By Marlena Wright
Growing up I always fantasized about what life would have been like for me if I were a boy. I wouldn’t have had to wear all those itchy uncomfortable dresses and combing my hair wouldn’t take more than a few seconds because all I would have to do is run the brush through it a couple of times. I wouldn’t have had to “act like a girl” when I wanted to play with the boys. I felt like my life would have been so much easier if I were born with a Y chromosome, which is why the film Second Nature, directed by Michael Cross was so fun and thought provoking to watch. The comedy follows Amanda Maxwell, played by Collete Wolfe and Bret Johnson, played by Sam Huntington as they both decide to run for the Mayor of Louisburg. In the middle of an argument they are thrust into an alternative world, through a magic mirror, where gender roles/behaviors are reversed and women are the Alphas.
With so many gender inequalities engraved into our society, it is disheartening to say that after two decades I still wonder what my life would be like if I were a man. Being told I can’t do certain things, knowing that I’ll make less than my male counterpart, and always having to be weary of not falling into the femal stereotype all because I have to sit while using the bathroom, totally sucks! It’s 2017 for Christ sakes, why are women still looked down upon as inferior to their male counterparts? This is a feeling that Amanda Maxwell knows all too well, which is why I couldn’t blamer her for wanting to stay in this new world.
There is one scene in particular that I think really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the conversation around gender biases. In this scene Bret (a very open womanizer in ‘our’ world) and Amanda are at peckers (the female version of Hooters) and he is recalling his night at a bar he went to the previous night. He starts off drinking with a few women and as the night goes on one of the ladies whispers in his ear to take his shirt off, which he was all for until they try forcing him to kiss another man. Amanda responded by saying “that sounds just like another ladies night,” which Brent then responded, “I’m pressing charges.” I laughed because honestly that wasn’t the response I expected. Situations like these happen all of the time, so much so that it has become the norm. Women being put in sexually uncomfortable situations for the enjoyment or pleasure of a man have become apart of our nature/society.
Bret was so eager to go back to his world because he couldn’t take being treated as a woman. He couldn’t survive a few days going through the same problems that Amanda lived in her whole life. I related to Amanda because, honestly, I am her! Growing up I wanted to know what life would be like if I were a boy. Now I realize that it was never about wanting to be a boy, I just wanted to be treated equally!
Watch the Trailer for SECOND NATURE here.
