"How about Orlando there and Mikael, here..." "Okay, let's roll..." "You have to tell us when to begin." "That's me..." "At a London night club." " What a knock-out!" " You think so?" "I guess I could have looked worse..." "I had long hair, that I'd put up." "Looking at this, I never would have guessed that you once were a man." " Really?" "No one did..." " Very convincing." " I had this tiny waist, too." " Really?" "I certainly didn't." "Lovely perky breasts..." "It couldn't be better." " Could you push the button?" " Let's see what we can reveal..." "This is one of my very first tentative attempts at adopting the role of a woman." "Nice, I like it..." " I loved that top." " I can see why." "Nice embroidery." "I bought it for Mikaela just a few days before this was taken." " Your hair is nice." "Is that your own?" " No..." "I wasn't too thrilled about my own hair." "I liked wearing a wig when I adopted the female role." " And lipstick." " But that was about it..." "Apart from covering up my stubble with heavy makeup." " How often did you shave?" " At least twice a day." " So... when did you have yours?" " In 1994." " That was fairly recently..." " What about you?" "Back in 1967." "One of the very first sex-change operations..." " You're a woman now, right?" " No." "I was born a man, changed my sex, then changed back again." "Because being a woman isn't me." "As you can see, I want to live as a man now." "But I'm waiting for my surgery." " You still have breasts." " That's right..." "I try to hide them with baggy shirts." " I haven't had them removed yet." " But you intend to?" " You're determined to be a man again." " That I am." "Also, I hope to get a penis reconstruction." "The one I was born with is gone." "So, how did you feel after your first operation?" "Afterwards?" "I was shocked." "I was shocked and I shudder when I think of it." " The memory haunts me." " Right..." "I almost didn't wake up, they'd given me too much anesthesia." "If it seeps into your bones, you don't wake up." "It was a miracle." "I was out for one and a half days." "But it was this close..." "I nearly paid for it with my life." "I didn't have to share, they put me in a private room." "And I'm not sure whether it was the nurse or the doctor who briefly left the room..." "But the bandage fell off, and I saw that everything was gone." "And I cried." "I did..." "I regretted it immediately." "Not that I said anything, though." "It was devastating. "What have I done?"" ""What on earth have I done?"" ""Now you're forced to be Mikaela, to pretend."" ""You took this step"..." "It's very final." "Why didn't the surgeon talk to me that morning?" "Ask me, before he whipped out his scalpel:" ""Do you have any doubts, Mikael?" "Is this what you really want?"" "But he didn't, even though they're supposed to." "Do you think it would have made a difference at that point?" "This much I can say, it was 50/50." "There was a 50 % chance that I would have gone: "Well..."" "The slightest hesitation on my part, and he would've put the scalpel away." " Do you really believe that?" " They have to..." "The patient mustn't have even a shadow of a doubt." "But it was your choice to do this, wasn't it?" "You had taken the necessary steps..." "I like to stick to my word..." "I'm an upstanding citizen, I respect the Establishment." "You don't back out of commitments." "At least, that's how I felt." "And I was curious, too..." "Unfortunately." "I wanted to see if I was, in fact, just a woman." "Today, I know I'm not." "Now that it's too late." "Well..." "We made that choice." "It wasn't really about becoming a woman." "It was about changing yourself, in order to be loved and accepted." "It was all so secret back then." "And it was against the law to be gay." "If you were a homosexual, but couldn't play that particular card..." "Well, you were left with nothing." "It was a dead end." "My only option was older men who would pay me for my time." " Where did you find these men?" " In the Humlegården park." "The police were always prowling the area." "You wouldn't believe how foul-mouthed they were." "They called us "ass-bandits"." ""Beat it." "If we see you again, we'll haul you off to the station."" "Where did you get the idea to do this?" "I read this magazine article about Christine Jörgensen, a Danish man who had a sex-change operation, moved to the US, married a millionaire and lived a fabulous life..." "This person had also had a tough time in life." "But the sex-change was like going to heaven." ""Gosh, could that be right for me?"" "You know..." "Christine Jörgensen..." "The name rings a bell." " When was that, exactly?" " 1961." "Did you immediately wonder if it was the right thing for you?" "I toyed with the idea..." "I kept re-reading the article, and she was ever so lovely..." ""What if I could be as pretty as that?"" ""Have a nice home of my own."" "You know, get out of the mess I was in." "And life would be so grand..." "Do you think it had anything to do with being a teenage boy and going home with men?" "That it made you