Role Of Transwomen In Modern Media

Representation of Transwomen in Modern Media
The transgender experience, which is depicting one 's transgression to the opposite gender that is not consistent with their biological sex, is a widely discussed and somehow controversial issue in the modern American society. It is not hard to find the engagement of some transgender actors/actress in films and television series, such as Laverne Cox with her performance in the TV series Orange Is The New Black as a trans-woman character, Sophia Burset. In addition, the portrait of transgender experience is very pervasive in the content of films and TV shows, including the TV series Transparent as a close representation of transgender experience of the father character, Mort. Through these popular media portrayals, we can easily identify the discrimination and bias received by trans-women in our …show more content…
In the prison, Sophia is regarded as a sexual object due to her physical appearance after gender-reassignment surgery by the male prison officers. In such case, she is considered as women merely because of her body. Therefore, she experiences similar risks to be a rape victim as other cis-women. However, when her wife visits her in the prison, she is yelled to “man up” and take the role she is suppose to play as a father and husband in their household. As a woman experiencing transgender progress, Sophia is still expected to take the responsibility of the gender role she plays before the transition. As a result, the double standard and expectation of performing certain gender rules as both male and female are presented in this TV show. Differing from the experience of cis-women and the subordinate gender roles and characteristics they are assigned with, transgender women are expected to be more flexible and adaptive to the responsibilities and characteristics for both of their genders before and after