Transgeneration - Doc Series

          Another one of the films I watched over the break was an 8-part series put out by the Sundance Channel called Transgeneration, which follows four college students through a few years in their gender transition. There are lots of questions that surround transgender and transsexual identities, and I'm not sure that this series does much work toward answering those questions. The episodes, however, do a fantastic job of normalizing the trans experience, presenting these students as just ordinary people. There is not much extraordinary about the film techniques or the editing style or anything else artistic that we look for in the documentaries we watch as doc students, and I feel, at times, detached from the characters. Maybe that is my cisgender privilege shining through - I have never spent time considering the "meaning" or significance of my gender identity. The filmmakers do a fantastic job of getting access to these students and their struggles with college life, transphobia, hormone treatment, surgery, expenses, unsympathetic parents, friends, relationships, sex, drugs and everything that most transgender college students would probably experience.

          If there's one thing I can say for Transgeneration, it would be that this film exposes a life experience that never ever gets talked about. I imagine that for the most part, people in our class, in our major, and even in our university know very little about non-conforming gender identities or transfolk in general. I have been privileged with an interest in LGBTQ studies and being part of the first Peers for Pride program in the school of Social Work. Now I can say I know more about this community that never gets mentioned, but this invisibility rarely gets talked about. The trans community never gets unveiled. No one can be blamed for this masking - homophobia and transphobia and just plain old ignorance keep cisgender people out of the loop, and fear of being outed as trans keeps transfolk from being visible and talking about their situation. Even in the LGBTQ population, transgender and transsexual people rarely get their fair shake, and Transgeneration, and films like it, are definitely overdue. If you're looking to kill 5-6 hours of your time watching what is basically a reality-TV-style documentary, that's what you'll find in this series. And if you're looking to learn more about transfolk or a walk of life you'll probably never otherwise be exposed to, check out Transgeneration.