This Week

We went downtown by the river for some vox pops on Sunday. Chris says the shots are amazing! Yay for Chris! and we got some really good responses from people, even two little girls who were the most adorible things and some middle school girls and older people. It was good to get so many reactions and such different people in one area, lots of tourists and people from out of town and state.
Anyway, this documentary is looking good and I am excited to be getting all the things that we talked about.

So much to do, so little time.

there is less than two weeks of school left and three weeks to graduation and with trying to get announcements, talking to career services and getting class tests and papers done makes me worried about devoting enough time to the documentary, but thank you to lexi and chris, because they keep me on board. You guys are the greatest team ever. I called one of the elementary schools and left a message but it seems they are not interested or not around to listen to their message because they haven't returned our calls. I really hope we can get some of the faculty's kids to help us out. That would be good. And I am excited about going downtown for some of the vox pops too.
Here's to getting it done and making it great!

Friday Update

We went to Ibiza Thursday night and it was fine. We taped the drag king show and took a lot of pictures. However, these individuals were gay or lesbian and not transgender so I don't know if that matters to our doc but it is a separate group altogether. I guess we will see what we can use :)
It was fun to go out though and see someone I volunteer at church with perform in the drag king show.

Update

I wanted to wait until after Saturday for the Friday update because Saturday was so big I didn't want to leave it out of the blog and forget about the stuff that went on in next friday's update.
But we met so many interesting people. Some loved the camera but some were very hesitant about being on camera especially when they thought about people they know seeing the documentary, they just want to forget that they were anything but the gender they are now.
It was a long day but it seemed to fly by because of how exciting the people were. And I cannot wait to see how these interviews will look when we show them. I really hope that the visual and audio are great to match with such great interviews.
A LOT of interesting and important things for our documentary were captured that day and I know I am wondering how we can do all that we want in just 15minutes for the project, it would be an injustice not to make a longer cut of this documentary to fully enhance the idea and topic.

Anyway, I guess you'll all have to wait until next week to see the exciting footage!

B-Roll Article

The articla really made me think about the importance of b-roll and it also made me a little worried because right now we don't have very much. We have some ideas for our b-roll, but not nearly enough. It is a little more difficult to do because you really have to put some thought into it and set up abjects or the time and place of whatever it is you are shooting, not to mention have an eye for things that could potentially be used.
More fun work to do! (Insightful article)

WOWWIE!

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!
We just had two AMAZING interviews with two AMAZING transgender people.
First, we interviewed Ericka (male to female) who we had planned in advance to interview.
BUT THEN, Ericka introduced us to her friend, Dean (female to male) and he allowed us to interview him too.
This is great to get both sides of the spectrum and to hear their stories. These two people are so sweet and they made it easy for us to ask questions about whatever and gave such great feedback. They are so nice. It makes one think and remember that no matter what we look like on the outside, it is inner beauty and personality that truly make us who we are and that everyone is similar and has the same wants and needs, to feel love and accepted.
I hope this documentary will make others feel the same.

Week's Update

This week has been phenominal for our group! We went on a road trip to Chapel Hill and that was a good bonding experience for our group. We did our first interview and it was awesome! We got some really good information from our interviewee not to mention it looked great!
Chirs and Lexi went to a drag show and club, I am extremely sorry that I missed it but I plan on going with them again. And we were able to get more interviews with the main people of our topic, which we are interviewing one of them this Saturday!
Things are just going really well and it is all starting to happen and come together!

Why Me?

This project is important to me for a few reasons.
I have grown up in a pretty conservative household when it comes to beliefs about hetersexuality being "how God made us" and homosexuality not. And because of my beliefs, I do think that homosexuality is a sin. However, why I am making this film is not to say whether it is wrong or right, because to me or any real Christian, it is not a question of law, it is a matter of the heart and the idea that no one is perfect and no one is any less of a human being for any reason because we all struggle with things. I see no difference in homosexuality and pre-marrital sex and do not place one worse than the other. What people do is their own choice. I just want to stand up as one of the few Christians that are not fully consentrated on the legalistic aspects of religion (like the Pharisees) and the right and wrong of living but to show that everyone deserves to be loved and treated with respect. There should be no violence or strong hatred towards anyone and I feel like this has happened to transgender and intersexed people.

I would also like to educate myself on this topic.