think:" " "Maybe I am a girl"?" " No..." ""Nothing could be worse than this." That's how I felt." "Being called names and getting harassed by police like that." "Earning a few pennies by going home with old men." "Always cold and starving..." ""They wouldn't treat a woman like that."" ""It's got to be better..."" "I know that some people who want to change their gender for real..." "They feel trapped in the wrong body." "Yes..." "But it wasn't really like that for me." "I just clung to the belief that it would make things better, since people were always saying I had "feminine behavior"." "A way of expressing myself that was better suited to a "bitchy woman", as they so brutally put it." "Did you feel like a woman, or a surgically altered man?" " The latter, I'd say." " An altered man, a failure..." "I practically lied to the psychiatrist." "Because I was so determined to change my life." "I wasn't happy about the old me, the old role..." "I felt the same way, I expected everything to be fantastic." " My problems would go away." " You'd be happy." "Your mental health, your finances..." "You'd even start cleaning the house!" "A man would come home at night and say "I missed you all day"." "Provide you with housekeeping money..." "Bring you flowers." "You painted such a picture..." "Exactly." "I think about the mistakes I made many years ago." "People say: "You can't undo it, you can't turn back time."" "Maybe you can't..." "But that doesn't make it any easier." "It's the other way around..." "It stinks that you can't turn back time." "I'd really like to go back some 40 years in time." "If it could be done..." "What was your name as a woman?" "I took a beautiful name." "One of the most feminine names around." " I called myself Isadora." " That's nice..." "Inspired by Isadora Duncan, the dancer." "I wanted to go all out!" "I didn't go down that road myself, but people are different." "I could have chosen something more ordinary." "But that name was a statement, it signaled that I was a real woman." " Right..." " In my opinion, at least." "Even though you've had reconstructive surgery and are legally a male again," "I don't see you as a typical male." " No..." " You don't give that impression." "I don't know who I am." " Sounds complicated..." " No it isn't, believe me." "I was thinking of your appearance, you don't dress like a typical man." "That's the point, then people aren't quite sure what I am." "All right, but as far as I understand, you have a new penis a reconstructed penis." "But that still doesn't make me whole." "Either as a man or as a woman." " It doesn't..." " I wonder if you ever..." "Sorry." "I can't be macho." "Not a lumberjack or farmer..." "It's just not me." "But I'm not a woman, either." "I'm not." "Even though I may be perceived as one at times." "Then I might act the part, simply to not disappoint them." "But as far as I understand, you had a reconstruction..." "Yes, but you do compare things to what you used to have..." "My new dick is bigger, so I guess I got an added bonus." "I mean, what can you say...?" "Right, well..." "I'm joking, of course, but it's a serious subject." "But humor helps." " But you're okay with this?" " I have to be." "I have to be satisfied." "It's either that or throw yourself under a train..." "What's the point?" " Your attributes have been restored." " It doesn't matter." "Well, sometimes I say that I represent a third sex." "I've gone through two sex changes." " What's the next stage for me?" " I know what I want..." "We're very different in that respect, you and I." "As soon as I'm officially male again, and had my reconstructive surgery," "I want to go back to being the old Mikael again." " Completely..." " We're not much alike there." "This slightly darker shade, I'd wear it... in the wintertime." "This is a shorter version in this shade." "To appear as natural as possible..." " Is this human hair?" " No, I always used synthetic wigs." "It's fabulous, just like the real thing." "I was very clever, you see..." "I'd wear it longer..." "And then I'd pretend that I'd been to the beauty parlor..." "And I'd change to the shorter wig." "So people would think "He's..." "She's had her hair done."" "Then there's this one..." "Blondes go lighter in the sun, you know." " I thought of details like that." " It's lovely... it still looks nice." "You've kept your wigs..." " Why?" " As keepsakes, nostalgia..." " What about shoes and clothes?" " No, I gave all that away." " You just kept the wigs?" " And one or two dresses." "I was thinking..." "that they might look good on a woman, if I meet one." " What if she wonders why you have it?" "I plan to say that the dress belonged to my mother." "I got rid of everything." "Jewelry..." "I never wore a wig, except at costume parties." "But that was long before..." "I don't want to keep any reminders of such a difficult time in my life." " But you do?" " I hardly ever look at the stuff." " It's kept in a box." " Don't you want..." "I can't bring myself to sell it all." "I don't know why." "I can't explain