"My Body Is a Cage" is a two-part episode from the tenth season of the Canadian teen drama television series ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ad ...

'', formerly known as ''Degrassi: The Next Generation''. It originally aired in Canada on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

and the United States on

TeenNick TeenNick is an American Pay television, pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from si ...

on August 11, 2010, with part two airing the following night. The episode follows

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

character Adam Torres (

Jordan Todosey Jordan Todosey ( , born February 8, 1995) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adam Torres, the first transgender character on the long-running TV series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', and as Lizzie McDonald on ''Life wit ...

) as he struggles with himself and his family over his gender identity. Other plots include

Anya MacPherson '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. The series is now considered the first incarnation and premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and then ended on MTV Canada and ...

and her family learning that Mrs. MacPherson has cancer and Dave Turner's attempts at improving his grades by being a class clown.

Plot

In Ballroom Dance class

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(Jordan Todosey) finds himself developing a crush on dance partner

Bianca Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche. Variants * Blanche: French * Bianca: Italian * Bianka (Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Co ...

(Alicia Josipovic). After class he collides with

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

(

Aislinn Paul Aislinn Claire Paul (; born March 5, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' as Clare Edwards, for which she has won two Canadian Screen Awards (2015 and 2016) for Best Performance in a Ch ...

) in the hall, dropping a pack of tampons which, when

Fitz Fitz (pronounced "fits") was a patronymic indicator used in Anglo-Norman England to help distinguish individuals by identifying their immediate predecessors. Meaning "son of", it would precede the father's forename, or less commonly a title held b ...

and

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

notice them, he forces on Clare as if they were hers. The next day Adam

comes out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as transgender to Clare and

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

(

Munro Chambers Munro Chambers (born July 29, 1990) is a Canadian actor who is best known for his roles as Wilder on ''The Latest Buzz'' (2007–2010), Elijah "Eli" Goldsworthy on ''Degrassi'' (2010–2015), Frankie Chandler on ''Lockwood'' (2016–present) and ...

). Later Adam and Bianca flirt until Bianca discovers that Adam is transgender and begins spreading the story. Her friends Fitz and Owen assault him in the boys' bathroom. Adam's brother

Drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas * ...

(

Luke Bilyk Lukas Barry Bilyk (born November 10, 1994) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Drew Torres in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', which he starred on from 2010 to 2015. He is also recognized for his roles in films such as ''Ki ...

) tries to fight them after school but is beaten. Fitz and Owen get suspended and Principal Simpson (

Stefan Brogren Stefan Brogren (born 21 April 1972) is a Canadian actor, director, and producer. He is best known as Archie "Snake" Simpson in the ''Degrassi'' franchise of television shows. Early life Stefan Brogren was born on 21 April 1972, in Toronto, O ...

) assigns teachers to escort Adam to and from classes. When Drew and Adam's grandmother, who only knows Adam as "Gracie", comes for a visit Adam decides to go back to being "Gracie" for the sake of family harmony. The stress leads him to burn himself, something that had been a previous pattern. Clare convinces him that he needs to be true to himself. Adam begs his mother for her understanding and support and later he and his family and friends burn Gracie's clothes in a bonfire, symbolically laying her to rest.

Anya Aanya, Anya or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most cultures especially Indian, and unisex in several African and European countries. Origins and variant forms * Aanya or Anya is an Indian name that means inexhaustible, limitless ...

(

Samantha Munro Samantha Munro (born October 19, 1990) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Anya MacPherson on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. She also played the role of Shannen Doherty in Lifetime's 2015 television film ''The Unauthorized ...

) brings some soup home for lunch for her mother, who had complained of a cold. When Anya and her friend,

Leia Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of the planet Alderaan ...

(Judy Jiao), discovers her mother has left home without her wedding ring, they suspect her of having an affair. Anya confronts her mother, who explains that she took off her ring for an

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

. The scan reveals

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

. Anya's fear of her mother's death initially leads her to skip a family medical consultation but a talk with former best friend Holly J. (

Charlotte Arnold Charlotte Arnold (born July 27, 1989) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Sadie Hawthorne in ''Naturally, Sadie'' and Holly J. Sinclair in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', for which she won a Gemini Award for Best Perfor ...

) inspires Anya to go.

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

( Jahmil French) believes the only way to improve his Media Immersion grade is to make the teacher, Ms. Oh ( Cory Lee) laugh. He checks her "FaceRange" page and uses her posted pictures for a class project. Failing the assignment leads him to increase his effort to be the class clown until he discovers that Ms. Oh has recently ended a relationship. He offers her empathy and she explains that hard work and not gimmicks will earn him good grades.

Guest cast

* Katherine Ashby as Pam MacPherson, Anya's mother * Maggie Butterfield as Drew and Adam's grandmother * James Edward Campbell as Mark "Fitz" Fitzgerald * Steve Cumyn as Harold MacPherson, Anya's father *

Jean-Marc Généreux Jean-Marc Généreux ( /ʒɑ̃-maʁk ʒeneʁø/; born December 25, 1962) is a French Canadian ballroom dance champion, choreographer and television personality from Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. He is most prominently known for his roles as judge a ...

as Mr. Menard, the dance teacher * Riley Gilchrist as Dr. Christopoulos, Pam's doctor * Edward Jaunz as Drew and Adam's father * Daniel Kelly as Owen Milligan *

Ramona Milano Ramona Milano is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Francesca Vecchio in ''Due South'' and more recently as Teresa in ''Cra$h & Burn'' and as Audra Torres in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. She has also appeared in numero ...

as Audra Torres, Drew and Adam's mother

Awards and nominations

Jordan Todosey at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

"My Body Is a Cage" won a 2010

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. In announcing the honor on March 31, 2011, the selection committee wrote: "True to its history, the durable high-school serial's two-parter about a transgender teen neither trivializes nor over dramatizes its subject." Part two was nominated for a 2011

Creative Arts Emmy Award The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...

for Outstanding Children's Program, but lost to '' A Child's Garden of Poetry''. It was nominated for three

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States a ...

. It won best performance in a children's or youth program or series (

) but lost in best direction in a children's or youth program or series (Phil Earnshaw) to the ''Degrassi'' summer finale and best writing in a children's or youth program or series (Michael Grassi) to an episode of the animated series ''

Spliced Spliced may refer to: *Spliced, the result of rope splicing Rope splicing in ropework is the forming of a semi-permanent joint between two ropes or two parts of the same rope by partly untwisting and then interweaving their strands. Splices ca ...

''.

References

External links

"My Body Is a Cage" part 1
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

"My Body Is a Cage" part 2
at

{{Degrassi 2010 Canadian television episodes Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Canadian LGBT-related television episodes Transgender-related television episodes Television episodes about anti-LGBT sentiment