Vaishnavi Sundar’s Film “Dysphoric” Explores the Ignored Questions about Gender Identity and Transitioning

By - Madhulika Agarwal

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in the fields of cinema, film-making, psychotherapy, medicine. Any reference herein to gender identity, self-identification or transgenderism is not to be confused with the Hijra, Kinnar, Aravani, Jogta or the Kothi communities.

Vaishnavi Sundar is an Indian filmmaker, writer and women’s rights activist from the south of India. Her latest offering is “Dysphoric” a four-part documentary film on gender identity and its impact on women and girls with a focus on females in developing countries. A range of professionals from the fields of psychiatry, psychotherapy, endocrinology and academia appear in the film. Additionally, detransitioners, parents and feminist activists also speak about their experiences with gender identity. 

Gender identity is the idea that each individual, male or female, has an innate sense of their gender. Now, the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ are used to describe sex in both humans and animals. The human specific terms for the appropriate sex, are as follows - the word ‘woman’ means an adult human female; and the word ‘man’ means an adult human male. So these two words are descriptors of the biological sex of a human. While biological sex is a natural constant and is dimorphic in humans, gender is a social construct- it is the behavioral roles considered appropriate to each sex- masculinity (for men) and femininity (for women). But gender identity deviates from this traditional sex/gender distinction in that it says that we have a personal feeling or realization of whether we are a man or a woman. In gender identity, the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ connote ‘gender’ not biological sex. So effectively, it does not recognize the sex/gender distinction. Those who support this ideology advocate that every individual should have the legal right to self-identify as a man, woman, or neither no matter what their biology is. The term ‘transgender’ is used by gender identity activists to describe people whose gender identity is different from the sex they were “assigned at birth”. 

The film begins with Sundar narrating her experiences of growing up as a female in a patriarchal society. It is a beautifully executed segment that I am sure every woman whether Indian or not can relate to in some way. Women all around the world know how immensely hard it is to live under male supremacy- it is a struggle for survival. Being female and carrying a female fetus can lead to violence against the former and termination of the latter  because Indians want male children. 

Being a female in India means;

- Being forced  to isolate in appalling conditions during menstruation, 

- Getting shamed for being a victim of sexual assault or harassment, 

- Sold or being forced to sell themselves into the sex trade, 

- Carrying babies for others to earn a living, 

- Being attacked with acid by entitled men, 

- Living in constant fear of violence and murder by husbands, and 

- Being cancelled for daring to express disagreement; 

All these are some of the conditions against which women struggle for social or actual survival. But at the end of the segment Sundar raises an echoing question – Can a woman save herself from the “house on fire” that womanhood is by identifying as a man? This question forms the subtext of the film.

A very important topic discussed in the film is that of gender dysphoria. The word “dysphoria” means discomfort or dissatisfaction with one’s body. The medical professionals interviewed in the film explain that the dominant practice in the field of medicine and therapy relevant to this area is to affirm that a person with gender dysphoria is transgender, or has the gender identity as they ‘feel’ it. But the film explores another perspective. It shows how the cause of the dysphoria may lie in being socialized in a deeply misogynistic context as a young girl; or in trying to cope with a personal tragedy. The important insight that Dysphoric brings out is that a doctor or a psychotherapist should give attention to the context and the background of the patient- like family history, past trauma, and sexual abuse (especially for girls) instead of equating having gender dysphoria to mean that one is trans and vice-versa. This is not to suggest that ‘being trans’ is in and of itself bad, but it does involve extensive hormonal and medical intervention. Given the basic duty of care in medicine and the logical imperative that our bodies should not be interfered with unless necessary, it is only fair that a patient should get a holistic, in-depth diagnosis and a doctor should be allowed to give one.

A commendable strength of Dysphoric is that it is informative. It makes an effort to inform its audience. It discusses sex constancy which is a concept in developmental psychology according to which we develop the cognitive ability to understand that biological sex is a material constant that is different and separate from overt behavior from the ages of seven or eight onwards. It then shows how gender identity has eclipsed sex constancy with a narrative that children way below this age can identify themselves with their ‘true’ gender. If we were to tell a five-year-old girl that if she does not like the color pink and prefers cars for toys then it means that she is actually a boy in a girl’s body; then she would come to associate a set of gender stereotypes as definitive of particular sex before she can grasp that preferences cannot change material reality. It is difficult to see how this conditioning, which teaches that stereotypes are definitive or even indicative of something, is progressive.

Sundar makes an important contribution to the ongoing discourse on transition by shining light on the health impacts- physical and mental, of the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. Children and their parents must have adequate information about the consequences of these drugs and procedures on the health of the child taking them. The same goes for adults as well. But it is shocking to learn that there is little follow-up due to which there is a dearth of literature on the health impacts. This is despite the existing knowledge that puberty blockers which are generally used to treat endometriosis, prostate cancer etc have to be given in limited amounts due to their side effects. Dr. Lisa Littman, a public health researcher rightly points out in the film that “… [in] any medical intervention why wouldn’t you want to know all of the outcomes?”.

