"She's A Boy I Knew"

Film Review # 110899

Film > Analysis, Criticism, Etc.
Gender and Sexuality

A review of the auto-ethnographical film, "She's A Boy I Knew."

1,004 words () | 0 sources | 2008 Canada

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses, how in the film "She's A Boy I Knew", Gwen Haworth documents her journey from self-realization to self-actualization through the process of transitioning from Steven Haworth, a heterosexual married man, to Gwen Haworth, a queer woman. The paper explains that, through personal narration and interviews with her friends and family, the film follows Gwen as she discovers her own true self, exploring the meaning of gender, and challenging the hetero-normative views of both femininity and masculinity.

From the Paper:

"On the surface, the concept of transitioning from one gender to another may seem very much like transitioning from the feminine to the masculine or vice versa. In other words, the very notion of transitioning implies that one is moving from one pole to another, thus creating a binary view of gender that posits the feminine against the masculine. Based on this understanding, to be feminine is, essentially, to reject the masculine. In terms of the film and understanding the transitioning process Gwen went through, she was moving from her previous male identity to her true self, her female, and thus, seemingly feminine identity. Gwen documented her early transitioning experiences in which she could be described as a 'high-femme', wearing dresses with stylish long hair and dramatic makeup. "