Research Assignment Gender Dynamics: Growing Up Coy 2016

Gender Dynamics
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GROWING UP COY 2016 might be taken as just a film or documentary, but its relevance goes further and much deeper than what one can take from it. The film is about the struggles and fight of one family, for the rights of their transgender child, at a certain school. The movie is however, about the child, Coy Mathis, than it is about the parents. Her struggles in school as to the kind of facilities to use, how to be represented, placed her at constant loggerheads with not only fellow students but also the school administration. The documentary, on a deeper note however, speaks more about the contemporary issues affecting life in the society, such as relationships and the dynamics involved.
In the film, Juhola illustrates the amount of pressure that the Mathis family underwent. This is because the society had placed them under very close and tight scrutiny. Every move they made and every challenge they faced, was always subject to observation and reaction from the larger society. Their life is virtually tied to the media too. When the Mathis family went public with the story about their child’s transgender identity, it provided an avenue for much discourse throughout mainstream media and the society in general, on matters to do with relationships, roles as well as identity. The family opted to use the public so as to push the school into being responsible and accountable of Coy’s treatment. This move is a significant factor in helping to understand the experiences of transgender youngsters, as well as going deeper to know how they handle their relationships.
The film further sheds more light on the issue of gender characteristics in relationships. There are indeed gender characteristics in relationships. However, this is usually dependent on the nature of relationship as well as how the parties involved, understand each other. It is worth noting that there are extreme stereotypes in the society, related to gender, which might even make the running of relationships a tough call.
Jeremy and Kathryn also help to solidify this understanding on the flexibility of gender roles in the family setup. Kathryn takes up the role of having to contend with the media, from holding the uncomfortable interviews to briefing on the progress of everything. It is usually a societal stereotype to expect such roles to be taken up by the man, in this case, Jeremy. As the couple prove however, each family has got its own distinct system. Each has its unique form of dynamism that cannot be generalized. Looking...