it." "It's like... that was then." "But of course, I never use them..." " There you are..." " That's the lighter shade of blonde." "This was taken in connection with Tjejmilen, the women's 10K race event." " You can tell by the t-shirt." " Wasn't the heat hard on your makeup?" "Seeing as you wore a wig, as well?" "It was such a hassle to make sure that the wig was on straight, so my real hair wouldn't show." " I see..." " That it didn't slip." "Did they fit well?" " Did you have to pay for your wigs?" " Health insurance covered it." "This is me, at my apartment in Stockholm, with my two little dogs." "I loved making my home cozy." "Creating a nice atmosphere..." " Nice hairdo." "It suits you." " You think so?" "That was then." "I was thinking about voices..." "Did you have any trouble?" " Pitching your voice right?" " No, I didn't..." "When I put on women's clothes, the voice came automatically." "Naturally, I worked on perfecting it, finding the right pitch." "I got help from a transvestite society." "They told me to place my words to the front of my mouth." " Way out front..." " And be more breathy." " Use that technique..." " That's tiring." " Yes..." " Very tiresome." "And it can sound kind of phony, too, if you don't watch it." "There you are!" "You look so very responsible." "Like a matron or head mistress..." " Like a bitchy bank teller?" " No, no aggression..." "A dignified woman." "Know where that's taken?" "In the Ferris wheel car;" "the famous Vienna Ferris wheel." "You really do look like a woman there." "More so than in the other pictures." "I didn't want to go overboard." "You're expected to be so ultra-feminine when you have a sex change." "Wasn't it like that at first, though?" "It certainly was for me." " Before I had my surgery..." " Not for me." "Ruffles and bows..." "And I plastered on the makeup." "It was more fun being a girl, though." "Much more variety." " Men wear suits, end of story." " I don't agree with you." "I don't wear anonymous gray uniforms and tasteful striped ties..." "Look at me, I want to attract attention." "Everybody should know who I am, and in Stockholm, they generally do." ""You know, the guy in the red suit"..." "I don't want to attract attention like that." "I'd rather be conventional." "Follow the norm." " Not be questioned..." " I've left all that behind me." "This is the real deal..." "The response you get as a woman... is very different, compared to the response a man gets." "Living as a woman taught me a great deal." "Many people would probably benefit from the experience, though it's not necessary to maim yourself in a physical sense." " What's the difference?" " Respect." "Men get more respect." "The treatment I got as a woman..." "Being called "honey" and told to wait or to hold the line..." "That never happened to Mikael." "You'd be served immediately." "At restaurants, in shops, on the phone to authorities..." "A man is treated differently." "And that's the truth." "Right, that's me." "Oh, dear..." "It was taken by a professional." "It was actually published in a pin-up magazine." "There was a whole series..." "I've walked on the wild side, you see." " Did you make lots of dough?" " Unfortunately, no." "Just a few thousand kronor." "When was this taken?" " A few months after the operation." " Gosh..." "A very convincing body." "Impressive." "It was nice." "Well, my body's still nice, in my opinion." "Even though I weigh a few ounces more these days." "Not that many, I expect." "Anyway..." "I never had a classic feminine figure like that." "I wasn't thrilled about showing myself in the raw, so to speak." "People are different." "My legs weren't a problem, though." "Let's move on to the next slide." " Maybe we'll see something exciting." " Hope so..." " That's me again." " Yes, indeed." "I'm wearing panties." " Another nude shot..." " So I see." "I wore this fluffy tulle skirt that I lifted up like this..." " The photographer asked me to." " Your breasts..." " Are they silicone implants?" " Yes." "But they were nice." "Nice to the touch, I would hear." " I see..." " They were lovely." "I would have envied you back then..." " How flattering!" " Back when I lived as a woman." "I'll admit that." "My life, during those eight years I spent as a woman..." "This might sound like I'm boasting, but..." "I pulled off quite a stellar performance, when I think of it." "I deserved an Oscar for my acting." "I certainly passed as a woman." "Apart from the occasional lapse, when I was tipsy and my voice dropped." "That could blow my cover." "What would you say then?" "I'd blame it on cancer, that I'd had a throat operation." "Right, you're always winging it, figuring out how to evade the issue." "Running away... from yourself." "You become someone else." "But I felt good about disguising myself." "Because then it's not really me..." "I'm playing a part." "You can act out more..." "Express your emotions and the fun parts of your personality." "I guess we all adopt certain roles in society." "Because..." "So your disguise made you feel