Movie Review:

Just Like A Woman

by Janelle

"Just Like A Woman" (1992) Director: Christopher Monger, Producer: Nick Evans.

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

The movie was based on the autobiography "Geraldine" by Monica Jay.

The story is about a married transvestite banker with two small children living in London. The wife and children go on a holiday to the United States and unbeknown to Gerald (Geraldine) come home from holidays a week early.

Gerald has not cleaned up the family home and Geraldine's clothes and make-up have been left laying about the home. When Gerald's wife walks in on this she becomes most upset and throws all of Gerald's and Geraldine's clothes from the balcony. Gerald is seen collecting all of Geraldine's clothes from the street.

Personally, I found this quite funny as it related to my own position before I was found out to be cross-dressing, and like Gerald I was eventually forced from the family home to seek other accommodation.

Gerald finds other accommodation with a divorcee in a typical London home. He settles in quickly and Geraldine starts to surface of a night, when she thinks that the rest of the house is asleep, to go out to transvestite clubs.

He then becomes romantically involved with his landlady and eventually tells her of Geraldine's existence. The landlady takes the news a lot better than he had anticipated and begins to take Geraldine on outings such as shopping on a busy weekend. I found this really amusing as I could relate to myself being among throngs of people for the first time.

The two have a stormy love affair which includes Geraldine. Both the affair and Gerald's job hit low points but the rest of the storyline follows the landlady, Gerald and Geraldine working towards a classic fairy tale ending.

I enjoyed the film because in many ways I could relate to it in a personal way; wife, two children, family home, looking for my own personal niche in life etc. I thought it was well worth seeing, although from my own experiences I would say it was a touch over the top.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.