Much Ado About the Gendercator

In case you needed some evidence as to what it is that is pissing Lesbians off so much, and forcing us to go underground, where we can nurture each other and fuel our own movements, once again – Amazon Womyn are gonna rise again!

Info On The Gendercator, from Catharine Crouch’s Website:

The Gendercator

TRT : 15 minutes

Super 8mm & Mini DV

The Gendercator is a short, satirical take on gender and social norms. The story uses the “Rip van Winkle” model to extrapolate from the past into a possible future.

In 1973 a group of hippie women are celebrating Billie Jean King’s victory over Bobby Riggs. They are partying in the rural woods outside of Bloomington, Indiana. Our heroine Sally is a simple minded, sporty type who overindulges at the party and passes out under a tree. Sally wakes up 75 years later in 2048 to discover (amongst other social changes) that feminism has failed utterly and completely. Sex roles and gender expression are rigidly binary and enforced by law and social custom. When Sally chooses to dress in flannel and jeans, the doctor at the emergency room calls in the “Gendercator”, a government official who informs Sally that butch women and sissy boys are no longer tolerated – gender variants are allowed to chose their gender, but they must choose one and follow its rigid constraints.

Sally is baffled by this brave new world. All she wants is to “do her own thing” – but her own thing is seen as problematic. Sally is a simple-minded stoner, indoctrinated into 70s feminism. She is no poster girl or freedom fighter, just a gentle tomboy dropped into the future with a tendency to respond in slogans such as “sisterhood is powerful”.

Nurse Nancy locates some of Sally’s former friends – they are 100 now, but because of advances in the medical profession they are still healthy and thriving. The friends tell Sally they heard she moved to California and that’s why they never looked for her. One of her friends appears to be a man and tells Sally, “They made me do it. They’ll make you too.” They explain to Sally that in the early 2000s the evangelical Christians took over the government and legislated their strict family values, legally sanctioning only “one man, one woman” couples. Advances in sex reassignment surgery have made it possible to honor an individual’s choice of gender AND government policy. Sally is comfortable in the middle of the genders, an unacceptable choice in 2048.

Director’s Note

The Gendercator is a work of satirical fiction. A satire is not a prediction of the future, it is a commentary on contemporary social trends. A satire takes these trends to their logical extreme to emphasize their underlying logic. The Gendercator is a comment on 1) the rise of religious fundamentalists as a political power all over the world, all of whom declare homosexuality to be a sin, 2) the medical advancements in plastic surgery, and 3) the culture of individuality which posits that individual “choice” is to be celebrated as the highest good, and therefore cannot be criticized.

Controversy about my Original Director’s Note

Many people have expressed discomfort with my original explanation of the motivations for making The Gendercator. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some of my ideas and concerns. The original paragraph read:

Director’s Note – Things are getting very strange for women these days. More and more often we see young heterosexual women carving their bodies into porno Barbie dolls and lesbian women altering themselves into transmen. Our distorted cultural norms are making women feel compelled to use medical advances to change themselves, instead of working to change the world. This is one story, showing one possible scary future. I am hopeful that this movie will foster discussion about female body modification and medical ethics.

This remark is not about transpeople. It is about women. My understanding of transsexuality is that it is a rare condition, a medical condition of gender dysphoria. A person’s exterior body does not match their interior sense of self, causing serious social, sexual, and mental problems. This person is a transsexual, not a woman or a man. My statement was not meant to question the validity of this condition, but to call attention to the increasing number of young women who are taking testosterone or undergoing voluntary mastectomies to enhance their masculinity. These are women who formerly identified, or would be considered by the lesbian community, as butch lesbians.

If we situate this in terms of the larger culture’s misogyny, it seems to be a rejection of the female part of the masculine female. Why does a woman do this? Most often, the reasons given are: to avoid harassment, rape and ridicule as a gender variant. It seems to me that what is also going on, but has not been explicitly addressed, is the desire to avoid being perceived by the world at large as female. Or to avoid the label of lesbian. Some may do this because it enables their sexual fantasies.

I also see a marked increase in the number of women who enhance their bodies through medical procedures to become more exaggeratedly female, as definedby the standards of advertising and pornography. I wanted to talk about why this is happening so often right now. Why does a woman do this? Most often, the reason given is low self-esteem. My feeling is that if we had more people working against these terrible and one-dimensional portrayals of women as having value only as sex objects, the medical interventions would be for medical reasons, not for social or cultural reasons.

For me it is important to work against the rigid gender binaries of the larger culture that enable violence and harassment of the masculine female or effeminate male. It is harmful to everyone that an individual’s safety and identity is defined by conformity to the standards of Ken & Barbie. This is what The Gendercator is about.

