Monday, January 11, 2010

A word from the past

REMINDER: FEBRUARY 21, 2010, 8pm Avalon Theatre: Screening of SOULMATES!
Information at www.soulmatesmovie.com

Last Saturday, I saw the movie "Avatar", in which futuristic researchers can essentially take up residence in another body in order to study a native population on a far away planet. They had to genetically "grow" the bodies in which to implant their psyches, and they had the luxury to come and go as needed. Nefarious plots ensue, but since I know there are still a few folks out there who haven't seen the film yet, I won't say more.

I went to see it with several people, among them a transgendered female friend, and I couldn't help wondering how she viewed it. I feel like an unmarried marriage counselor speculating about this idea, but, what if we, right now, had the opportunity to step into the body of the opposite sex for a stretch of time? How many of us, after a test drive, would want to stay in that other body? How many of us would be itching to get out of that "alien" body and back to our own? I have enough female friends to know that they would pay a lot of money to see how men dealt with PMS and childbirth. What would women miss most if they took on male bodies?

Being able to do switch bodies certainly would make life easier for people wanting to change gender. Who wouldn't want to skip the surgery, electrolysis and hormone treatments? Who wouldn't want the opportunity to "grow" their replacement body to their specifications?

Until that option is available , though, today's science of changing genders requires considerably more self-assurance and courage. Once an individual steps from one sex to another, he/she must keep looking forward since there is no looking back.

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