The Stereotyping of Transgender Women Continues
There's still a lot wrong with our greater society when transgender
women are viewed as having been "men".
Watch this video and then read on.
https://www.facebook.com/44blueproductions/videos/1131639380221311/?pnref=story
As friend of mine pointed out, the woman in the stripes was in disbelief of these beautiful women (as she stated), that they "were" at one time "guys". The problem here is that the general public still views trans women as having "changed" their identity.....that they were once guys and now they are women. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Transgender women were always women but the ideology is lost because it's not "graspable" tangibly by the greater masses of our cis-gender population. Those who are not able to experience first hand what it is to be transgender can not understand the gravity of the error being made when they say that a transgender woman "was a guy". For most if not all, transition was just a changing of the outer packaging. The "guy" everyone saw was just an actor in a theatre of their own life.
Watch this video and then read on.
https://www.facebook.com/44blueproductions/videos/1131639380221311/?pnref=story
As friend of mine pointed out, the woman in the stripes was in disbelief of these beautiful women (as she stated), that they "were" at one time "guys". The problem here is that the general public still views trans women as having "changed" their identity.....that they were once guys and now they are women. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Transgender women were always women but the ideology is lost because it's not "graspable" tangibly by the greater masses of our cis-gender population. Those who are not able to experience first hand what it is to be transgender can not understand the gravity of the error being made when they say that a transgender woman "was a guy". For most if not all, transition was just a changing of the outer packaging. The "guy" everyone saw was just an actor in a theatre of their own life.
Second point. Although a television show such as this has the capability
to bring about yet another immersive experience into the lives of
transgender individuals, it also could be utilizing media standards to
promulgate stereotypes of transgender women who do not represent our
mainstream population. Of course our mainstream population of
transgender women would make for a very, very dull show because the
majority of transgender women are NOT supermodels and do NOT vie for
attention in any way more than any other cis-woman would. In other
words, the average transgender woman is just a woman and being just
ordinary is not fodder for a network television show.
To the credit of Whoopi Goldberg, and this is what I took from the segment, she did provide a heartfelt dialog to the audience to show that she really is a person that seems to be on our side, that is making a wonderful attempt at trying to understand us as an ally would!
In summation..... if it is the intent of the media to create television programming that is focused on the transgender community, they why not have programming that lauds transgender women who have contributed in their accomplishments to society?
Short segments focusing on the achievements of transgender women as professionals in our society could be an interesting premise to a series that would aim to relate accomplishments rather than exhibitionism. The viewers would see that we are scientists, engineers, writers, pilots, astronomers, physicists and a plethora of other occupations. They would see that we are achievers and see the contributions of our work in our modern society. Wouldn't that be a show to behold, and perhaps......just perhaps, it might inspire another generation of individuals, trans or not, to spark the same sort of fire in their own lives. Think about it.
To the credit of Whoopi Goldberg, and this is what I took from the segment, she did provide a heartfelt dialog to the audience to show that she really is a person that seems to be on our side, that is making a wonderful attempt at trying to understand us as an ally would!
In summation..... if it is the intent of the media to create television programming that is focused on the transgender community, they why not have programming that lauds transgender women who have contributed in their accomplishments to society?
Short segments focusing on the achievements of transgender women as professionals in our society could be an interesting premise to a series that would aim to relate accomplishments rather than exhibitionism. The viewers would see that we are scientists, engineers, writers, pilots, astronomers, physicists and a plethora of other occupations. They would see that we are achievers and see the contributions of our work in our modern society. Wouldn't that be a show to behold, and perhaps......just perhaps, it might inspire another generation of individuals, trans or not, to spark the same sort of fire in their own lives. Think about it.
Great post. I wish more like this was in the news. Your blog is a great resource to many
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
The whole "they're gorgeous, I never would have known" thing really rubbed me the wrong way, but I agree that Whoopi really sounds like an ally who wants to do right by our community. With all the current bathroom hysteria, I appreciate the positive impact that a thoughtful defense like hers can have on people.
ReplyDeleteAs for your suggestion: "Short segments focusing on the achievements of transgender women as professionals in our society could be an interesting premise to a series that would aim to relate accomplishments rather than exhibitionism. The viewers would see that we are scientists, engineers, writers, pilots, astronomers, physicists and a plethora of other occupations." -- it's mostly text and not video, but I'm part of a campaign with that exact goal that just launched a few days ago: transemploymentprogram.org/transatwork. We've gotten some pretty good press so far; hopefully it will encourage more efforts like this.