How media representation helped me be a proud trans woman
[Music]
as a little closeted trans girl
i turned on a tv to get answers as to
why i felt different
and the first memory i have of trans
women were those of
psychopaths people who make you vomit
and that are rejected and abused sex
workers
three memories come to mind the movie
silence of the lambs where a psychotic
man
kills women because he wants to become
them
as ventura pet detective where a trans
woman reveals her genitalia
only to be laughed at and lastly anytime
sapra
where a man vomits when he realizes
he was going to be intimate with a trans
woman
if i think about a time during my
childhood
when the word trans had a positive
connotation
i will be here thinking forever
never have i thought of this word let
alone the people this word describes
as something normal in contrast to the
way i felt growing up
abnormal i felt in no way i could
disclose what i was to anyone
because i didn’t want to end up on the
street
because that was what i thought it would
mean and
still does for many of us it took me
28 years of late life and experiences
to take the courage to come out the main
problem as to why took me so long
is that the word trans was always
whispered
or never spoken but hinted at
as a tabor a disease you don’t speak of
because it all comes down to the
disinformation stereotypes and meta
beliefs
caused by the lack of positive and
authentic
representation of trans identities in
media
seeing positive trans role models on
screen
could have allowed me to love myself as
a young girl
authentic portrayals are what makes your
types disappear
watching trans people and trans kids be
who they truly are on screen
can actually save lives
in a moment i’m going to tell you how
seeing
positive transpresentation help me be
true to myself but first let’s see how
trans representation
has changed on tv in recent years and
how much change is still needed
on the big screen
growing up i saw actors wearing trends
being praised for their roles as if
being trans is a character to be played
but once the camera stopped rolling you
can put your wig
and costume back in the closet where
they belong
and leave your unbothered privileged
life as a non-trans person
as this gender person i saw trans sex
workers being killed over and over again
on shows like csi ncis
and the likes i saw trans people
dying because of their transition in dr
house and grey’s anatomy trans bodies
were rejecting hormones or surgeries
i saw and kept watching trans stories
written by cisgender people to amuse
cisgender audiences and their
expectation of what it means to be trans
in their eyes
a lesser human being that doesn’t
deserve to be told on screen in its true
form
we don’t have to go that far back in
time
to see this happening cinema is still
still not changing glad the american
media monitoring organization that works
against discrimination
of lgbtq plus people reports that
there were zero films with transgender
characters from the major studios in
2019
last year we have data for in march this
year
in the movie secret society all we have
is us there were two
trans black women both played
by sis actresses packed with transphobic
jokes that makes
his audiences laugh even though even
when gender non-conforming characters
are included in fictional audiovisual
texts
they are indeed still often poorly
written
falling into offensive tropes and
stereotypes about transgender people
glad confirms but thankfully
things are changing on tv in the last
decade there has been an increase of
authentic
and positive portrayals of trans folks
and television
thanks mostly to two tipping points
um labyrinths on orange is the new black
and more recently the show calls on
netflix
having lgbtq plus a presentation
that doesn’t revolve around trauma
tragedy
objectification abuse and death
is a dream and privilege that the trans
and gender non-conforming community
is slowly starting to pursue as
something that can actually happen
lately many shows have switched their
approach to trans identities
finally treating this category of people
as actual human being
as actually human beings said just
are more than their genitals or who they
like to have sex with
trans folks began to have regular lives
at times fun wants to to have different
jobs than what one
might have expected to have monogamous
healthy relationships
to have friends and family that love
them unconditionally
and and to be finally seen written
and performed by trans people as well
trans and nonbinary folks can see
themselves portrayed
in a way that make us feel makes us feel
appreciated
and understood for the very first time
outside the tropes of the past
the reason these changes are happening
is also because of a few directors
re-evaluating what they did
i call this phenom phenomenon the ryan
murphy effect
since the creator of nick and
technically ryan murphy used to
portray trans characters his counseling
though was
shallow and his writing was a
stereotypical exploitation
of characters gender and sexualities
al haber is now one of the most
influential
people in trans representation with
later seasons of glee
shows like 9-1-1 lone star
and of course pose my hope is that more
directors follow ryan murphy
it’s actually already happening in shows
like with anatomy
the doctor and many others i wish this
change had happened sooner
positive trans representation could have
helped me see myself
as beautiful and help me feel as proud
as i am today of being a trans woman
representation is a key element to show
the world who trans people are
especially for those who have never met
or interacted with
one these are the stories i needed to
watch when i was little
these are the stories i wish my family
would have watched
decades ago these are the stories
that could make a difference to little
trans children
and their families today stories about
hopes and dreams that things can change
and are eventually changing
i’m hopeful because i see representation
of screen changing
but the pace of it is still slow
how can we speed it up well
you and me both have agency in this
change
there are many things we as audiences
or the audience can do to be part of the
solution
and not the problem boycott shows
and movies write emails to networks or
simply tweet about it
make our voices heard even if you’re not
trans
you can be an ally and show that these
stories are not just for us
trans people that uses people want to
see them too
and if you work in the industry allow
trans folks to be the writers
and the performers of our own stories
i am diana i am a trans woman and i’m
that little closeted trans girl
it turns on the tv but now she’s out and
proud
proud to be where i really am proud to
live life as much herself
proud to exist in a world that keeps
discriminating people like me
another reasons why it’s time we take up
spaces that
have always been denied to us we are
more than our transition we’re human
beings with feelings
helps goals we’re friends and enemies
we’re our main and supporting characters
we’re good and evil we’re men women and
everything in between and beyond
we’re trans are people