Q1. Explain the impact of the social and cultural influences on sexual attitudes and behaviors as it relate to Brandon.
Boys Don’t Cry depicts the challenges faced by a young man in the 1990s attempting to transition from female to male. Transgenderism is the technical term used to describe someone who was born a particular anatomical sex, but identifies as the opposite gender. The film shows the difficulty of transitioning when the concept of gender is tied to anatomical sex. Even today, in more liberal cultural contexts and environments, there is often a great deal of tension when someone comes out as transgender. This tension is exacerbated in an area of the country where hyper-masculinity is embraced and the division of roles between the two genders are heavily policed.
Ironically, one of the reasons that Brandon Teena is so attractive to his love interest in the film, a woman named Lana, is his non-traditionally male sensitivity. Lana likes the fact that Brandon is able to show greater sensitivity and kindness than some of the other men Lana has encountered in Falls City, Nebraska. But Brandon is clearly one of the guys, and enjoys the typical pursuits of young men in the...
Ancient Rome openly accepted male-to-female transsexuals, allowing them to assume female identities without negative social repercussions, obviously long before the science existed for them to have gender-reassignment surgery (Reitz, 1998). Modern Indian society has Hijiras, transsexuals that, while not always treated with respect, are accorded their own gender identity and not relegated to male or female (Reitz, 1998). The Dine/Navajos recognized three sexes: male, female, and Nadles. The Nadles
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now