Gender Trouble

Four intersex people tell their stories with eloquence and candour. Roz Mortimer's film questions how medicine and society have treated intersex people, and breaks the codes of silence and secrecy that have surrounded their lives.

What happens when two trans dykes get sick of non-transsexual's uninformed representation of their sexualities and their lives? They grab their 8 millimeter home video camera, their last 200 bucks, and come up with an uncompromising in-your-face flick about their shitty relationships with gay men and their unabashed attraction to other transsexual women.

Contrary to popular myth, butch lesbians are not trying to be feminine and failing. They are not going through a rebellious stage or imitating men. They are women who, while being true to their most authentic selves, look and behave in some ways that society has decided is appropriate only for males. While lesbians and gay men are enjoying more acceptance from society in general, this tolerance is often limited to those individuals who seem most like their heterosexual counterparts: feminine women and masculine men. The women in this film examine and challenge society's assumptions about gender roles and show the courage it takes to be true to oneself. Their struggles reveal how everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is pressured to conform and measure up to restrictive gender standards.