The Aggressives (documentary film)

The Aggressives is a 2005 documentary, directed by Eric Daniel Peddle. The documentary provides an insightful look at the subculture of lesbian identified aggressives, who toe the line between gender definitions and expressions.^[1]

Content

This documentary intimately follows the lives of six aggressives for about five years starting in 1999.^[2] Through their experiences, the documentary is centered around gender, sexuality, and race.^[3] The aggressives, all young lesbian women of color living in New York City, included: Marquise, Rjai, Tiffany, Flo, Octavia and Kisha. The women’s experiences capture the daily adversities of queer, butch existence: including jail time, hysterectomies, children, joining the military and going AWOL, details about prison sex, working construction, competing in fashion shows or "balls" with other butch lesbians and drag queens, and being successful despite disapproval by family and society at large.^[4] The aggressives included within the documentary differ from each other in gender expression although they all identify as aggressive:

• Marquise embodies the most masculine appearance, strapping his chest flat with duct-tape, biting his teeth to develop a stronger jaw-line, and speaking in a deep voice. Marquise enlists in the US Army and on the eve of his departure, openly speaks of the how he will deal with the transition of being forced to live as a woman.^[5]
• Kisha was discovered by a fashion photographer while working her job as a messenger; she radically transforms between her aggressiveness and femininity as a model.^[6]
• Flo is an Asian lesbian heavily influenced by the dominated Black and Latina lesbian scene. He is captivated by the bodies of Black women and often judges such categories at balls.^[7]
• Rjai embodies the look of a businessman; consistently preparing, competing, and winning in balls. He appeared on a talk-show and as a result has a steady stream of interest from various women.^[8]
• Octavia is raw in her gender expression, dealing with the struggles of being imprisoned and trying to turn her life around.^[9]
• Tiffany sways away norms of gender and sexuality identity, blurring labels.^[10]

Within the documentary, the aggressives are asked, "What does being an Aggressive mean to you?" The responses the women move into talk about butch lesbian traits and identities, and explicit rules about who does what in bed.^[11]

The women’s relationships with their mothers are explored within the documentary; each mother’s understanding and acceptance of their daughter’s identities are complex and relatable. Some of the women’s mother's claim to accept them, others disapproval and/or hope that they will pass the phase.^[12] All of the women are unapologetic about their masculine physical appearance and firm in their womanhood and lesbianism. A troubling experience shared by most of the women is financial hardship.^[13]

Reception

Karman Kregloe praises the director for providing a platform for the women to define themselves and share the ways in which they "face marginalization with humor, bravado and courage."^[14]

According to Ciara Healy, the documentary does not make clear the distinction between the label "aggressive" versus "butch lesbians", especially how race is significant in identifying with either, leaving its audience wondering what is the difference between aggressive and butch.^[15] "The Aggressives is highly recommended mainly because it is provocative; as a tool for generating discussion it can work really well. The women filmed provide thoughtful and insightful descriptions of their gendered experience which alone would make this documentary a good resource for women’s studies classes or other classes that explore gender roles such as sociology, psychology and criminology."^[16]

The documentary is rated a 6.7/10, according to 167 IMDb users.^[17] It currently as a 91% tomatometer rating and 50% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.^[18]

Awards

The documentary has won three awards:

• Best Documentary from the 2005 Rhode Island International Film Festival
• Juried Award from the 2005 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
• Audience Award from the 2005 Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.^[19]

References