I believe we in the alphabet community are so hypersensitive about being hurtful that we avoid the very difficult conversations that we desperately need right now. I hope The Gendercator can lead to further discussion between transgender people and lesbians. Even if this discussion causes us to feel uncomfortable, we must talk about the rift and the reasons for the rift in our community. I believe that we in the alphabet community are all a part of the same family, and we must find a way for constructive dialogue. I think that we can find a way to respect our differences and understand our commonalities.

And, here’ why it was banned in San Fran:

FRAMELINE REACHES DECISION REGARDING
THE FILM THE GENDERCATOR
May 22, 2007

After considerable dialogue with members of the transgender community and after careful consideration of the issues raised by Catherine Crouch’s film The Gendercator, Frameline has decided not to screen The Gendercator in Frameline31. Given the nature of the film, the director’s comments, and the strong community reaction to both, it is clear that this film cannot be used to create a positive and meaningful dialogue within our festival. We are grateful to the many Frameline members, filmmakers and Transgender community leaders who brought this issue to our attention and assisted Frameline’s senior staff in making this important decision.

We are deeply committed to promoting the work of transgender filmmakers and films about transgender issues. Frameline Distribution distributes over twenty transgender themed films and over one third of our free monthly Frameline at the Center screenings have been transgender themed. Through the Frameline Completion Fund, we have given funding to the following films: The Brandon Teena Story, Southern Comfort, A Boy Named Sue, By Hook Or By Crook, Screaming Queens: The Riot At Compton’s Cafeteria, Red Without Blue, The Believers, Cruel & Unusual, F. Scott Fitzgerald Slept Here, and Maggots And Men.

“Frameline has partnered with Female-to-Male International in jointly sponsoring screenings of transgender films for our community and the public. We have enjoyed our association with Frameline and welcome their timely and community-minded response to the concern we expressed on this issue,” stated Rabbi Levi Alter, President of FTM International. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Frameline to present films of interest by, for and about the transgender community.”

Frameline’s Board of Directors and staff are proud of our work with and on behalf of our Transgender community members. Going forward, we will continue working with the community to further our own education and encourage more discussion and understanding within the filmmaking community as a whole. Again, we thank all of our community members for respectfully expressing their concerns and we look forward to sharing our ideas and expanding our partnerships.

Michael Lumpkin
Artistic Director
Frameline
145 9th Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94103
P 415.703.8650 x302
F 415.861.1404
http://www.frameline.org

And here’s what some Lesbians tried to do In Milwaukee, Wi:

Hosted By: Shelly H
When: Sunday Jul 29, 2007
at 6:00 PM
Where: Milwaukee Gay Arts Center
703 S 2nd St.
Milwaukee, WI 53204
United States
Description:
Shelly H

The cost for this event is $5, there will be beverages available for purchase as well. Facilitated by Jenny Curtis, the conversation is sure to be engaging and thought provoking – come share your experiences!

And here’s what happened:

We’ve lost our venue. Please see the letter I received from the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, and my response.

CB wrote:
> The private event scheduled for Sunday, July 29, including the showing of the film /Gendercator, /will not take place at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. Unfortunately, adequate assurances were not met to ensure a legal and LGBT balanced experience.
>
> On July 19 MGAC was approached by an individual requesting the free use of its space for fundraising purposes. Since that initial request, questions concerning the non-profit 501(c)3 status of the beneficiaries of the event has forced MGAC to reconsider its decision. Additionally, as of this statement, legal rights to show the copyrighted film /Gendercator /had not yet been received by the individual producing the event. This decision has nothing to do with the film or its content, rather the legal questions described above.
>
> MGAC recognizes the importance of diverse viewpoints of all sexual orientation and gender identification issues. Therefore, upon availability and legal permission, MGAC, under its own auspices, will schedule a viewing of /Gendercator. / Included will be a panel discussion involving the various viewpoints this film addresses. Additionally, an audience talk-back session will follow. MGAC will in turn donate all profits to the legally recognized 501(c)3 organizations participating on the pre-viewing panel. MGAC believes this the fairest and most non-partisan way to schedule this film.
>
> Should your organization wish to be represented on the panel, please contact MGAC at (414) 383-3727, or Milwgac@yahoo.com <mailto:Milwgac@yahoo.com>. We look forward to your participation.
>
> Board of Directors
> The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center
>
>

Dear Board of MGAC:

I am deeply disappointed in your decision to revoke your permission for our use of your space on 7/29. A couple of clarifications. The use of the space was not, in fact, free, it was agreed that we would pay the MGAC 10% of door charges which are $5 per person, and that the MGAC was to provide a board member who would make concessions available to our attendees, with the proceeds going to the MGAC. As this is a private fundraiser, not a tax-exempt purpose nor protrayed as such, there was no need for there to be a 501(c)3 backing this effort.