comfortable." "Yes, you could say that..." "I felt braver... somehow." "You could be more dynamic." "It was easier to approach people." " Easier than when I was Mikael." " ls that how you felt?" "Yes, because women aren't..." "People aren't as aggressive towards women." "Cocky guys might get punched in the face, but not ladies." " Don't be too sure..." " Not by normal people." "It's hardly abnormal to rough up a lady, is it?" " Real men don't hit women." " Real men do..." "Not in my book." "No..." "Definitely not." "As Mikael, I would have wanted to be big." " Huge, ham-fisted and solid." " Then you wouldn't have changed sex." " I would have stood up for myself." " And never had that sex change?" "It would have been physically impossible." " Would that have been all right?" " I don't know." "I would have been a different person." "But a scared little runt like Mikael who never dared to..." "Who never stood up for himself." "I don't miss that." "Strength isn't about muscles." "It's in your soul, your mindset, don't you think?" " Don't be too sure of that." " It comes from within..." "I should be able to voice my opinion without being beaten up." " Did you think you'd be beaten up?" " Yes, I did." " You lived in fear." " Ever since childhood." "When Dad would come home drunk." "The sound of the key turning..." "That meant a beating, shouting and screaming." "Better hide under the bed!" "Always living in fear." "When I was a child, men were to be feared." "It was a more authoritarian time..." "You kept out of their way." "Men were dangerous." "I longed so intensely for a girlfriend." "To meet someone when I was young." "And since I had such a hard time connecting with the opposite sex..." "There's something about my appearance that women don't find attractive." "They reject me." "I have a tender nature..." "I guess I have a typically feminine desire for a home and nurturing." "Things like that, and that doesn't appeal to women." "Men are supposed to be handy with a power drill, fix cars..." "Maybe it's the wrong conclusion." "I don't know, I haven't associated with women in that way since they generally rejected me." "I don't actually know how they feel about a guy like me." "I was never able to get that close to any girl." "After your sex change, did you hope to live with a woman?" "As a lesbian?" "No, not for a second." " Did you want to live with a man?" " No..." "I wasn't a true transsexual, you see." " Did you plan to live alone?" " Yes, that was my plan." " Didn't you need love and affection?" " Sure, like anyone else." "But..." "Since I perceived it as being so damn impossible..." "You were so inexperienced." "You might have been able to meet the right woman." "It didn't seem feasible to ask two million women in Sweden if they would consider marrying me." "I'd be dead before I found someone." "I had approached so many suitable candidates already." "Shy boys never get to kiss pretty girls..." "I wanted to settle down with the right girl straight away." " Not kiss girls at random." " That's how it's done!" "No, I'm too sensitive for that." "That doesn't work for me." "I love cuddling and kissing..." "Sex, to me, has to be a consequence of something bigger." " Something superior." " Love?" "The only way I can illustrate what I mean is Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in "The Bridges of Madison County"." "That was true love." "True love... if you can't find it at 20, you'll have to wait until you're 40, or even 60 or... 70." " You can't hunt it down." " No, I don't think you can." "I've missed having a woman in my life so desperately that I damn well had to become one myself to deal with that intense longing." "So now when you get your reversal, get the reconstructive surgery..." "How do you intend to live?" "Unlike you, from what you've said, it won't be a new state." "Something will be restored on a spiritual level, and I will be an improved Mikael." "More self-confident." "What I mean is that you will have a penis again." " But you'll still be the same person." " Well..." "I promise..." "You will still be Mikael or Mikaela." "Because it goes deeper than a penis." "I know that." "Why can't you live the way you are?" "Do you..." "Do you have to be either a man or a woman?" "Can't you just be you?" "Why is it so important?" "Well..." "It's my soul, my self that tells me I am a man." "But why do you want a penis?" "You can still be a man anyway." "Sure, but it makes things easier..." "Won't you look at it and think:" ""This is not my penis"?" "But what if I meet someone, a woman?" "Well, you say that you're somewhat intimidated by women..." "Afraid to approach them." " If someone liked me for who I am..." " Of course they will." "Well, then I can perform intercourse..." " You can." " With the implants and all that." " I'll still feel something." " You'll have a permanent hard-on." " You fold it out when you need it." " No, that's not how it works." "No, it's as rigid as a thick stick all the time." "I guess I'll have to wear baggy trousers, then..." "It happened a few