Around the Frameline offices and around town, we totally use “sir” or “ma’am” as verbs: “I totally got sirred/ma’amed at Walgreens over lunch.”
More often than not, it leads to a discussion of whether someone looks particularly feminine or masculine today, which usually leads to stories about store clerks/waiters/airline attendants/their girlfriend’s great Uncle Ted who have gotten just so, well, kerfuffled, when they think they’ve called us the “wrong” thing.
And let’s be serious, for a lot of us, it’s fun to play around with that. It certainly is for the ten year old in Adam, an animated short about mistaken identity, adolescent longing, and sexual awakening.
Films on this theme are perennial favorites. Remember Frameline35’s serious feature Tomboy or comedic short Franswa Sharl? Got any other faves about passing – or not? Leave ‘em in the comments!