A Tranny Mess

First off, my title is a play on the transsexual theme of the documentary and is a catchphrase from the winner of a recent reality show. If you got it, then congrats to you, because not only is it appropriate (and hilarious if you think about it), but it helps lighten the mood a little bit because we all know there were some “Awkward Turtle” moments in that classroom.

Southern Comfort is quite the interesting documentary. It is no March of the Penguins and is not for the faint if heart. What makes the film so interesting is that it is centering on a group of transsexual friends who have, in their minds, made the complete transformation to the gender of which they identify. Robert’s situation is especially complicated, more so than the other characters, because when he was a woman, he was married and had two children. He said he “felt like a homosexual” when he was in this marriage because he believed himself to be a man trapped in a woman’s body and expressed pregnancy as a weird situation to be in and the turning point in his life when he realized he needed to live life as a man. This complicated story weaves the complex lives that these people are living. Being transsexual is a difficult and painstakingly emotional rollercoaster of a life.

Like Roger said in his blog, I am a pretty open person to homosexuality, race, equal rights (for women and African-Americans), and consider myself to be very supportive of these cultures and their struggle for pulling themselves out of the “second-class citizen” rut they are put in every day. The problem here is, I was completely confused about one thing – how do these people have sex? If these two people in this relationship have each switched genders, then would the woman who is now a man (Partner A) perform penetration on the man who is now a woman (Partner B) or does Partner B, who may still have a penis as some transsexuals do not cut off their penis and get a reconstructed vagina, penetrate Partner A who may still have a vagina (because it was mentioned that it is harder for a woman to become a man because of the high cost of the surgery)? This completely blew my mind and just confused me. Max and his partner said they have spiritual sex but that was never really made clear and it really just confused me even more? I am not asking for an instructional pamphlet or video, I really just want to know who has what and if they can even use it. I hope this paragraph didn’t confuse anyone, and if it did, welcome to the club.