Originally posted at Progressive Blue.
Such a common question. And like so many other trans people, Chaz Bono asked the same question. He has been lucky, though, because he has Jenny, and she accepts him as who he is. Sadly, Cher is having a difficult time coming to terms with Chaz's changes.
I have just watched "Becoming Chaz" on the Oprah Winfrey Network. For those who don't know, this was a documentary chronicling the transition of Chaz Bono from female to male. Initial reaction? It was real, it was raw, and it was beautiful. It didn't attempt to gloss over the rough spots. It was courageous, as were both Chaz and Jenny. Chaz's family were mostly supportive, with the exception of his mother Cher. The good news is she never disowned Chaz, but she is really having a hard time with this.
I was blown away by this documentary. I have to say that if honesty is the criteria, this was a fantastic documentary. It covered the emotional and psychological changes which occur with testosterone use. The scenes between Chaz and Jenny where his testosterone, and her alcohol use, create tension were real and palpable. The documentary didn't pull punches about how much of that was due to the testosterone. Chaz himself admits that he was surprised by the effects of the hormones. They aren't all bad, either. He was very surprised by the effect on his sex drive.
They also very openly covered his top surgery, and his reaction to "being free" of having breasts. He never saw them as really part of him, even to the point of making them off-limits to Jenny. She spoke of how wonderful it was to lay her head on his chest, finally. And yes, they frankly discussed his aversion to contact with his breasts during sex too.
Chaz attended a transgender conference (without Jenny, they had fought) and met many other people who had similar experiences to his. He speaks of how good it feels to be able to share that part of himself with someone who understands. I know that feeling myself, and I could tell he was being very authentic about that.
And now for the bad news. Oh, come on, you had to know the evening wasn't all wine and roses. OWN chose to lead into the evening of the Chaz story with an old rerun of Dr. Phil on "Gender Identity Crisis". I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that. Suffice it to say that I do not understand what it is that Oprah sees in that man. He is crass, boorish, and insensitive, and this episode was no exception to that rule.
Between Dr. Phil and Chaz, OWN ran an episode of "Our America with Lisa Ling" where she profiles five transgender people. I'd seen this before, when it first aired back in February, and didn't watch it again tonight. I can tell you that is everything Dr. Phil is not. It's sensitive, and it depicts its subjects in a good light. I'd recommend watching it if you get the chance, which given the dearth of new programming on OWN, I suspect is pretty likely.
Final analysis "Becoming Chaz" is a solid ten, and will be a great introduction to the topic of transgender life. It's rare to see this from the trans man point of view, and it was done very well. OWN should rerun this often. Chaz should be proud of this. Hopefully someday his mother can as well.
Dr. Phil was a catastrophe. OWN should drop that man, even if they have nothing with which to replace him. He is a disgrace to his profession, and he is doing this network no kindness by his presence. I give them a zero for that programming choice, particularly as a lead to this evening.
Lisa Ling is fantastic. I'd be willing to bet that there is not a topic out there that she cannot cover, and cover well. That programming choice gets a nine from me.
Let's see, ten, zero, nine. That makes the overall experience for the evening an average of six and one-third. But if you skipped the Dr. Phil show, and started your evening with Lisa Ling, then we get nine and one-half. This reviewer suggests that plan.
Updated by wyldraven at Wed May 11, 2011 at 10:40 AM CDT
Updated to correct HTML error in 2nd paragraph. Oops.