Sex Change

TV review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,3604,947747,00.html 

Rupert Smith

Friday May 2, 2003

The Guardian

I think that Sex Change (Channel 4) included some of the most graphic

footage of surgery ever seen on television, but I can't be absolutely

sure because I had my hands in front of my face for most of the scenes

in question. There are limits to what I'll watch, even in the interests

of raising critical standards. Property shows, game shows, even Manchild

- but I'm sorry, no skinned penises.

So while I can certainly tell you how modern surgeons turn a man into a

woman, I wouldn't be able to draw a diagram, although I did accidentally

glimpse something bright red and cylindrical that gave new meaning to

that quaint old-fashioned phrase "tubesteak".

Sex Change presented gender disphoria as a medical condition that needed

treatment, and even looked forward to the day when there might be a

"cure". There was no doubt that the transsexuals in the film were

absolutely committed to their surgical procedures - nor was there any

room in Sex Change to question what took them to such extremes. There

was great relief when a Dutch doctor announced that TSs have different

brains from other people, as if this physiological evidence gave an

automatic green light to surgery. All the girls were very happy about

their procedures, but as each was wheeled into theatre for facial,

breast and genital reconstruction, there was an eerie sense of unease. A

full sex change plus all the trimmings costs hundreds of thousands of

dollars - and you didn't see anyone trying to talk them out of it.

Before angry transsexuals put pen to paper, let me say that I

wholeheartedly embrace the idea of adjusting your gender identity in

pursuit of personal fulfillment and freedom. It just seemed that

Jennifer, Anne and Kimberly were not gaining but losing freedom. There

was no question in their minds about what makes a woman a woman - big

breasts, the right-shaped face and a fully functioning vagina - and they

were happy to pay the price, in money and unimaginable pain, to get

them. They were victims of gender; they had embraced, rather than

challenged, a conservative view of female roles. They were thrilled

about impotence, muscle-loss and uncontrollable emotions (the

side-effects of hormone therapy). Yes, they were very brave, but surely

there must be a better way.