Every Body

"Every Body" (2023) opens up a mostly hidden part of humanity.  Sex is perhaps the most critical part of our identity.  A big part is physical, but along with that our cultural identity.  In our open society we realize the cultural part doesn't always line up.  We (some of us) have come to realize homosexuality is a preference of a significant part of society.  More recently we have learned that a smaller number of people have decided they are so unhappy with their identified sex that with modern technologies could change their physical genitalia to the "other" sex and are called transsexual.  Along the way were some people who were not satisfied with their sex, but were somewhat satisfied dressed as the "other" sex are known as transvestites.  There is an overlap between trans sexual people and intersex people but really they are separate.

About 1 1/2% of population is some variation of inter sex meaning some combination of male and female organs and hormones.  Secrecy surrounds as parents are ashamed making it difficult to know how many are involved.  Secrecy to the extent that even a twin sibling is not informed and in fact too often not the child.  Parents and medical authorities were looking for a quick fix with little regard to the psychological aspects.  An early example of inter sex phobia was that  parents were told not to have more children

A dramatic example was of a boy, David Reimer, born as a twin in Winnipeg, Canada.  A circumcision was recommended that went wrong and a penis was severely damaged.  The decision made was to reconstruct his genitalia to be a female and to be socialized as a girl.  He was given no choice, but at a later age rebelled and sought through surgery to be a male.  He did marry, adopted children and even was filmed in interviews shown in this film.  He later killed himself.

The three advocates, River Gallo, Sean Saifa Wall and Alicia Roth Weigel told their stories of being diagnosed with early fixes made without their consent.  As adults they have adjusted and become advocates for understanding, acceptance and legal changes.  Alicia was shown in Austin, Texas speaking up some legal aspects (bathroom accessibility) and leading protest march to end intersex surgery.

Donald Trump is doing a disservice to Americans by being self righteous about Transgenders.  Greg Abbott and other politicians feel they can invoke disgust for sexual variances for their political benefit.  Fear of the unknown is often used as a weapon.  Joe Biden was shown signing legislation to acknowledge and protect intersex people.  

I was born in 1948 and have gone through periods of queasiness regarding sexual identity.  Until a teenager not conscious there was anything different than two sexes and nervously wondered how they should interact.  Homosexuality was known as weird and possibly frightful.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/05/sex-in-classroom.html to know my education to that point.  Since then my awareness of transsexuals became noticeable mainly through political attacks.  Now with this film I realize sexual identity is more complicated and hopefully I can boost my understanding and acceptance.

Some talented people helped to boost attention for intersex people.  Below are some of them.  Most of those listed participated in a dancing skit with pronouns for the end credits.

Julie Cohen was the director.  She has 12 credits as a director 11 as a producer and 3 as writer including the Oscar nominated "RBG" (2018).

Molly O'Brien was a producer.  She has 23 producer credits plus 6 for director and 2 for the camera and electrical department including the Oscar winner, "The Only Girl in the Orchestra" (2023).

Noah Oppenheim was an executive producer.  He is the president of NBC News.  He has 17 credits as a producer and 4 as a writer including "Jackie" 2016) and "Zero Day" (2025).

Amanda Yamate composed the music.  She has 22 composing credits, 6 for the music department and 1 for Soundtrack.

Leah Anova was a cinematographer.  She has 42 cinematography credits, 25 for the camera and electrical department and 1 as producer.

Kelly Kendrick was the editor .  He has 16 editor credits, 10 for the editorial department and 3 for composing.

River Gallo was one of the intersex advocates.  She has been involved in California to ban some intersex surgeries.  She has 16 acting credits, 5 for writing and 4 for directing.  

Alicia Roth Weigel, another of the intersex advocates has been with the Human Rights Commission in Austin, Texas.

Sean Saifa Wall, another of the intersex advocates was also a black compounding his identify.  He has traveled to Europe to advocate on part of intersex and was pleased to discover his face was part of a museum art wall.  

If you read my blogs you are always looking to expand your universe and for some this is another opportunity.  Available on Netflix.