This is just a very short film of one interesting episode in the life of a young girl. Robin is 7, she and her mother are shopping for her 2- piece suit for summer swimming classes. The one they find is very brief on the top, it looks uncomfortable, so when dressing for her first class Robin simply takes off the tiny top part and joins the other kids in trunks, just like all the little boys. Being 7 the boys and girls look alike above the waist. Even though she has long hair all assume Robin is a boy.Robin does well, she ends up winning the "best swimmer" medal at the end. In the voice-over she says she had 6 weeks were she didn't have to be a girl. Her mother was puzzled when Robin gave her a note from the swim instructor referring to Robin as a "he." Then she realized what went on.Some have incorrectly interpreted this story as the beginning of Robin growing up as a boy, sex-change and all. No, it was just a 6-week break from being a girl, nothing more sinister than that. Just a different experience that a small kid would enjoy.

"No Bikini" is an 8-minute short film from almost 10 years ago. Director is Claudia Morgado and she is also the one who adapted the short story by Ivan E. Coyote. It is about a girl who during his swimming lessons discovers that "she" is actually a boy, so there will probably be a gender adjustment later on. But we don't find out about this. We only find out about what happens when "she" is a girl. I kinda like the title in this context, but I don't think this was a particularly realistic or interesting story in terms of the acting or the script. The funny thing is that I have seen a photo of lead actress Matreya Fedor and she could not be a more stunning young woman now that she is grown up. Anyway, i do not agree with the awards that this movie won. It was a pretty mediocre watch and nothing memorable at all. Thumbs down.

I had to read story in my English class back when I was in like ninth grade. It was an interesting story to read but at that time in my life I thought the short story was kind of borderline. I was raised in a family under the belief that boys and girls were not to be naked in front of each other beyond a certain age. Now that I am an adult, I look back at both the short story and the movie and I see just how innocent nudity really is. I mean at seven years old she has not yet begun to develop her breasts yet and to her she looks just like one of the guys. Taking a look at one of the lines from the movie "I never once felt naked" goes to show that she doesn't really understand the fact that young girls are supposed to wear tops in front of boys, well at least that's what society forces onto us, and that she didn't see anything wrong with what she did. I can sympathize with the character because being raised with four sisters I understand how hard it is for them to find a two piece that fits right and will not reveal your nipples when you go to lift up your arms, plus my youngest sister did the same thing when she was the same age. Other than that I believe that both the movie and the short story were tastefully done and that all parents should show this movie to their kids because in my opinion it just goes to show that nudity really is innocent in the minds of our children.

This was a fine little inoffensive short about a very specific experience that happened one summer. A little girl can't find a bathing suit top that fits and doesn't want to wear a one piece, so she swims topless. Because she's only seven, the instructor assumes she's a boy. Her mom doesn't know--I guess parents weren't allowed to watch the lessons--and only finds out when the class is over. The girl wins a medal for best swimmer of the session, which seems to verify that she is an awesome person and has retained her individuality. I wasn't sure exactly what the author was saying about the decision to not wear a conventional, gender-specific outfit. Did it somehow make her a stronger person? It seems like a really inconsequential decision, yet it is the focus of the memoir. I generally appreciate stories like this. A little girl who triumphs by defying expectations sounds like a sweet idea, but this one didn't really make sense to me.