Masculinity/Femininity

Masculinity/Femininity is an experimental film based project that aims to question normative notions of gender.  Shot primarily on Super 8mm film (but simultaneously shot digitally and incorporating text-based elements), the project will operate as a cross between academic and practical critique — acting more as a document of gender construction rather than a documentary about gender construction.

The project aims to present prominent filmmakers, film theorists, gender theorists, and artists of all kinds with a few simple (yet pointed) questions about their bodies and adolescence originally written by a leading men’s magazine with play between autobiography and fiction strongly encouraged.

By operating as simultaneous documentary and fiction and by making the documentary inseparable from the fiction, Masculinity/Femininity asks us to question the ways in which we understand and present our own constructions of gender, working to undermine the notion of an essential, knowable self.  Each performance is profoundly different, but together the project acts as a document of gender deconstruction and exploration, questioning the social binary commonly seen as Masculinity/Femininity.

Thus far, the project includes performances by: Barbara Hammer, Monika Treut, James Franco, Cheryl Dunye, Linda Williams, B. Ruby Rich, Susan Stryker, Pratibha Parmar, Jack Halberstam, Tom Waugh, John Greyson, M.M. Serra, Greg Youmans, Chris Vargas, Amy Villarejo, Harry Benshoff, Yvonne Tasker, Michele Aaron, and Juan Suarez.

The project has been written about by numerous groups and entertainment publications (including Indiewire and GLAAD) and is fiscally sponsored by the highly prestigious Indiana University Cinema, granting all financial contributions to Masculinity/Femininity the benefits of contributing to a nationally recognized non-profit organization.

Interested in contributing to Masculinity/Femininity or want to get more involved in the project? Many of the film’s performers have generously provided signed copies of their books and films to help raise funds for the film and we can always use more help getting word out about the project — reach out by emailing us at: RLSFilms@gmail.com with “Masculinity/Femininity” in the subject line.

For more information, please visit: http://masculinityfemininity.tumblr.com/

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Help make Masculinity/Femininity a reality! By pre-ordering your educational copy of the film, your institution is helping raise the funds that we need to finish the project and get it out to an educational audience.

By purchasing a DVD from this website, you understand and agree that the purchased DVD may be used for educational and non-commercial purposes only.  You may screen it publicly within your institution but you may not charge admission, distribute the film, or resell the film or disc in any way.  To show one of Artless Media’s films with an admission charge, please contact us directly.

Pre-Order Educational DVD: $295 (will be shipped when available, expected March 2014)