There is a ton of suggestive material online for minors and adults about gender identity and transition with little to no quality control, scrutiny, or even verification about whether it is true. The film delves into the role of the internet and social media in shaping and celebrating a pro-gender identity narrative that is easily accessible. On the other hand, women who raise any questions or offer criticism of gender identity have been and are routinely threatened, fired from their jobs, cancelled, and banned by social media giants like Twitter. Vaishnavi Sundar is also one of the women cancelled for being critical of gender identity. The film demonstrates that the online world has a bias in favor of gender identity which is intolerant of any criticism, and asserts that any attempt at scrutiny is itself considered ‘bigoted and transphobic’. In an area where the wrong determination can lead to lifelong consequences for the health of the people involved and for society, people should be able to raise their concerns about gender identity and transition without being harassed into oblivion for it. This is especially relevant for parents and doctors who have a direct interest in the well-being of a child suffering from gender dysphoria. But the trending narrative on the internet is that the child or the teenager knows best, better than a parent or a doctor; never mind that children are not completely mature yet.

It is simply heartbreaking to learn about the struggles of the women who desisted or detransitioned- from growing up in a misogynistic world to being told that they could break the shackles by identifying as a man, going on to medically transition which had severe adverse effects on their health; and ultimately deciding to stop. These brave women share their stories of having been put on the path of transition by medical professionals with little guidance or support from the latter. The experiences of the detransitioners highlighted in this film, exposes a lie by some activists - if the gender identity movement is all about being who you are and acceptance, why is it that desisters and detransitioners are threatened and abandoned; which is what happened to these women.

Ultimately, Dysphoric is a fearless and thorough critique of gender identity and its ungrounded and over-simplistic assertions, for example- that merely asking yourself if you are trans means you are trans. It also takes on the co-opting of terms and phrases which is frequent among the supporters of gender identity- the phrase “assigned at birth” which is relevant to those with intersex/Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD) conditions, for example. It is disturbing to see well-educated individuals from the West stand on public platforms and grossly exaggerate simple actions of a little boy flapping his onesie as if it’s a dress to mean that he is indicating some innate sense of gender. It is an empathic film made of the cancelled and muted voices of women and men who refuse to buy into gender identity unquestioningly and uncritically.

The film ends with Sundar offering a gender-critical perspective. Gender critical feminism recognizes that biological sex is an immutable reality and that sex and gender are different. In other words, a man in a dress is still a man- an adult human male (XY chromosomes). Similarly, a woman who keeps short hair or is attracted to other women is still a woman- an adult human female (XX chromosomes). Gender critical feminism insists on fighting the social system which puts us all in the blue and pink boxes in the first place. This social system is gender, that is, roles and stereotypes imposed on both the sexes but more particularly on women. We have to fight it and not embrace it. Women are socially conditioned to wearing heels, dresses, or being submissive. But anatomy in and of itself has no inclination or revulsion to any of these things. So there is no need for a man to call himself a woman and take cross-sex hormones to be able to wear a dress and heels. But gender identity tells us that this is what we need to do; that if you are a man/woman who is not masculine/effeminate then you are not a man/woman at all. In contrast, gender-critical feminism insists that we do not have to deny material reality and make permanent alterations to our bodies to dress the way we want and be who we want to be. 

Gender is an oppressive cage that stifles us all. People who experience gender dysphoria or any distress due to gendered expectations need and deserve empathy from everyone. What is unacceptable is the current trend where genderists push everyone into total submission to the idea that self-identification of gender (when they actually mean sex ) is the only way to empathize and help; which  Dysphoric meticulously shows is not true. 

What makes a woman a ‘woman’ is her biology and not how effeminate or masculine she is. Women and girls all around the world are oppressed based on their sex- because they are female. That is why acknowledging that sex is real is crucial to understanding the oppression women face and articulating against it. What is wrong is the way women are treated; not the fact that they are women- adult human females. Any movement which tells women and girls that to not be treated the way they are, they should change themselves - that is, claim to be of the opposite sex , alter their bodies, and deny their reality will never help. Instead of fighting gender which perpetuates oppression on them, a movement or philosophy that accepts gender as unchangeable is anything but in the interest of the rights of women. Going back to Sundar’s echoing question, the words of Rachel Foster, a destransitioner who appears in Dysphoric perfectly sum up the answer to whether self-identification as men can empower women or not:

“The choice I’ve made is -  instead of changing my body and instead of cutting away pieces of myself to please that system I’m going to try and change the system.”

FIRST Published first on June 08, 2021 at www.indiaswomen.com

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