ABSTRACT
Media culture has always featured lavish displays of sexuality, and depictions of relations between men and women while gender representations have been among the most explored and debated in contemporary US culture. In this chapter, the author explores the culture wars over sexuality and gender and renegotiations of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality in the media culture of the 2000s. Gender analysis involves unpacking the social construction of masculinity and femininity and relations between men and women. The author also deals with “Men’s films and crises of masculinity and patriarchy.” Duncan Hunter’s Transamerica introduces mainstream America to transsexuals and the world of gender-bending. The film boldly puts on display the socially constructed nature of sexuality and the performative nature of gender. The film opens with Felicity Huffman’s character Bree mimicking a tape teaching her a proper male accent and speech mannerisms.
