Technology vs. Gender on Screen

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female.” (Al-Hujurat: 13)

These verses from the Holy Quran state that Allah had created only two genders- male or female. Yet the Iranian city of Tehran is a global haven for numerous transsexuals to carry out sex change operations. In the heart-wrenching documentary, ‘Be like others,’ director Tanaz Eshaghian has spent hours interviewing members from Iran’s transsexual community where she managed to give viewers a glimpse into the horrendous sexual reassignment surgeries they had to go through to avoid bringing shame upon their family members and peers.

Islam punishes homosexuality by death since they are considered to be ‘sexual perverts’ and are either forced to change sex or receive the death penalty. So, is technology (by technology, I mean sex reassignment surgery) being forced upon these people that society termed to be ‘deviants’ just so they can live to see the light of day again? Kariminia, a religious cleric said, ‘Homosexuals are doing something unnatural and against religion. It is clearly stated in our Islamic law that such behavior is not allowed because it disrupts the social order.” I strongly detested this statement since homosexuals don’t choose to pursue members of their own sex by choice. Allah Himself has allocated that person his/her sexual preferences. Prohibiting a state of mind can never be a solution since the people who do come out of the closet are ultimately ‘harassed, punished or arrested.’ Even for transsexuals, it is Haram (forbidden) to imitate the opposite sex so a quick visit to Dr. Bahram Mir-Jalali’s Tehran clinic (the most prosperous sex change clinic available within Iran) somewhat reduces a considerable amount of tension since Dr. Mir-Jalali will artfully speak to the transsexual’s parents on how their child was born in the wrong body. $3500 is needed for such a transformation to take place. Most of the scenes in Director Eshaghian’s documentary were shot in drab, gloomy environments, reflecting the dire, impoverished lives the patients led. A lot of forces are working against these trans-Iranians, namely, affordability, social stigma, feelings of displacement and an inability to relate to their own bodies.

Moving on, I would also like to touch upon the issue of the many misconstrued concepts regarding changing one’s sex within the Islamic realm since tampering with Allah’s creations is similar to succumbing to Satan’s desires to misguide the sons of Adam: “And surely I will command them and they will change Allah’s creation.” (An-Nisa’: 119). If such is the case, Islam was not used as the sole reason as to why the Iranian Republic permitted these operations which erases the individual’s supposed ‘disorders’ and histories (one has to start over entirely after the transition).

Rejection is an omnipresent element in everyone’s lives. You get rejected by your parents when you want to buy that awesome Pierre Cardin watch you saw the other day, from hanging around with your older sibling’s friends, from your dream college and sadly, from your own appearance and identity. The emergence of technology paved the way for this new era we live in where both technology and gender can be juxtaposed to change everything undesirable about our outward looks. Whether we choose to lash against these rejections depends a lot on the culture and the people we end up associating with. Words and images are the most powerful forms of influence a child can receive while growing up. A majority of these words/images have originated from technologies such as the television, radio, computer, all of which allows the child to speak out about his/her distastes. In this case, the child was brought up as either a male or female. Yet in Sandy Stone’s ‘Posttransexual Manifesto,’ the author points out “If the transsexual were to speak, what would s/he say?” Transsexuals usually realize that they need a sex change at a later stage in life so all or most of their experiences have no significance once they go through the ordeal of changing bodies. These individuals spent a majority of their lives passing, lying and struggling to believe that nothing seems to be wrong with their genders. However when they reach a certain age, they know something can be done about their agony. People wanting, needing to remove all types of physical distortions within their own bodies flocks to their nearest doctors, counselors, pharmacies, you name it. The quest to look beautiful is a part of everyone’s nirvana in life which might either be suppressed or expressed, depending on who you’re talking to. In the documentary, when Ali Askar changed into a girl called Negar, he was immediately rejected from his family. He also rejected himself: “When parents can kill the love for their own child inside themselves, I have killed love in my being. I will never fall in love.”

Is using technology to manipulate our gender the way to go? Societal pressures overrule personal desires in Iran; let me rephrase that, in Islam if someone wants to undergo a sex reassignment. Referring back to Stone’s article, the author made a good observation that ‘The people who have no voice in this theorizing are the transsexuals themselves.’ Technology might serve as a means of escape to a lot of people within less conservative cultures. However the realization that technology separates a human being between a life of fulfillment and death is just outrageous. A lot of transsexuals are satisfied with their current features but they are forced by the authorities to act and dress appropriately. Being a Muslim myself, such beliefs within some societies should be revised before coercing someone into a life of hardship and trauma. Furthermore, Director Tanaz Eshaghian should be applauded for making us aware of the measures being enforced within the framework of the Iranian Republic.

Works cited:

Sandy Stone “The Empire strikes back A Posttransexual Manifesto. “<http://www.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?FID=42&id=1447>.” “<http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/sexualminorities/IranTrans072805.pdf>.” “<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7259057.stm>.” “<http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/be_like_others_director_tanaz.html>.” “<http://www.zawaj.com/articles/sex_change_ruling.html>.”