alc____: Orchids; My Intersex Adventure (event 1)

This was my first time in the Women’s Studies corner, so I was a little lost at first to where the movie would be playing. But the girls down there were very helpful and even offered myself and the three other people popcorn! (Though, they were out, it was a nice gesture). When we first sat down, a woman explained the movie to us, and it sounded very interesting to me. I really did not know too much on all of these intersex problems, and while watching a couple were shown. This helped me open my eyes to the world and it is funny that even though this took place in Australia, we have the same problems here in the United States.

Description:

A young woman named Phoebe and her sister Bonnie decide to travel Australia and find people with intersex problems just like them. Intersex is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male. Phoebe and Bonnie both have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or AIS. AIS is when a person who is genetically male (has one X and one Y chromosome) is resistant to male hormones called androgens. As a result, the person has some or all of the physical characteristics of a woman, despite having the genetic makeup of a man.

Living under the secrets from her parents for years Phoebe is ready to open up and educate the world on intersex and all that comes from having these problems. This gets the disapproval from her mother specifically, who wanted her to keep it quiet in the forst place, and did not tell Phoebe she even had a problem until she was 12.

Phoebe and Bonnie travel from Brisbane to Mellbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Townsville – meeting and talking to friend(s) from each city. Collecting each one of these people’s stories was heart warming, and it was obvious Phoebe was happy she was on this journey. At the end of the trip Phoebe returns home to her husband to fin dout that they have been accepted on the adoption network! Since Phoebe cannot have children because of AIS, this is great news! The documentary ends with an adopted baby girl as an addition to their family. Showing that people with these disabilities can still be happy and make good things happen in their life.

Connections:

I would have to definitely connect this to the first article we read Fear of Feminism, because her mother was afraid of telling both Phoebe and Bonnie about their women problems. She was afraid that they would both get made fun of, and seen as outcasts in the public eye. These two sisters did not even know each other had the same problem until way later in life. When Phoebe and Bonnie both had to have surgery to get rid of their undescended testicles, they told the school, and even each other it was for hemorrhoids.

The next article I would connect to the movie would be Oppression, however, not in an agreeing fashion. In Oppression, Frye speaks of how it is a different world between men and women. For this specific movie I would say that it is equally, if not harder for men with these types of problems to tell the world, and be open and true. Women are more accepted if they decide to change their sex, I feel, more than a man who decides to be a woman. Although, the world should accept whatever people choose, it is hard for everyone to get out of the judgmental days.

The third, and final article I connected the movie to was a Tsunami in History, more or less to oppose a question. Back in the past, these problems existed, so I wonder how it was taken care of then. There was not the same amount of technology and medicine. People with AIS probably could not have their undescended testis removed, so what would happen to them in the long run? It must have been harder in the past because of these issues.

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