“Transgender People in The Media” When thinking about gender and the media, I am immediately drawn to the work of Laverne Cox. As stated in “Bell Hooks: A Conversation with Laverne Cox,” Laverne is an award-winning actress, producer and advocate for not only transgender women, but women of color and anyone who goes against the status quo. For my main source, I have chosen to use the dialogue from the inaugural talk with Bell Hooks and Laverne Cox at The Bell Hooks Institute, “a new center in Berea (Kentucky) dedicated to critical thinking and contemplating the intersectional issues of race, gender, and class” (Hooks 25). This talk that occurred in 2015, highlights what Laverne hopes to accomplish through playing different roles on camera and how to be a good role model. Their talk begins with Bell Hooks talking about Cox’s character Sophia Bursett on Orange is the New Black, a television show on Netflix. Hooks discusses that while she saw problems with the show itself, looking at Laverne Cox she loved everything about her character. Both Hooks and Cox continue to talk about the influence on one another, specifically in terms of being an African American woman who holds power in the media. One of Cox’s goals being a public figure is, “advocating for trans folks, and often trans folks of color,” (Hooks 30) She goes on to talk about creating subversive moments and her work on Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, a show appearing on MTV documenting the lives of several young trans youths. Cox also discusses the need to be discreet with the things she talks about in public, and how one slip up with words can cost her greatly. “I always try to speak the truth, but I am also careful about what I say because I understand that it’s not just about me” (Hooks 34–35). The two also discuss that being African American, their race is easily thrown in their face, especially if there is ever a question about what they say in public. Finally, Bell Hooks talks about her growing up in Kentucky, where African American people were not the center of attention. “White people worship ball players until they do something that they hate, and then it’s like slavery time, plantation culture all over again.” (Hooks 40). This closes their discussion, saying that they need to be self-determining even if they are at the center of attention. As the conversation surrounding race, gender, media, and class continues to grow and change; it is important to look at not only the changes in the way that everyday people are growing, but the way that the media presents these new role models.
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Specifically, I want to discuss the way that media has begun to portray transgender people in the media. This will be done through using a variety of sources, that focus on transgender icons Laverne Cox, Caitlyn Jenner, and the story of Einar Wegener in “The Danish Girl.” Using interviews and various articles, transgender women in the media will be looked at and questions will be asked regarding why it is so difficult for these men and women to speak to the media. To begin the talk about the issue of transgender representation in the media will be a look into an article by Elinor Burkett, published in the New York Times titled, “What Makes a Woman?” In the last year, Caitlyn Jenner (previously …show more content…
This tells us that not only are transgender people not represented equally in the media, they can even be pitted against one another. Because being trans is more than simply a social issue, it is often accompanied with questions and many misconceptions about transgender people. It makes the transition difficult when women like Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner are rarely talked about without the conversation of transitioning because about of the conversation. “For her part, the transgender woman is hypersexualized through pornographic imagery and an association with prostitution. It is a process of de-gendering through focusing on a sexuality considered deviant” (Espiniera 326). This is what we see in Caitlyn Jenner and her cover of Vanity Fair, and the challenge that the media faces. Can the media portray transgender people as they are and still sell their stories, or is the sexualization of women of any background an inevitable
Specifically, I want to discuss the way that media has begun to portray transgender people in the media. This will be done through using a variety of sources, that focus on transgender icons Laverne Cox, Caitlyn Jenner, and the story of Einar Wegener in “The Danish Girl.” Using interviews and various articles, transgender women in the media will be looked at and questions will be asked regarding why it is so difficult for these men and women to speak to the media. To begin the talk about the issue of transgender representation in the media will be a look into an article by Elinor Burkett, published in the New York Times titled, “What Makes a Woman?” In the last year, Caitlyn Jenner (previously …show more content…
This tells us that not only are transgender people not represented equally in the media, they can even be pitted against one another. Because being trans is more than simply a social issue, it is often accompanied with questions and many misconceptions about transgender people. It makes the transition difficult when women like Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner are rarely talked about without the conversation of transitioning because about of the conversation. “For her part, the transgender woman is hypersexualized through pornographic imagery and an association with prostitution. It is a process of de-gendering through focusing on a sexuality considered deviant” (Espiniera 326). This is what we see in Caitlyn Jenner and her cover of Vanity Fair, and the challenge that the media faces. Can the media portray transgender people as they are and still sell their stories, or is the sexualization of women of any background an inevitable