Release Year: 2008
Synopsis:
In 2008, the UK documentary I’m 80% Girl, 20% Boy: VC2 made a profound impact by offering a deeply personal and vulnerable insight into the life of Adele (Bright Daffodil), an intersex woman grappling with her identity in a world that relentlessly enforces binary gender norms. Directed by Maxx Ginnane, the film explores Adele’s journey as an XXY intersex individual, born with ambiguous genitalia and subjected to invasive surgeries that “corrected” her body as part of a process of enforced gender conformity.
This powerful short film serves not only as a poignant narrative of Adele’s personal struggle and resilience but also as an important commentary on the medical, social, and psychological aspects of intersex lives, particularly as they pertain to gender identity. Through her journey, the film highlights the tension between biological sex and gender identity, questioning the conventional frameworks society uses to understand these complex realities.
Adele’s story is one that challenges the very premise of the gender binary. Born with an intersex condition (XXY), she was initially assigned male at birth and subjected to multiple surgeries in her early childhood to conform to this male identity. By the time she was seven, she had already undergone four operations to “correct” her ambiguous genitalia. Despite these attempts to reshape her physical identity, Adele never felt comfortable in the role that society had thrust upon her. In fact, from an early age, she identified as a girl—an identity that, over time, she would come to reclaim with increasing clarity and determination.
The film’s title, I’m 80% Girl, 20% Boy, serves as a metaphor for Adele’s complex relationship with her gender. Despite the biological interventions that forced her to live as a boy, Adele’s heart and mind always knew she was more than the sum of her assigned sex and socially constructed gender. She expresses this conflict throughout the film, particularly in her reflective moments towards the end, when she shares her vision for the future:
"I’ve lived 30 years of my life as a man, and I’m going to live the next 30 years of my life as a woman. But, eventually, when I’m an old person, hopefully, society will have moved on to a point where I can live as myself — which is an intersexed person — neither male nor female."
This statement captures a deeply profound realization: that the journey towards gender authenticity is not a linear progression from one binary gender to the other but an exploration of self that transcends the limitations of societal gender categories. Adele’s aspiration to eventually live as her true, intersex self signals a broader, more inclusive vision of identity that allows space for those who exist beyond the rigid male/female divide.
One of the most unsettling aspects of I’m 80% Girl, 20% Boy: VC2 is the medicalization of Adele’s intersex body. Throughout the film, viewers learn about the four surgeries Adele underwent as a child, which were performed to "normalize" her genitalia in accordance with societal norms. These medical interventions, which were deemed necessary for gender “correction,” represent a larger, often harmful, practice that has historically been applied to intersex individuals. Many intersex people, like Adele, were subjected to surgeries and hormone treatments without their consent, an experience that has been widely criticized for its physical, psychological, and emotional toll on intersex people.
Adele’s account of her surgeries offers a powerful critique of the medical profession’s history of imposing gender norms on intersex bodies. These medical practices, often performed under the guise of “healthcare,” have left many intersex people feeling alienated from their own bodies and unable to reconcile the gap between their biological sex and their gender identity. By exposing this painful reality, the film underscores the need for more humane, respectful, and consensual approaches to intersex care—an issue that continues to be a point of contention in medical and human rights circles.
Adele’s story, however, is not just about her struggles with medicalization. It also illustrates the power of personal agency and self-determination. As the film progresses, Adele embarks on the process of gender reassignment surgery to transition into womanhood. She expresses a deep sense of relief and joy as she moves toward realizing her true identity as a woman, a journey that parallels her emotional and psychological process of becoming more attuned to her authentic self.
What is striking about Adele’s story is the way in which she embraces both her past and her future, recognizing that her intersex body has shaped who she is, while also acknowledging the possibility of living authentically as a woman. The film powerfully portrays this reconciliation as part of Adele’s larger journey toward self-acceptance and self-love, with her intersex identity no longer being something to hide but something to honor.
The interview with Bright Daffodil, a British intersex and transgender activist, expands on themes of intersex identity and the fluidity of gender. Bright Daffodil, who identifies as both intersex and transgender, offers an alternative perspective on gender, one that transcends the binary framework entirely. In an interview with Monika Kowalska for the blog Heroines of My Life, Daffodil shares her thoughts on her own identity and the importance of embracing the full spectrum of human experience:
"I believe myself to be a Pleiadian, a star seed here in London. In human terms, I’m an intersex person, a transgendered woman, but I’m at a stage in my life where gender to me is nothing more than the others' perception. I don’t see myself as any gender anymore, just as a soul having a human experience. I think I have transcended gender to be really honest."
Daffodil’s reflections echo Adele’s sentiments in VC2, suggesting that true self-understanding goes beyond gender labels altogether. For both Adele and Bright Daffodil, the struggle to understand their identities is less about fitting into predefined categories of male or female, and more about embracing their humanity and the freedom to express themselves authentically.
Daffodil’s insights also highlight an important aspect of intersex and transgender identity: the recognition that the body and gender are not always aligned in the way society expects. As a result, intersex individuals like Daffodil and Adele often find that the journey toward self-discovery is not just about transitioning into another gender but about coming into alignment with a deeper, more transcendent sense of self. For Daffodil, transcending gender altogether is a way to escape the confines of societal expectations and embrace the full richness of human experience.
I’m 80% Girl, 20% Boy: VC2 serves as a crucial work in the ongoing conversation about gender identity, intersex experiences, and the need for greater visibility and acceptance. Through Adele’s journey, the film challenges the binary system that has dominated the medical, social, and cultural understandings of gender and sexuality. The film also critiques the medical establishment’s approach to intersex bodies and advocates for a more compassionate, inclusive approach that respects the autonomy and rights of intersex individuals.
As Adele’s closing words suggest, there is hope for a future where intersex people, along with other gender-nonconforming individuals, can live authentically without the pressure to conform to societal norms. A future where being intersex—neither male nor female—is not seen as an anomaly but as a valid and legitimate identity in its own right.
In this future, as Bright Daffodil eloquently states, people may no longer be burdened by the labels of “male” or “female.” Instead, they will be able to live as souls having a human experience, free from the constraints of gender. Until then, the stories of intersex individuals like Adele and Bright Daffodil continue to push the boundaries of how we understand identity, gender, and the human experience.
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