, Transparent provides a useful voice to help address these questions and concerns. The documentary film follows 19 female-to-male transsexuals, all biological mothers in various states of “transition,” and shows them speaking about their experiences as children, adults, biological mothers as well as displaying the reactions of themselves, their own children, and society at large to their gender/sexual transitioning.

Speaking to the camera, the men speak openly about how they felt and were treated as young girls, their early heterosexual relationships and resultant pregnancies, and their decisions to and results of transition. The 19 people immediately portray a vastly wide variety of feelings, experiences, and situations. Some reveal that they had “never thought about gender”; others that femininity was enforced or imposed; most that they knew they were unlike others. Gender roles and expectations are explored as well as--in some instances--the conscious denial of socially expected norms. For example, while some of the men, before transition, insist that their tom-boy sides were suppressed by families, others emphasized the same by joining the military.

The same variety of experience is touched upon in their relationships and pregnancies. Some of the men sought heterosexual relationships and marriage as a “cure” to their feelings, some others betrayed much less desire or need for social conformity of that sort. Many of the men revealed that being pregnant was the only time they felt comfortable in a woman’s body; others simply detested the pregnancy itself.

Along the same lines, the men’s experiences after having children and transitioning are mentioned. Some people had their children taken away by husbands or other family members, and some maintained their rights to parent children in the face of societal derision. Especially engaging are the recollections of a husband insisting on obtaining sole custody of a child because, as he put it, it would be unfair to subject the child to ridicule by living with a transitioning parent. Fear of losing their children is emphasized often as a major concern in transitioning.

Specifically addressing overall society’s concerns and fears, the men speak about “coming out,” as it were, to their own children. As with all of the stories told in Transparent, the attitude and results are varied. Some children are said to be comfortable with their biological mothers’ admissions that they had “a girl’s body, but a boy’s heart.” Other offspring are said to be more confused.

The extreme variety of experiences and feelings of the men, but this works to the detriment of the film. At just over an hour, Transparent wants to tell the story of 19 transitioned individuals. It is impossible to fully follow any one narrative or “story.” Given the complex and varied subject matter, it is somewhat ironic that one of the points of the film is made almost immediately: that we are all individuals, with different perspectives, strengths, desires. Because so many people are shown in such a short period of time, the film certainly makes the case for better understanding and acceptance of transitioned and transitioning people--and all individuals, really--but cannot completely allow the viewer into any one of their “whole” experiences. It is clearly important to the filmmaker to show that there are many transitioned people in so many (often small, conventionally “conservative”) regions throughout the United States, but a longer film would necessarily contain more humanizing elements. It would certainly help the narrative to include more stories such as one parent’s desire to give his child a gender-neutral name because the child might not accept gender roles or may wish to transition herself. With perhaps too many subjects too quickly presented, it is unfortunate that it might be jarring or “strange” for viewers to observe a man--in mind and body--discuss his pregnancy; more of a back-story, of “getting to know” him, would eliminate the potential problem of “spectacle” and allow a focus on the content of his experience. It is very possible to sympathize with the “concept” of transsexuals overall, but very difficult to empathize with any individuals’ experience. While the film provides an important platform for considering or discussing issues of gender--especially society’s expected gender roles and conformity issues as well as the treatment of “non-traditional” families--it is difficult to have a great deal of sense exactly what these men have experienced and are experiencing.

In any case, Transparent is recommended for libraries and other institutions that have a strong gender studies curricula or audience, and is indeed recommended for audiences that might question the appropriateness of transgendered people’s ability to parent.

Awards

• 3rd Place, Elle Flanders Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, 2006
• 2nd Place, Polish Warsaw LGBT PRYZMAT Film Festival, 2006