1.) The main thesis of the film "Middle Sexes" is that in the West transgender and other "middle sex" individuals are harshly discriminated against, in large part due to our Judeo-Christian roots; it contrasts this by visiting other societies throughout the world and notes how differently they are treated.
2.) The main arguments for the thesis were 1- Through the example of Noah, a child in the midwest that is biologically male and chooses to identify as female. His parents point out that children like Noah, nearly 50% of the time will end up committing suicide or being killed. This just demonstrates the scrutiny individuals that are "middle sex" are ostracized, discriminated against, and must always be looking over their shoulder. Next, the film uses India as a great example of how society there handles and treats these individuals.
3.) The thesis of the film relates to the course very strongly in the fact that especially in the West, Middle sex individuals are perceived by in large as highly deviant, and the assumptions that are held by the majority of the population can have catastrophic consequences as we saw in the story at the beginning of the film where several men brutally killed a middle sex who identified as female. This relates to the course when considering labeling theory as well. "A sociological view...defines deviance as the infraction of some agreed upon rule....Such an assumption seems to me to ignore the central fact about deviance: it is created by society" (Thio, Calhoun, Conyers, 39). This simple quote demonstrates how deviance is defined at an institutional level. This is one of the primary concepts of the course and also a large factor as to how and why people react to certain deviance the way they do.
4.) The arguments I found most convincing were the fact that for part of the first trimester, biologically the fetus is still "deciding" what it will be; and as we discussed in class, it is a prescribed attribute in the case of an intersex individual.
5.) The argument I found least convincing was the religion argument. If you take a look at every society they discussed in the film, religion was always at the forefront of how and why that society looked at deviance. Christianity just happens to not have a God with two sexes.
6.) The point that stands out to me is what was largely omitted in the film: the health effects. I would look and observe records of individuals who got sex changes and have died, and compare them with people who had not, to try to ascertain whether there are obvious health effects.
Thio, Alex, and Thomas C. Calhoun. Readings in Deviant Behavior. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.
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