XXY refers to males born with a second X chromosome. The filmmaker says she chose XXY for the title of her film party for its visual impact. But the central character of her film is not a male, it’s a teenager named Alex who was born with both male and female genitalia. Alex has been raised as a girl but at 15 she’s starting to question that identity. This film expert says it’s not just about gender but about the difficulties of a young person’s life. But for Alex the issue is especially complicated. In the film Alex meets Alvaro, a man struggling with his own sexual orientation. Alex’s father is more open to these identity questions that Alvaro’s. Alex’s mother urges her to take hormones and have a normalization surgery and that’s something Alex doesn’t want to do. The filmmaker says her film is about freedom of choice. As the teens struggle with her choice, they become attracted to each other. That attraction gives Alex the power to fight for what she wants. The film has received recognition and support in Argentina, one of the most tolerant countries in the region when it comes to issues of sexuality and sexual identity. The film has also done well in Thailand and Italy where the trans-gender community came out to support the film.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.