A Boy's Life By: Hanna Rosin

Wow... A Boy’s Life by Hanna Rosin was a very challenging article to read. Never did I even begin to think about the challenges of feeling as if you were born in the wrong body. I would be lying to you if I said I did not shed a tear sympathizing for both these confused people and there even more confused families.  As I’ve mentioned in my blog before I have a younger brother and it had never occurred to me to look at what he’s playing with or the clothes he chose to wear, but I guess that's because everything he does seems “appropriate” for his gender.

Reading his article I was transported back in time to when I was thirteen watching lifetime on the couch with my mom and a preview for one of there new movies that was playing on the screen, A Girl Like Me. It was the true story of a transgendered teen and his self discovery of living a life as a woman. He did all the same things that Brandon Simms did; wearing dresses at a young age, experimenting with his mothers jewelry and makeup, and even wearing her lingerie. His name was Eddie Araujo before he became Gwen Araujo, and he was from a single parent Spanish household, which means that his family was not that sympathetic towards his “situation”. The story begins with Eddie at a young age exploring the feminine world he so desperately wishes to be a part of. He hates his life, he hates it ever single day, and he refuses to hide who he is anymore. While the story begins with his youth it focuses mainly on his life as a teenager and the struggles he deals with everyday, fighting who he believes to be and who others try and push him into being. 

When I first saw the preview to this movie  I was so excited to see it. My mom and I even made it into a movie night and invited my aunts to come for the viewing. I guess I was so excited to see it because I had never heard the term transgender before of even knew it existed. As my family and I watched this movie I empathized for Eddie. The pain this poor boy went through struggling to find who he really was. I found this article fascinating because it reminded me of home and the movies my mom and I would get so excited to watch and because it provided almost background information for one of my favorite movies; allowing me to see what Eddie’s childhood was like. This article is fascinating and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, so much so that I sent it to my mother to read. 

Here is a snippet from the movie:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjf8W2nCiY&feature=related