(Camille Leon, right, and her family © Freddie Claire)
Judith Butler advocated that gender is "a stylised repetition of acts" repeated through time, clearly distinguishable from a persons sex; one is constructed, the other is biological. Throughout my studies at university, reading diverse texts on contemporary issues permeating today's society in ways we often fail to notice has concretised my utmost belief in Butler's aforementioned statement.
Last Sunday, 5th April 2015, BBC screened Louis Theroux's latest documentary entitled Transgender Kids. Characteristically controversial, Theroux sensitively tackled the stigma surrounding transgender people through explicitly depicting the ways in which gender dysphoria ("a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity" - NHS) affects children as young as Camille who was four when she asked how to "turn into a girl." Indeed, by exploring the issue in relation to children, Theroux opens the discourse to a wider audience, specifically an older generation - would parents support their children if they were to feel this way? Alternatively would they reject it as a phase? Stigma stems from a lack of understanding in a topic and I think Theroux chose a perfect entry point into penetrating mixed perceptions of the transgender community.
Theroux gave his audience an insight into the types of procedures and treatments available to children, teenagers, and young adults, in the USA - where the medical support appears to be much more advanced than it is here. Including the possibility of psychological counselling appropriated to the patient, hormone blockers, and sex reassignment surgery, the team that Theroux met to discuss the technicalities were vibrant, enthusiastic, and, crucially, deeply aware of the pain suffered by the children who were born into the wrong body.
With focus on Camille, Nikki, and Crystal/Cole, we are exposed to two sets of extremely supportive parents in the cases of the former two, and one less so in relation to Crystal/Cole - whose mother wholeheartedly encouraged them to explore their gender identity, whereas their father outwardly spoke of the unnaturalness of Cole being Crystal. The difficulty here is that the idea of what is "natural" is subjective. Untouched upon is the notion of agender (without gender/genderless), which could give Crystal/Cole the opportunity to alleviate social dysphoria entirely. Nonetheless it was important that Theroux interviewed an opposing view because it highlighted the anxiety that an outside influence can have upon the formation of gender identity. It is from this anxiety that conservative notions of sex and gender as rigidly fixed entities are consolidated which prevents people from properly expressing themselves and thus reinforces stigma.
Theroux's documentary is eye-opening, asking all of the 'awkward' questions to help us to comprehend to our changing culture; it is so important that violence and abuse towards the trans community is eradicated and stigma is mitigated. Fundamentally, if a transgender person feels unnatural in their incorrectly gendered body, why should we have the audacity to prevent them from expressing themselves properly, comfortably, and naturally for them?
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