The film in question was donated to me by the director for the specific use we intended, and portrayed. Written permission to show the film was never requested from me, I learned yesterday evening about 6:30 that you needed such permission, immediately requested it from the director and received it last night, 4 hours after I learned of the requirement.

The various viewpoints this film addresses include womyn, specifically feminists and lesbian womyn, the patriarchy, the religious right and the medical establishment. Please see notes (below) from the director on why she created this 19 minute film and what it’s about. While I agree that events being presented by the MGAC should be LGBT balanced, I would argue that there is no feasible way to ensure that every event at the MGAC is LGBT balanced, and that an event not being presented by the MGAC should not held to the same standard, as long as it falls within your mission.

*************************

“Why did you make The Gendercator?
I wanted to make a comment on contemporary social trends that we see around us everyday. I am not a theorist, I am not a scholar. I am a storyteller. I use image, plot, genre, and metaphor to communicate to an audience. I want this audience to experience and see the world through a character. In The Gendercator this character is Sally. I used the Rip van Winkle plot device as a shortcut in a short film to take Sally from the 70s into the future. Sally is a typical 1970s lesbian at the height of second wave feminism. This was an era in which people were experimenting with sex roles and gender expression. Feminists were calling patriarchy into question and asserting that no matter what kind of body you were born into, you had limitless potential – that both women and men could be anything, in any kind of body. Billie Jean King had just proved to the world that power and strength were not the exclusive province of men. The film begins in this moment of great possibility, but as Sally will discover, the future is not a utopia but a dystopia for women like her.

The Gendercator is a satire. A satire is not a prediction of the future. It is a genre that takes contemporary social trends and extrapolates them to their extreme in order to reveal their underlying logic. With The Gendercator, I wanted to comment on three social trends:

1) Most importantly, the political empowerment of religious fundamentalists. We see this happening in our own country and all around the world. We know that for fundamentalists, homosexuality and “traditional family values” are two central concerns. Homosexuality is considered a sin and fundamentalist governments have outlawed it. They are concerned to reinstate the “traditional family” meaning heteronormative sex roles and forms of gender expression. These two concerns (legally disenfranchising homosexuals and using government to reinforce heterosexual gender roles) are very clear in the debates about same sex marriage around the US.

2) The increasing medicalization of our society. Not only have elective medical procedures become ever more sophisticated, but increasingly people are persuaded that elective medical procedures will resolve all of their “problems” (to the great financial benefit of those who offer such procedures).

3) The emphasis on individualism in American society: the idea that the individual’s pursuit of happiness is a worthy goal in and of itself, and should not be questioned, and also the idea that the individual is the true locus of identity–that the individual freely fashions their own unique identity apart from any other social pressures or forces.

What is The Gendercator all about?
In the Gendercator, these three trends are taken to their logical extreme. (Is this a possible future? Yes. Is it likely? Probably not—there are many other social forces at play). The main character, Sally, a lesbian steeped in 70s feminism, passes out at a party celebrating Billie Jean King’s victory over Bobby Riggs. She wakes up, à la Rip van Winkle, 75 years later. The world has changed
dramatically. As Sally later learns, the evangelicals have taken over and implemented their social vision through custom and law. Homosexuality is outlawed. However, because the individual pursuit of happiness is also a part of this culture, the individual homosexual can choose to change their sex in order to comply with the law of “one man one woman.” Medical advancements have made such surgeries undetectable (as suggested in the Mano, Lem and Tork scene), and have also extended life (as evidenced by Rachel and Linda).

Sally is baffled by this brave new world, and its in habitants are baffled by her. The film is about this experience of not fitting in and the ways that people try to put other people into little boxes; the ways that society defines masculinity to exclude anything “feminine” and vice versa, and how this is an arbitrary process that can, and does, change over time. All of us are like Sally—we have both masculine and feminine characteristics—and it is the larger culture that we live in which determines which of these characteristics are acceptable and which must be repressed. The film explores the dystopian possibilities of the religious right co-opting gender play and trans-politics and forcing us into hetero-normative gender binaries.”

**********************

As there IS no organization backing this effort, there is no 501(c)3 or organization to be represented on any panel for any showing of this film that you attempt to arrange.

Again, I am saddened that the MGAC has used such frivolous reasoning to revoke my use of its space, but respect that the MGAC has that prerogative and will find another venue for my event.

Sincerely,

Virginia C

As a result, the Lesbians had to take it underground. The event will now be held at Virginia C’s house. A private gathering. One that hopefully won’t be protested. An FTM invidual and group threatened to “disrupt” the event and called the film “toxic.”

One more example in a long list of them of the treatment female born Lesbian womyn get at the hands of “LGBT” and “trans” leaders and activists …