Editor's note

Just twenty years ago, a film about a seven year old boy exploring his identity as a girl was given an R-rating in the US. Transgender characters were far more likely to be violent and deranged killers than anything else.

A new novel exploring a family grappling with prejudice after their youngest son transitions – based on the author’s own experience raising a transgender child – highlights how much has changed. Here Michelle Smith looks back on the history of transgender characters in film and literature.

Suzy Freeman-Greene

Arts and Culture Editor

Top story

Felicity Huffman in Transamerica, which signified a shift in depictions of transgender people. Belladonna Productions

Friday essay: transgenderism in film and literature

Michelle Smith, Deakin University

Historically, pop culture has tended to depict transgender people as objects of comedy or monstrous freaks. But attitudes are changing, as a new novel featuring a transgender child shows.

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