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A film in which relationships issues are discussed between a man and a woman, mostly in relatively static situations. In one sequence they are in a restaurant waiting for the meal to come. Inevitably, the preference of some Muslim parents for sons rather than daughters arises. After mentioning the weather and a recent rainbow, the woman says:
"My grandmother had this saying ... she's say, 'If a girl goes and pees next to a rainbow, then she will become a boy. If a boy pees next to a rainbow then he'll become a girl.' That was one of her sayings. [...] My dream was to pee next to a rainbow."
Man: "Why?"
"To become a boy."
"You wanted to become a boy?"
"Yes. You see the second child was my sister, and my father really wanted a son. [...] He wanted the 'perfect pair' ... he really wanted a son. There was friction between him and my mum. My grandmother loved boys. She'd say: 'A snake is better than a baby girl.' Can you believe it? No kidding! 'A snake is better than a baby girl.' She'd pray for a van full of boys ... to take her granddaughters away!
I felt responsible for my family, so I always took my little sister to the rainbow to pee. Whenever there was a rainbow she didn't want to pee, and when she did there was no rainbow."
Man, laughing, "And you never reach a rainbow!"
"No you don't. Later on I fell in love with a boy called Arash. I used to play games with him. I named myself Arash. Finally I accepted that I am a girl and that my sister is a girl and that it wouldn't change. When you were a kid didn't you want to change to the opposite sex? Weren't you curious?"
"Yes, I used to wonder. I didn't have a sister either."
"No, you didn't have a sister."
"Up to my first birthday Mum dressed me as a girl."
"You're joking!"
"Really. She wanted me to be a girl."
"How funny!"
"Pink dresses so I've been told."
"How funny! Those with a daughter want a son, those with a son want a daughter."
Man: "The first child was a boy so she wanted a girl."
Woman: "Some mums grow their sons' hair long."
"I have pictures like that."
"You're kidding!"
"I was ten and I hated it."
"It upset you?"
"It embarrassed me! My friends never saw the pictures. [...] What would you do as a man? What would be different?"
Woman: "If I were a man? ... "
Man: "The games ... ?"
"The games that boys play are different. Up to a certain stage boys and girls play the same games. But at the age of eleven or twelve things change. When they're eight or nine years old everything's fine. You can play the aunt game. But inevitably things change as time goes on. The games and feelings change."
"There are new types of differences. Everything changes. Girls play different games from women. Everything's different."
Woman: "If I were a man, how would I feel?"
"Yes."
"What would you do as a woman? As a grown-up, not a kid."
"Honestly, if I were a woman?"
"I can feel what you'll say."
Man (looking round the restaurant), "I'd go with the good-looking men"
"All of them?"
"All the good-looking ones. Yes, all the good-looking ones."
"Very strange. No wonder you're so possessive."
"Not me, but all men. They would all do the same."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
":A male fiend said that if he were a woman, he wouldn't go with every man."
"He wanted to fool you. He was trying to show you that lust doesn't rule him."
Woman: (pauses) "You would really go with all men?"
"OK, not all, but those I fancied."
"Strange ... [...]"
Man: "But as a woman that wouldn't be the case, because women don't fool around ... and we men wish it were otherwise. What would you do as a man?"
"I don't know. No wonder you're so sensitive. You think that if you were a woman, you'd be free to do so many things. So you think women do all of that? Yes?"
He nods.
Woman: "No wonder."
"That may be one of the reasons I think that women think as I do. When I love someone it's different."
"You're just saying that."
"No, I'm not."
"You are ... if I were a man ... "
"If you were a man ... what?"
"I'm thinking. If I were a man ... [...] if I were a man ... "
"Don't be shy."
"Why do you think I'm being shy?"
"Because as a man you'd go with all women. [...]"
"How do you know I would? It's not so .... if I were a man I'd go with all the handsome men."
"Why not do it now you're a woman?"
"It's different ."
"It's the woman who chooses."
"No."
"I'm proud to be a woman."
"Why want it when you're a man but not when you're a woman?"
"I'm glad that I'm a woman and have set myself limits. Women are limited and men are free. If I were a man I'd go with all the women. I'm glad I can't do so. Going with everyone can't be nice. It can't be a nice feeling. Not everything is physical. I'll tell you a funny thing: in the sauna, a woman talked about two or three not-so-respectable ladies. One said that her grandmother had told her that if a girl sleeps with men up to the number of her fingers and toes -- that is 20 fingers, with 20 different men -- she's not a whore. Over 20, she is a whore. Funny, no?"
"I hadn't heard that."
"Neither had I! Then I thought, 20's so many!"
HF May 2005
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