months after my operation..." "We met at a dance establishment." "He kept watching me the whole time." "He was tall, slim..." "Dark brown hair, soulful eyes..." "He looked exactly the way I like." "It took a while." "He asked other girls to dance." "Then he came up to me." "How are you supposed to behave?" "Dancing with a biological male..." "What if he senses something male about me?" "Not my penis, because it was gone." "But maybe the way I smelled..." "Maybe your gender affects your body chemistry." "What if there's a scene right here on the dance floor?" "I went home with him." "He was wonderful..." "Positively divine." "I was hooked." "Two minutes after he'd gone to work the next morning, all I could think of was:" ""Where's my Gunnar?"" ""Is he thinking of me on his way to work?"" "As soon as he got there, he called." ""How are you?" "Did you go back to sleep?"" "I told him I hadn't, that I was thinking of him." "That I was lying in bed, in the spot that was still warm from his body." "I was crazy about him." "Totally crazy." "It was a very special day." "Almost a bit unreal..." ""Here I am, getting married to a man."" ""I'm going to live with a man." "Be married."" "That sent a tremor of fear through me." ""This is for real."" "Did he know that you were a man, biologically speaking?" "Absolutely not." "He didn't have a clue." "The doctors told me that the operation automatically made me a woman." "The door to the past was closed." "How long was the relationship?" "How many years?" "We were married for eleven years." "Eleven years?" " That's a long time." " Yes, it is." "And all that time, he didn't know?" " You never told him?" " No..." "How could you keep it a secret?" "I had to work at it..." "I'd sneak up at four every morning to shave my face." "Then I'd tip-toe back to bed and slip under the covers." "But when you got up to shave..." " Didn't he ever wake up?" " No..." "Going to the bathroom wouldn't be strange, anyway." "But once I cut my face, and he wondered what had happened." "I said I must have scratched myself." "And that was that." " You mean he never suspected anything?" " No..." "He never said a word." "He wouldn't have slept with me if he had suspected anything." "Did your vagina work?" "Sometimes I let him do as he pleased, but it hurt." "Biologically, you were a man." "That's why I'm surprised that it never came up..." "Listen, honey..." "My body looked so feminine that he would never have reason to think I looked like a man." "I had a delicate build..." "It would never have occurred to him." "But what about your..." "Maybe I shouldn't call it your conscience, but how could you bear to keep it a secret?" "I paid no attention to my conscience." "I damn well blocked it out!" "I was good to him, and that meant I wasn't doing anything wrong." "But I am aware that it was wrong not to tell him." "I see." "Well, excuse me..." "I loved him." "We loved each other." "We missed each other terribly as soon as we were apart." "I'm sure you did, it's not that..." "It's hard to understand." " Forgive me, but I'm astonished." " That's all right." "We spent eleven years together." "So obviously he didn't find it too damn unpleasant." "He must have liked me, otherwise he would have left me." "That's how I saw things." "If he tells me to go to hell, and really means it, I'll leave." "But at least I've had those moments of happiness with him." "What would you have done?" "If you had fallen deeply in love with someone?" "To avoid losing the one you loved?" "Would you tell them the truth that might end your relationship?" "Risk them turning their back on you?" "Or would you go with the flow to have that love... for a while?" "What do you do?" "When you've been in a relationship for a longer period of time, you show each other pictures from when you were a child." ""Here are my parents." "This is me way back when..."" "But you couldn't have done that, could you?" "No... not that I recall." "Well, he started, during the last year of our marriage..." "He started drinking heavily." "And one evening he said:" ""I want kids, now."" ""Make it happen."" "That was the beginning of the end." "What on earth did you say?" "I told him I was deformed, and that's why I couldn't have children." "That your female organs were deformed?" " That it was a birth defect?" " Yes." "He got up and demanded:" ""Tell me the truth!"" ""I need to hear the truth, or I'll go crazy."" "I was wondering if I should, when he said:" ""Did you used to be a guy?" "Answer me!" And then he grabbed me." ""Yes, something like that," I replied. "Something like that."" ""Really?" "So that means I've been married to a man for 11 years."" ""What a fucking mess!" "How am I supposed to explain that?"" ""They'll eat me alive at work!"" ""You don't have to tell anyone." - "Of course I do!"" ""Here I've been waiting to have children."" ""But there won't be any kids, you're just wasting my time!"" ""What kind of a monster are you?"" "He slammed the door as he left." "Later he came back even more furious." "He'd been out for an hour