Women Without Borders Film Festival http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/WRC/Women_History/WWB.html
7pm ** FREE **
Program: Crossing the Borders of Biology: Destiny or …?
Period: The End of Menstruation?
As millions of women and girls take shots and pills to stop their periods, the meaning of menstruation changes. Current marketing of hormonal birth control attracts customers by promising freedom from monthly periods. For many consumers, menstrual suppression eliminates painful monthly flow, giving them more control in their lives. For others, menstrual suppression represents a frightening shift in thinking about the human body and another dangerous experiment on woman’s health. “Period: The End of Menstruation?” interrogates the cultural and medical side effects of suppression before ‘the curse’ disappears.
Followed by...
Black and White
A beautiful and stylish film about the creative collaboration between one individual and a photographer, “Black and White” also shines a sensitive light on a subject that is too often either shunned or sensationalized: the experiences of intersex people (sometimes called hermaphrodites). This fascinating film artfully explores the potent creative collaboration between Mani Bruce Mitchell and the acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan. Portrayed through this lens, Mitchell’s story introduces viewers to notions of fluid gender identity, challenging the rigid categories of “male” and “female.
And...
Boy I Am
An important exploration of issues rarely touched upon by most films portraying female-to-male transgender experiences, this feature-length documentary sets itself apart from other recent films on this topic. Because some women in feminist and lesbian communities view transitioning as at best a “trend” or at worst an anti-feminist act that taps into male privilege, in-depth conversations about transgender issues have often been resisted in these circles. “Boy I Am” opens up this dialog between feminists, lesbians and transmen. This groundbreaking film promotes understanding of transgender issues for general audiences while also encouraging conversations heretofore unexplored between the lesbian, feminist and transgender communities.