This project is right for me and I fit nicely into it because I am that other voice in the group. The one that says forget about right or wrong, let's look at the bigger picture. I am the conservative yet non-traditional Christian it seems, and that will help the project to connect to those kind of audiences and maybe start a revoluition of love. : ) The bigger picture meaning that as a Christian, we need to be more worried about salvation and showing why we are set apart and the discrimination just lumps us up with the others of this world of hate and ill treatment.
And I am totally the right person to make it because I want to aim this film at the heart of all who see it. I want it to affect people so much that they have to go out right away and do something to help someone else out or talk to someone about what they might be going through.

We all have a lot to deal with in this world. Wouldn't it be better we all not only got along, but also lifted others up even before ourselves.

(I am an idealist.... I know.)

This Week's Update

This week has been productive and very good to help us in our goal of the final project.
Wednesday we met with Shannon and learned that we desperately need to be more informed on our topic and the history of it. I think that the meeting was good and very much so needed but Shannon was right... we should have been doing this already on our own. (not that I wanna make excuses about it, but life right now is way stressful with all the other classes we have and internships, I find it hard to keep up on the project and research/development... but thank you to Shannon and my partners who keep me going when I don't feel like I can go anymore.)
Our group met on Sunday night and we went over and finalized our proposal. We worked really well on that together, I think. It didn't seem so hard when all three of us sat down together and just, hard core, did that thing! It just seems crazy working around everyone's schedule and getting stuff accomplished, but I know it's worth it.
I love my group and wouldn't change it for the world. Thank you Lexi and Chris for putting up with me.

5 Articles

1. Thoughts on Hermaphroditism: Miyatake Gaikotsu and the Convergence of the Sexes in Taishō Japan. By: Algoso, Teresa A.
The article examines the implication of the book "Thoughts on Hermaphroditism," by Miyatake Gaikotsu, on hermaphroditism in Japan. The book recorded around 40 instances of hermaphroditism. Gaikotsu broke down physiological hermaphroditism into five classes based on the presence or absence of external and internal reproductive organs namely, true, false, doubtful, hollow and quasi. He noted that hermaphroditism was not avatism but evolution. Gaikotsu advised that parents not to be ashamed of their children who are hermaphrodites.
This is interesting in relation to our topic because this talks about how hermaphroditism is a good thing and to NOT "fix it" by choosing one or the other, but to accept it as a positive thing.

2. "Is It a Boy or a Girl?" Introduction to Special Issue on Intersex (Vernon A. Rosario, MD, PhD). By: Rosario, Vernon A.
The authors introduce this special issue on intersexuality. A history of the designation of the term, hermaphrodites, which was used for people with genital variations, is given. A definition of the term "intersex" and the frequency of cases is mentioned. Various definitions of intersexuality by clinicians, intersex activists and the socially conservative media are given. Public attention to the plight of intersex people from the "John/Joan" story is discussed. John/Joan's identity was later revealed as David Reimer. A brief summary of the articles about intersexuality in this issue is given.
This article is really close to what we are doing pretty much. This will be dead on to what we need.

3. Intersexuality in the Family: An Unacknowledged Trauma. By: Lev, Arlene Istar.
People born with intersex conditions experience trauma and stigma that have not been fully recognized by the medical and therapeutic professions. Current treatment protocols require rapid diagnosis followed by surgical alteration of infants born with ambiguous genitalia which has led to a lack of thorough attention to the psychosocial issues faced by these children and their families. Histories of surgery and silence have left children and families unable to address many of the traumas associated with intersexuality, including stigma, shame, surgical complications, and potential questions about sexual and gender identity. This article outlines recommendations for alternative treatment protocols. In addition to withholding unnecessary surgeries until children born with disorders of sex development are old enough to be involved in decisions regarding their medical treatment, this approach calls for the inclusion of social workers and other mental health experts as part of an interdisciplinary treatment team to serve as advocates, educators, psychotherapists and family systems experts, addressing ongoing issues in the lives of families and children living with intersex conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
This will help our project in researching how these things have affected families and children from prior experiences.

4. Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1620-1960. By: Reis, Elizabeth.
This article explores the changing definitions and perceptions of hermaphrodites from the colonial period to the early twentieth century in the U.S. Medical observers agree that hermaphrodites did not exist in the human species and that patients with confused or ambiguous external and internal reproductive organs were not really hermaphrodites, but cases of mistaken sex. Corrective surgery for anatomical ambiguity became routine by the mid-twentieth century. The evolving determination of the biological and social foundations of sexual identity and the anxiety, expressed differently in different eras, was explored.
The history of this is just what we need to develop our topic and refer to it with the history of how it has become what it is to society's way of thinking.

