I Want What I Want

I Want What I Want by Geoff Brown was first published in 1966 by Great Britain's Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Limited. A film by the same title, the script of which was written by Gillian Freeman, stars Anne Heywood.

The novel's tagline suggests its content: "Roy was different from most boys--he was a girl. . . ."

"I Want What I Want" can be read online at [http://antijen.org/iwant/WantMain.html] .

April Ashley

One of Brown's inspirations for the protagonist of his novel may have been English model April Ashley, whose autobiography, "April Ashley's Odyssey" (1982) (ISBN 0-224-01849-3), co-written by April Ashley and Duncan Fallowell and published in London by Jonathan Cape, recounts her experience after she was outed as a transsexual.

Prior to being outed, April had worked in Paris as a female impersonator at Le Carrousel nightclub, where she earned the money to pay for her sex-reassignment surgery.

April's autobiography can be read online at [http://www.antijen.org/Aprilv1/] .

Confused terminology

In the late 1960's, transsexuality was not widely understood, and as "I Know What I Want" shows in the use of the terms that were employed to describe this condition, transsexuality was confused with male homosexuality, with transsexuals being referred to as "sexual inverts," "extreme homosexuals" or "transvestites."

Although Dr. Harry Benjamin used the term "transsexual" as early as 1952, it did not come into widespread use until the publication of his groundbreaking treatise on the subject, "The Transsexual Phenomenon" (1962).

Film

Infobox Film
name = I Want What I Want


image_size = 175px
caption = "I Want What I Want" (film)
director = John Dexter
producer =
writer = Geoff Brown (novel)
Gillian Freeman
narrator =
starring = Anne Heywood
Harry Andrews
Jill Bennett
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1972
runtime =
country =
language =
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0068726The film version of "I Want What I Want" (1972) starred Anne Heywood as the protagonist, Roy/Wendy; Harry Andrews as Roy's father; Jill Bennett as Margaret Stevenson; Paul Rogers as Mr. Waites; Michael Coles as Frank; Sheila Reid as June; and Virginia Stride as Shirley.

Other cast members include Daphne Anderson, John Baskcomb, and Paul Prescott. The film, which is also known as "I Want What I Want--To Be a Woman", was produced by Raymond Stross and directed by John Dexter.

"I Want What I Want" helped to pave the way for the release of many other transvestite and transsexual films or films that contain scenes or references to transsexuality.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/keyword/transsexual/] This web page lists 101 films featuring transsexual plots, themes, or references.
* [http://www.antijen.org/iwant/WantIntro.html] This is an introduction to the novel, "I Want What I Want", to which it povides a link to the online text.
* [http://antijen.org/iwant/WantMain.html] Read the online text of the novel, "I Want What I Want", at this site.
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