My Way
Gender and Identity in British Cinema

Transsexual Teen Beauty Queen

Director: Dan Murdoch
United Kingdom, 2012, 60’, color
English with Turkish subtitles

Jackie Green used to be called Jack, but all her life she’s known that she was really a girl. Being born in the wrong body was just another birth defect. “Like a mole,” as she puts it. At 16, Jackie became the world’s youngest female transsexual. She’s now 18 and on a mission to become Miss England. When we meet her, she’s a feisty, confident teenager with a like-it-or-lump-it attitude to how people view her. However, as we follow her journey from her first beauty pageant boot camp to trying to wow the Miss England judges, we see how fragile she actually is. From bullying to suicide attempts, surgery to the catwalk, follow we follow this girl's brave attempt to achieve acceptance for who she really is.