5. Corrections.
The section presents a correction to the article "Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1670-1960," by Elizabeth Reis, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of "The Journal of American History."
This is interesting because it "corrects" what was said in the historical article.

6. AMBIGUOUS BODIES AND DEVIANT SEXUALITIES: hermaphrodites, homosexuality, and surgery in the United States, 1850-1904. By: Matta, Christina.
Focuses on hermaphrodites, homosexuality and surgery in the U.S. from 1840 to 1904. Need for normalizing surgery on intersexed individual; Dimorphic model of human sex.
Perfect. The not to distant history of hermaphrodites which will help us determine the progression of the situation.

For A Well Rounded Documentary

I am very interested in what Travis commented on, about interviewing people who were dealing with and contemplating transgender/homosexuality and then decided not to go through with it instead of just those who are persuing it. I think it is a great idea and would help round out our interviews and information.
Thank you, Travis.

List of Related Films

Tale of Osaka Love Thief
Middle Sexed
Transgeneration
Boys' Toys
Girls' Toy
Stage Beauty
TransAmerican
How these films relate to our topic is that they all deal in one way or another with situations and people who deal with the issues of gender. They follow the lives of those in this world that are living their lives while being inundated with hate and support, confusion and guidance in these matters.
The toys films are actually commercials from the past decades that have played a big role in modeling and molding the gender differences.
These are all great films to watch and ponder on while researching our topic.

Project

I think some great people to interview and ask gender questions to would be (as already mentioned) kids and teenagers, as well as doctors who have experience in transgendered people.
I have called my sister and she said she knows someone who might be interested in giving us some information but she is going to talk to them about it and see if they would be willing to allow us some of their time.
I would really like to know their point of view, and it would be awesome to actually talk to one who is transgendered or questioning their gender, to ask them what makes them feel the way they do and how will they respond to the way the world treats/sees them.
I want to draw emotion into the documentary and I think that first hand accounts will bring that element into it.

Friday's Update

Now that the groups are finalized, I am starting to get more excited about the possibilities about where this is going to take us. It is nice to have people on a team that are focused and excited about the same thing, yet have different biases and elements to bring into the mix.
I for one am not only pumped about the project but also at actually filming and putting all the puzzle pieces together to create something really cool.
On the other side of things, I wonder if our topic is too broad. Or if it is better that way. I just don't want to kill yourselves later in not being more specific. Alas, it is still in the early stages and we could possibly narrow down the field and be more directed towards specific aspects of the topic.
Is it better to be more specific or more general?

Documentary Film

I would like to talk to doctors and people in medicine who deal or have dealt with situations like hermaphrodite and things of this nature. To ask them how they decide and/or who decides.
My sister is a doctor and she had once mentioned to me inpassing that whichever hormone is the highest, estrogen or testosterone, his their deciding factor on what the sex is. But she has not worked regularly with this situation and so I would like to find out more about it. I would like to interview transvestites and ask them how they feel and what gender means to them.
One of my BIG biases is that I am very much so a Christian, so that might be something that shows through, unless the rest of my team can keep it out. But, it raises another interesting question, what do Christians and/or other religions think about gender?
Whoooh, I am excited! This is going to be awesome!

Ready

I know we have not had too many classes in documentary film yet, but I am way excited to be apart of something like this. I am kind of nervous, but ready.
I hope that the group confusion that is going on right now will pass and that the teams will work out for the best.
Lexi's idea is very interesting to me and I would love to be a part of her intriguing idea. I hope that my efforts will be just as inspiring to those I work with.
Unitl next time...

Film

I am way excited about this semester and this class! I have taken Intro to Film Studies and Production, Business of Film, Topics of Genre and Sexuality, European Cinema, Writing About Film, Intermed. Sem. to Film Production, Screenwriting I, 3D Graphics and Animation, probably some others I am forgetting to mention as well as some history classes for my minor.
Contrary to popular belief, some of us in the film studies program do not have the ever so popular goal to be the director. I am interested in acting and also the art department, maybe becoming a Production Designer or Art Director (it sucks that there are not specific courses on that element of films here at UNCW).
For the documentary, I am interested in three different ones: the Race Riots, the home school that is targeted towards the arts, and the selfless people called "shining stars".
Schedule:
Monday: free morning until 3pm
Tuesday: busy all day
Wednesday: free morning until 3pm
Thursday: free morning until 3pm-5pm and then free again
Friday: busy all day
Weekends are negotiable.