Boy or Girl? When Doctors Choose a Child's Sex [video] - Review

Journal of Sex Research, May, 2001 by Michael W. Wiederman

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.