Sexuality, Normality, and Social Terror: XXY by Lucía Puenzo

Abstract

Lucía Puenzo’s (2007b) subtle and observant coming of age film, XXY, is the starting point for a discussion of gender, families, and unspoken anxieties. This article explores the world of Alex, an intersex teenager, who is navigating a relationship with the visiting son of family friends. Alex has reached the age when she wants to make her own choices about both gender and desire, setting off a family and social chain reaction about who decides that there are only certain ways to be human. XXY is first considered as a narrative of a common developmental crisis, then as a narrative case study.

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Notes on contributors

Jorgelina Corbatta

Jorgelina Corbatta, Ph.D., is a Professor at Wayne State University and an Advanced Candidate at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. The author of over a hundred articles, Corbatta has also published six books.