A fascinating and poignant look at human misery over their gender identity and the child as on looker - happily Tara grew up loved and appears to have avoided the pain that dogged her father. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hea…
The video that inspired this examination is here. Many have found it disturbing and it’s stayed with them for a long time - all worried about the little girl being so exposed to her father’s pain and rage.
vimeo.com/ondemand/167119
vimeo.com/ondemand/167119
At the time of filming in the 80s ‘Laura’ claimed to be ‘between two sexes’ but later reverted to living as Robert. The intersex condition is not specified but appears to be a hormonal condition that delays or stops puberty.
Tara notes that she was used by her father as a tool to gain sympathy. He grew up in an orphanage and was punished for spying on girls and made to dress as a girl. He denied that he was transsexual. The stigma he faced in the 80s increased his mental distress.
So surely we must be in a better place now. That those who wish to adopt a gender that does not reflect stereotypes around their biological sex may do so - when Robert was Laura he dressed as a 1950s housewife, that was his vision of womanhood.
But what I fear doesn’t change is the way in which children are used as props on this adult stage. But it is very good to see that Tara has grown up loved and supported by her family. None of them could remember the video.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
