Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She

*Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She*
Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She
Directed by	Antony Thomas
Narrated by	Gore Vidal
Theme music composer	Dimitri Tchamouroff
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Nancy Abraham; Carleen L. Hsu; Liz McLeod; Sheila Nevins; Antony Thomas; Alex Ward;
Cinematography	Jonathan Partridge
Editor	McDonald Brown
Running time	75 minutes
Original release
Release	2005

Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She is a 2005 American television documentary film by Antony Thomas.

Plot summary

The documentary explores the issue of gender and sex, beginning with

sexual relations

with her.

Two trans women,

Barry Winchell, who was harassed and eventually murdered by a fellow soldier for dating a transgender woman. James talks about her life as a lesbian

transgender woman.

How sex is developed in the womb is explained by the narrator and James Pfaus, a professor at Concordia University. More about how sex develops is discussed between each of the stories.

male pseudohermaphrodite

at birth. He eventually transitioned to using the name Max and male pronouns, but still identifies as more an intersex person then a man. Max now is married with a daughter.

The next story told is about the intersex condition of

gender verification in sports

remains contentious.

Next, eight-year-old Noah is introduced. Noah is biologically male and living as boy, but prefers things that are typically for girls. His father, mother, and step-father all share their concerns for Noah's future in their small

Midwestern

town.

In a Dutch institute of brain research, scientists are trying to learn about the differences between

sex and gender. They found differences in the brains of transgender people from cisgender

people of their birth sex.

The documentary then looks at different treatment of

people of different sexualities

across cultures and history.

In

Hindu religion, it was once considered natural to have a different sexuality until British colonization. India still have hijras, a group of people who are a type of third gender. They go through a now-illegal operation to remove their male-assigned genitalia

.

In

transgender model who will be getting married soon. In Buddhism, it is believed everyone will be a transgender person at one point because they believe in reincarnation. More Thai transgender women, called Kathoey

, are introduced. One is in a relationship with a Texan man who was married and had children. The woman in her early twenties must support her mother and grandmother because her father has died.

A story is told of

heterosexual college men who were shown gay pornography. Their physical response

was measured. Men who were considered homophobic were more aroused, but claimed they had no reaction. This then goes back to Gwen Araujo, who was killed by two men who were insecure about their sexualities because they had sexual relations with her. All of this supports the theory that people are more likely to get angry at sex, gender, and sexuality differences because they are insecure about their own sexuality or gender identity.

Cast

Gore Vidal as narrator
Calpernia Addams as herself
Max Beck as himself
Milton Diamond as himself (as Professor Milton Diamond)
Alice Dreger as herself (as Dr. Alice Dreger)
Anne Fausto-Sterling as herself
Louis Gooren as himself
Andrea James as herself
Shivananda Khan as himself
James Pfaus asHimself (as Dr. James Pfaus)
Joan Roughgarden as herself
A.W. Richard Sipe as himself
Gloria Wekker as herself

Awards and honors

The film was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award

for Outstanding Documentary.

International airing

When airing in Sweden TV3, the title was given as Straight.

External links

Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She at
IMDb