As the world seems more and more focused on 'biological sex' thanks to the rise of transphobia in the world, with those who say they 'defend women' trying to whittle people's identities down to reproductive abilities and the body parts that they have, it's important to remind people that not everyone fits into nice, neat little boxes; and that the idea of a strict sex binary isn't actually real. Fitting In tackles these ideas, mixed with a charming coming of age story, in a way that doesn't feel preachy, and instead quietly educates viewers about the fact that human biology is incredibly diverse, and that whilst not everyone is going to be the same or fit into what society declares to be 'normal', we're all perfect the way we are.
Fitting In begins the way most teen movies with an emphasis on sex do, by introducing us to our lead character, Lindy (Maddie Ziegler), a teenage girl who's trying to figure out where her and her crush currently are in their relationship, and building herself up to take the step into sleeping with him. Her best friend Vivian (Djouliet Amara) is giving her advice and trying to help her out, whilst her mother Rita (Emily Hampshire) is doing her best to be a supportive single mother whilst trying to get back out into the dating world after recovering from breast cancer. Whilst getting ready to take the plunge with her maybe boyfriend Adam (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) Lindy decides to get herself on birth control, even though she's not yet had her period.
The fact that she hasn't had a period yet grabs the attention of her doctor, who decides to check Lindy over. After going through a series of tests, some humiliating and painful for the young girl, Lindy is given some incredible news. She has MRKH syndrome, an intersex condition that means that whilst Lindy was born with ovaries and external genitals she's entirely missing her womb, and her vaginal canal is more of a 'dimple'. The news hits Lindy hard, especially as she wanted to be a mother some day and now can't give birth. As she deals with this news, and the fact that she'll have to take medical intervention if she ever wants penetrative sex (such a dilating or vaginaplasty) her personal life begins to suffer. We watch as Lindy navigates through the trauma of her experience and witness how it begins to change her life.
On the surface Fitting In sounds like a typical teen sex movie, another in the long line of films about teenagers just wanting to lose their virginity. However, this is just the set-up for Fitting In, and the film ends up going in a completely different direction. It becomes less about Lindy having sex, and more about her figuring out who she in and what her life will become. The film is partially inspired by the real life experiences of writer and director Molly McGlynn, who herself has MRKH, and you can feel that in the movie. The times where Lindy begins to lose it, where the rage, frustration, heartbreak, and self destructive behaviour becomes too much for her and bleeds out onto the screen feel informed by experience, rather than being created by a writer just approximating those events.
Lindy is an incredibly engaging character because of this, and Ziegler plays her wonderfully. In all honestly, with my only experience of her being having seen an episode or two of Dance Moms, and knowing about the incredibly controversial Music, I was unsure what to expect from her going into this. This is not an easy role to play, and it would be easy to make the character or the situation feel too unbelievable. However, thanks to McGlynn's own experiences helping to guide her Ziegler makes Lindy feel very alive. I think that anyone who's gone through some kind of life changing event, especially one that comes with trauma, will appreciate that Lindy isn't watered down, that the film shows her getting angry at what's happened to her, and that we see her channelling this in ways that are bad for her at times.
It helps that there are other characters in the film who are comparable to her in a few ways, and it's not just Lindy as the sole 'different' person. Her mother, Rita, is a cancer survivor; something that is slowly explored throughout the movie. At first she talks about how she was sick, and how it was tough for her, but it's not until she really breaks down in frustration, where she shows her daughter her true feelings on it, on how frightening it was, how much it changed her, even going so far as to remove her fake breast and casting it aside, that we, and Lindy, understand that whilst their experiences are vastly different, the trauma that they share brings them together.
There's also Jax (Kai Griffin), another teen that Lindy meets briefly shortly before her diagnosis. When we first meet them Jax is introduced to us as being non-binary, having they/them pronouns. however, it's when Lindy visits an LGBTQ+ support group at the advice of one of her doctors that she learns Jax is intersex, and was forced into medical procedures to 'fix' them as a child. Jax becomes an important figure in Lindy's life, someone who she can open up to about what's going on with her as Jax will likely understand. Whilst Lindy is at the beginning of her journey, still trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do, Jax is something of an old hat at it. They've come to accept themselves, they've had years to learn about and come to terms with both being intersex and the things that were done to them without their consent. They represent where Lindy will likely be one day, a person who has learned to see themselves as normal, as beautiful, despite not fitting into the strict rules that our society says they must. They're important as they're kind of the ultimate message of the movie, that no one is normal, that we're all different and varied and wonderful, and no one needs 'fixing' to fit a system that has never even been true to begin with. The fact that Jax is played by an actual intersex actor is also a wonderful decision by McGlynn, and gives some very real representation.
Lindy's journey across Fitting In is far from smooth, there are some ups and downs, some tragic moments, and some times of joy. It's a film that doesn't sugar-coat this subject, a subject that needs talking about more are intersex conditions and sex variances are a lot more common that people would want to think. And at a time where any deviation from this is being politicised negatively, where people are being hounded and abused for being different, or even perceived as different (Imane Khelif being a prime example) telling these stories has never been more important. Come to Fitting In for the coming of age drama, stay for the very real heart and the special story it's telling.
How dare you, a trans woman, who doesn't have a female-specific uterine condition, speak on a movie that isn't for you? And how dare you center your blogpost around transphobia when this movie has NOTHING TO DO WITH TRANS PEOPLE. You are not defending us by using us as an example that "sex isn't binary" and reducing us as females by displacing us from our sex. And not only that, you call this female-specific condition "intersex" and a "variance" when it isn't either one at all. Fuck off. Get the fuck away from women's health and stop mislabeling us and using us as political gotchas for yourself. Unambiguous females with reproductive conditions belong in discussions around WOMEN'S HEALTH. You aren't contributing to that but furthering us from discussions that are relevant and benefit us. Keep your agenda to yourself. -a woman with MRKH.
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