This is my review of the CNN documentary following Susan Stanton, the former City Manager of Largo, FL who was fired after announcing she was going to transition from male to female.
There are several different areas I wish to comment on about this documentary. First of all, I thought it was a really good news piece rather than a “documentary”. It definitely felt more like an extended 20/20 episode than an artfully directed film. The saving grace about this piece was there was no journalist following around the subject, Susan, asking her questions. I think that saves it from the sensationalism of “LOOK it was a man, now it’s a woman, what a crazy world…let’s INVESTIGATE”. The news-room style of the film actually works with the main subject, Susan, who agreed to be filmed periodically for two years from immediately before starting her transition. There’s no looking back at pictures and old videos of Steve; we actually get to hear Steve talk about why he wants to become Susan and then get witness the transition.
It was an interesting to juxtapose the various moments of metamorphosis for Susan. I was struck by how similar Susan and Steve really are. The biggest change was her outward appearance, and the film really captured that. Susan didn’t want anything in her life to change aside from her sex and expression of gender. She wanted to stay with her wife, stay at her job, and stay the father of her son (who even after the transition refers to Susan as his dad, which makes sense to Susan). What is so clear with Susan is that being transgender/transsexual is not about a “lifestyle” change, it is a gender identity very engrained within a person.
The tragic nature of the film, is that while Susan wants everything in her life to remain the same, the players in her life don’t feel the same way. Her wife leaves her and she is fired from her job. Susan loses many of her close friends and her prestige in the Largo community where she was City Manager. The one constant is her son, who she can’t even talk about without becoming teary eyed. Susan’s son is awesome…he’s totally unphased by the whole situation. He said something to the tune of, “well it was kind of weird at first, but I got used to it and none of my friends care. They just say ‘oh hey it’s your dad, that’s cool’”.
Susan’s politics did not change after her rebirth as a woman, which lead to even more alienation. Initially she was a superstar in the LGBT community, as she was a government official who publicly and openly transitioned from a man to a woman and was fired for it. To many in the LGBT community here was a clear cut example of discrimination in the workplace. Once she got entrenched in the LGBT as a spokesperson, and specifically transgender/transsexual community, she became disheartened with much of it. It becomes clear that she has a more conservative slanting both culturally and politically commenting on the “exaggerated performances of femininity” she sees from other transsexuals. She also voices opinions that she does not support all LGBT legislation because she thinks that you cannot legislate tolerance and that not all transsexuals are appropriate for all jobs. This was not well received among LGBT advocates. This thought brought up an internal argument I always have with myself about civil rights in general: should it be social or legislative changes? I always come to the answer of both, but I found it intriguing that Susan takes the position she does.
The last note I want to touch on is not played up in the film, but is an undercurrent throughout. As Steve becomes Susan, she becomes more and more disenfranchised. While this is partly due to the stigma of being transgender, she seemed to lose a lot of her power as a result of no longer being a man. She discusses her loss of muscle and strength due to the hormones, and makes it clear she is not as functional as a result. Her ex-wife uses words like strong, confident, powerful to describe Steve and mourns the loss of the qualities in Susan. As Steve, Susan had no problem finding a job, as Susan, despite having 20 years of experience behind her, she’s passed over for less qualified candidates in far away towns who don’t know her story. I think the film portrayed this as a transgender issue, but I think this are issues for women. I suspect Susan’s stance on transsexuals not being suited for all jobs is related to her own loss of strength (perhaps imagining women in hard labor related jobs). I can understand Susan’s wife not being sexually attracted to a woman, but not viewing Susan as strong, confident, and powerful equates only masculinity with those traits, as the feminine Susan clearly is all of those things.
So there you go…a lot of summary and a little analysis. I am going to work on improving my posting style, so if you find yourself with the will and time feel free to edit this article and e-mail it to me with your corrections and/or tips. Congrats if you made it this far!
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