or so, and was so damn pissed off that he knocked over a chair and tried to do the same to the dining table." "Our little kitchenette had these two gas burners." "And there was this iron hook hanging on the wall..." "And he came at me holding the hook." ""I'm going to kill you," he said." "And I told myself to make a run for it." "But he caught me, grabbed hold of my arm..." "And he threw the hook away, sent it clattering across the floor." "Then he grabbed this pair of scissors." "I was sure that this was it, I was going to die." "My whole life flashed before my eyes." "Like a movie." "And I thought:" "If I run, he'll stab me in the back." "No matter what I do, he'll kill me." "And he slashed at my neck with the scissors." "I was afraid that he hit an artery, my aorta." "And I would bleed to death." ""I'll let you live a little longer," he said." ""But I'll finish you off later!" And he dashed out the door." "The police showed up, expecting to find me dead." "He had told the police that he thought he had killed me." "The police had taken him to an emergency psychiatric ward." "I went there..." "They told me to go there." "The police asked me if I wanted to file a report." "But it was all my fault." ""Let him go."" "I wouldn't have reported him either, if I had been in your shoes." "It was a terrible decision to have to make." "It was..." "At some level maybe his reaction isn't that hard to understand." " Even if you love someone." " It doesn't matter." "It was a disappointment..." "Since all this is so very taboo." "Even though you officially are a woman after the surgery..." "But ordinary people might not see it like that." " Many people would feel "tricked"..." " Tricked." "That's right." "Later on, when our divorce was final, and all that..." "He came to see me..." ""I'm here to get my things," he said." "I figured he'd take them and leave." "And I would lock the door and be safe." "But he didn't, he was there way into the night." "I was wondering when he would leave, when he undressed and went to bed." "So I figured I'd better sleep on a mattress on the kitchen floor." "But after a while he came into the kitchen and said:" ""What are you doing out here?"" "I said it seemed like the only sensible thing to do." ""I don't agree." "Come to bed."" ""if we've shared a bed for eleven years, one more night won't matter."" "So I did, but it felt very strange." "And I asked him a question:" ""After my sex change, was I supposed to be with women then?"" ""I need to live with a man."" "Then he said I shouldn't have put him through this." "And maybe he was right, but I was so in love with him." "I was crazy about him, I couldn't bear to lose him." "He was so wonderful..." "I've wounded myself, and I wounded the person I married." "I didn't want to fall in love with a new man..." "Get married and go through all that pain again." "I couldn't face that again..." "I didn't want to play this part anymore..." "It's unbearable." "I wanted to reclaim my self and become a man again." "I want to be whole again." "Whole..." "People said: "That's impossible." "You can't undo what's been done."" "But you damn well can!" "I don't care what anyone says," "I'm going to change back again!" "I don't want to be ungrateful..." "But it's easy to think of what you once had." "It's not the same." "To me, personally, it's like I exist but I don't have a life." "And since I don't have a life, why am I alive at all?" " I have thoughts like that." " I think about what I've been through." "But you can't let it get you down, then you might as well end it all." "I was pretty certain for a while that I would take that route..." "That I would say goodbye to this life." "Because it all seems so pointless." "No, I've never wished to die, quite the opposite." "I work my way through things." "I have, at times, wanted to die, then I reach the same conclusion..." " It's better to keep on trying." " You have to." "Life is a gift." "So live to the best of your ability." "That can be painful..." "Now that I've brought all this upon myself." " It's our own doing." " What's the point?" "I believe everything happens for a reason..." "And it happened to us." "Maybe we were equipped to deal with it?" " I believe in reincarnation." " Maybe it's a sign?" "Maybe we will be born as women in our next lives." " And be happy." " It's possible." "It's possible..." "The Danish philosopher Martinus once said that in 3,000 years or so, only one gender will exist." "Guess what I think..." "This is howl see it." "Why are we born male or female, why aren't we both sexes?" "Wouldn't that be wonderful?" "It would be so much easier." "But that's not how it is." "It would be easier... in a way." "2,000 years from now, maybe we would be happy." "Maybe you and I were simply ahead of our time?" "Approaching life as we do..." "Thousands of years ahead of time." "Maybe we are right, and everyone else is wrong?" " Who knows?" " I certainly agree." "Nothing in the universe is absolute." "No, nothing is..." "Thank you..." " Well, that's about it..." " Right."