Ask a trans person!

[Miss Scarlett]

Not sure where to post this or if it's already been discussed anywhere on the site.

Late last night I came across a 2004 documentary on Showtime called "The Opposite Sex: Rene's Story."

Here's the plot summary from IMDB:

"Rene, 31, a female-to-male gender reassignment candidate took hormones for years and "passed" as a man for all of his adult life. Married to his high-school sweetheart, Wona, a heterosexual woman, for 12 years, no one would guess Rene was biologically a woman. Living under a veil of secrecy and lies, Rene and Wona's lives seemed fine until someone "outed" the couple at their beloved church and everything they knew was destroyed. The public revelation of Rene's secret starts to unravel his marriage to Wona. Through all of it, Rene continues to hold on to his lifelong obsession to become a biological male and goes on a cross-country search to find the best transgender surgeon, only to discover that the current surgery options are flawed. At the last minute, Rene finds a surgeon who has created an experimental procedure, which will be seen in THE OPPOSITE SEX for the first time. - Written by Showtime Synopsis"

This, and the second in the series "The Opposite Sex: Jaime's Story" about a transwoman's journey, will be running on Showtime until late June if anyone is interested.

Has anyone seen these? If so, what did you think?

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett

Not sure where to post this or if it's already been discussed anywhere on the site.

Late last night I came across a 2004 documentary on Showtime called "The Opposite Sex: Rene's Story."

Here's the plot summary from IMDB:

"Rene, 31, a female-to-male gender reassignment candidate took hormones for years and "passed" as a man for all of his adult life. Married to his high-school sweetheart, Wona, a heterosexual woman, for 12 years, no one would guess Rene was biologically a woman. Living under a veil of secrecy and lies, Rene and Wona's lives seemed fine until someone "outed" the couple at their beloved church and everything they knew was destroyed. The public revelation of Rene's secret starts to unravel his marriage to Wona. Through all of it, Rene continues to hold on to his lifelong obsession to become a biological male and goes on a cross-country search to find the best transgender surgeon, only to discover that the current surgery options are flawed. At the last minute, Rene finds a surgeon who has created an experimental procedure, which will be seen in THE OPPOSITE SEX for the first time. - Written by Showtime Synopsis"

This, and the second in the series "The Opposite Sex: Jaime's Story" about a transwoman's journey, will be running on Showtime until late June if anyone is interested.

Has anyone seen these? If so, what did you think?

No, I haven't seen it, but the way the plot summary is written makes it sound rather dramatic and like the FTM person was living in the 1970's.

There were a number of quality, competent gender confirmation surgeons in the U.S. by 2004. No reason for a "cross country search". <eye roll>. A one minute google search would have brought up the surgeons.

Experimental procedure? A procedure that was perhaps trying to be improved, but the two main genital procedures for men have been around forever. And the "current surgery options are flawed?". I wonder why they are still doing them, then. Sure they are getting better and better, but give me a break!

Sorry, but the way the plot summary is written presents the person as a freak and like he should be with a traveling freak show from the 1800's due to his "life long obsession" to "be a biological man" (which a natal female never becomes, by the way), as if he is the only person out there who feels they were born into the wrong body.

Very insulting.

Too insulting to watch.

ETA: I found out he went to Peter Raphael who "invented" the centurion, which is just a variation of the not new metoidioplasty. He started doing it in 2002, so Rene's surgery was not done earlier than that.

Sorry, Miss Scarlett, my frustration isn't meant for you. It is for showtime and their "synopsis" and no doubt presentation of the film. Right now the media needs to see trans people for what we are. Normal people who have some gender variance of differing levels. We don't need to be seen as oddities.

[Hominid]

Ditto what Dapper said. My guess is it is full of judgments about what a "proper" penis is, and likely took on the opinions of this one transman in regard to his choices. If anyone's spent any time in active online forums for FtM's and surgery (both top and bottom), they are replete with versions of "my (existing or planned) cock/chest is better than yours". Heck, I even wonder if this guy is someone in particular who proclaimed in many places that he (unlike others) had spent many years in search of the best option and he alone had the answer because of his extensive research.

Perhaps not entirely fair since I haven't seen it, neither do I plan to. The synopsis is plenty for me, thank you!

Originally Posted by DapperButch

No, I haven't seen it, but the way the plot summary is written makes it sound rather dramatic and like the FTM person was living in the 1970's.

There were a number of quality, competent gender confirmation surgeons in the U.S. by 2004. No reason for a "cross country search". <eye roll>. A one minute google search would have brought up the surgeons.

Experimental procedure? A procedure that was perhaps trying to be improved, but the two main genital procedures for men have been around forever. And the "current surgery options are flawed?". I wonder why they are still doing them, then. Sure they are getting better and better, but give me a break!

Sorry, but the way the plot summary is written presents the person as a freak and like he should be with a traveling freak show from the 1800's due to his "life long obsession" to "be a biological man" (which a natal female never becomes, by the way), as if he is the only person out there who feels they were born into the wrong body.

Very insulting.

Too insulting to watch.

ETA: I found out he went to Peter Raphael who "invented" the centurion, which is just a variation of the not new metoidioplasty. He started doing it in 2002, so Rene's surgery was not done earlier than that.

Sorry, Miss Scarlett, my frustration isn't meant for you. It is for showtime and their "synopsis" and no doubt presentation of the film. Right now the media needs to see trans people for what we are. Normal people who have some gender variance of differing levels. We don't need to be seen as oddities.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Hominid

Ditto what Dapper said. My guess is it is full of judgments about what a "proper" penis is, and likely took on the opinions of this one transman in regard to his choices. If anyone's spent any time in active online forums for FtM's and surgery (both top and bottom), they are replete with versions of "my (existing or planned) cock/chest is better than yours". Heck, I even wonder if this guy is someone in particular who proclaimed in many places that he (unlike others) had spent many years in search of the best option and he alone had the answer because of his extensive research.

Perhaps not entirely fair since I haven't seen it, neither do I plan to. The synopsis is plenty for me, thank you!

Yes, I was assuming that this was all about Showtime sensationalizing it all, but perhaps the man himself added to that. As I was researching the movie, I came upon an article(?), about his level of misogyny/sexism as a person. So, that is interesting...maybe he assisted in Showtime going down that path. I appreciate you adding your perspective!