If you follow me on Twitter you may remember a few months
back I was interested in talking a little more about the representation of
trans people in the media. In both fiction and factual programming, in
television & film and even down to news I was interested to look at how we
are portrayed in these formats. Well I've tried my best to put a good face on
things but really I'm not feeling totally positive. Don't get me wrong there
are some programs out there that aren't bad, but time and time again I see
the same issues crop up. So with that in mind I'm going to write a few pointers
on how we can perhaps make things a little better.
1) Language
Look, we get it. Some people find the idea of someone
'switching genders' fascinating. Call it voyeurism or fascination it don't matter,
but this trend of using what I consider harmful permeates throughout. Do me a
favour, read an article on a trans person or watch a factual program and see
how long before one of these two lines appear.
A) She was born a boy and is now living as a woman
or
B) (Insert dead name here) now called (Insert actual name
here)
Because from my recent experiences its far more common than
I initially imagined. Sometimes if you're lucky you will get a double whammy
and find them both within the same article. Can we like, I don't know maybe
stop doing this now? 'Switching Genders' doesn't work like this. For most of us
we have had to live in the gender we were not comfortable with for years. We
haven't 'switched', we have aligned. Perhaps we can come up with a better term
for it. For example just not ever explaining it again. Nobody needs this type
of explanation. And as for the name thing, yeah please can we stop doing the
dead naming thing. It doesn't benefit anyone, the trans person or the reader.
It makes it sound so temporary or frivolous. We already face persecution under
the false belief that we do all this for aesthetic or selfish reasons. Dead
naming, even in this context is not helpful.
2) The Picture Parade
You have all seen this one at some point I'm sure. It
usually happens quite early on in a program. This is where the creator makes a
generation game style carousel of childhood images. This one is more of a
creative complain than a perception one. This, alongside sequences of trying on
makeup and glamming up feel incredibly outdated and says nothing. We should all
by now be used to this sort of imagery and it's about time we put it to bed.
3) Facts Facts Facts !
I love a good story about people being people. We have this
tool at our disposal that, when used correctly can really tell a person's
story. But all too often we miss out on some of the important facts when it
comes to transitioning and trans issues in general. As you should all be aware
by now I'm not currently going through any of the million hoops you have to get
through to transition. And that's mostly because the whole process seems so
dense and confusing I have no idea where to begin. This is where film and TV
can come in. I and many others I'm sure would love to see a focus placed on the
process of going from where I am now to transitioning. Who do we speak to?
Where do we start? What are the options? It's a scary and confusing road which
I believe can put many people off, myself included. That doesn't mean it's
stopping people from starting the process, but to seek the right advice early
on and perhaps not prolong things further than they need. There's also far too
little information on what medication does and does not do. We hear all the
time from those who are not versed in this stuff say "When are you having
the Op?" and similar things. That's only because the information is still
for many not as accessible to either access or to parse. Now I'm not saying we
turn people's lives into a clinical medical thing, turning what is a rich and
deep subject into nothing more than 'You can do this, this and this' however I
feel there could be a balance. I'm sure there are programs which do offer
some of this information but I'm still looking for one which feels truly
beneficial.
There's a few things I feel could be handled a little better
within the industry that I love so much. This is by no means a comprehensive
list, nor is it particularly academic. If you want to look even further into
this subject, perhaps at a deeper level then I highly recommend you try
Whipping Girl by Julia Serano. She wrote an entire section on this sort of
subject which is well worth reading.
It's homework time now folks. What do you think
companies/production groups need to do in order to further improve our
perception within film, TV & the press? Is it time we have a full overhaul
of how we are represented? Or are we getting there a bit at a time? Let's share
some information and cite some examples maybe. I'm also aware that knocking
something down isn't beneficial if I don't try to build things back up. So I'll
create a follow up shortly citing my own examples and perhaps offering some
more constructive feedback.
Charlie xx
