3 Generations By Gaby Dellal: Film Analysis

Gender is a powerful construct in our lives. As something that's learned from a young age, gender stems from interactions that teach people what to do or not to do based on their physical sex, creating certain stereotypes and expectations that one must adhere to. In 3 Generations, directed by Gaby Dellal, a movie which tells the story of a teenage transgender male who struggles to transition due to conflict with his family, the constant pressure to stop deviating from gendered norms is a prominent theme. Raised by his lesbian grandmothers Dolly and Frances, along with his mother Maggie, Ray (formerly Ramona) has grown up solely around women for much of his life, as his father left when he was young. Because of this, he has been at odds with his grandmother, who is against his transition, along with his mother, who is trying her …show more content…
Throughout the film, the interactions between characters demonstrate how gender is "done" in people's lives. As Judith Lorber says in "'Night to His Day': the Social Construction of Gender," early childhood is when humans begin to develop gendered personalities and sexual orientations through interactions with parents, and by the time they're adolescents, they conduct their behavior through "gendered scripts" as they get further pushed into gendered roles. Once they're adults, they have assimilated into this gendered system, and gender is cemented as a prominent fixture in people's lives (22). Thus, by adulthood, it seems like gender is an ingrained facet of life that can't be changed or resisted. Ray actually subverts this notion that gender is learned from those around him, in the sense that he has to follow those teachings. Despite being raised by women, he has resisted the idea that he should grow up to become one. He never wanted