What makes the man a woman?
Two docs explore the stories and struggles of transgender individuals
By Brandon Judd
Staff writer
March 6th, 2012

http://theconcordian.com/2012/03/06/what-makes-the-man-a-woman/

Concordia has, over the past couple of years, been slowly adapting their policies to the needs of the transgender community. While the university has misunderstood the problems transgender students face at Concordia and has occasionally appeared insensitive, effort is, by and large, present. Confusion about pronouns and salutations is common for those without a trans friend or colleague. Even the most cautious of inquirers can be apprehensive about asking questions, lest they be inane or offensive. While the basics aren't difficult to explain, it's often a mystery to those without the fortune of knowing a trans person. If you're curious, the two films at Cinema Politica next week will answer your questions.

You could call Monday's offering a diptych: the two films—Switch: A Community in Transition and Orchids: My Intersex Adventure—both present tensions between sex and gender. The autobiographical documentaries deal with the same broad issue, but the source of tension comes from fundamentally different places. In Switch, Brooks Nelson—the film's director, who also serves as its protagonist—is undergoing a transition from female to male. The film's opening scene is perhaps its most poignant. Brooks' girlfriend asks her four-year-old nephew whether Brooks is a man or a woman, and the child's response illuminates the contrived nature of gender better than any textbook could: Brooks is a man "because he has short hair and wears boy clothes." Obviously there's more to gender than this, but when a child is ignorant of socially constructed gender, he or she assumes it is based on choice.