Media Portrayal of Transgender Characters Essay example

Anne Tagonist’s zine, Unapologetic #3, goes over the trans-misogyny that is prevalent in the feminist and transgender rights movements. The author visited feminist and transgender scenes around the country that have been gaining momentum in recent years. When Anne visited each scene she witnessed rampant trans-misogyny, where trans-women were not accepted because of their inability to pass as female, and unproven theories that trans-women may be violent. These same meetings and organizers were much more accepting of the trans-men who came to the events. Female to male transgendered individuals were accepted because if the did not pass as a man they were still seen as a “dyke”. The example that Anne gives about an organizer banning a trans-woman,

The Motion Picture Production Code, a method of censoring media, writes, “Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden” (g). While this code was only in effect from 1930 to 1968, the early attempt at censoring portrayals of LGBT characters has continued well into the present. LGBT characters are often represented negatively in the media, enforcing harmful stereotypes, or not represented at all. This topic is relevant because media portrayals of LGBT individuals impact how people view individuals in reality. By perpetuating negative stereotypes, the creators of media in force the belief that the lives of LGBT individuals are less important than non-LGBT people. In a time when people have virtually constant access to some form of media,

That status of women in television programs is grossly misrepresented. Female sexuality on broadcast television is, in most cases, exaggerated and has set an unrealistic standard that real women are attempting to reach. Not only this, but it has created new expectations for men. With my personal project, I wrote letters to television executives—Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment; Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group; Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment; Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-chairpersons of FOX Broadcasting—demanding that promote a better representation of female sexuality. As well as have a better representation of all sexualities, meaning more accurate depictions of lesbian women, bisexual women, and trans women.

All in all, the documentary The Middle Sexes covers many controversial topics. Some of these topics include the biology of middle sexes, the dangers of being a transgender, and societies outlook on transgenders. With much analysis, I’ve realized that this film has too narrow of a perspective on transgenders and middle sexes. The restricted perspective prevents the audience from being

American society today is not any different from the past, except today people are apt to discuss everything publicly on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a few. Transgender persons happen to be one of those subjects that have become the hot topic of the new normal. Nowadays there are blogs, tweets, and pictures posted online of people’s transition “coming out.” Like the past, society is still tough when it comes to judging each other. Although transgender might not have had a recognized community in the past, it is prevalent that society is becoming more accepting of their community, and aware of issues their community faces. In this essay the names, nouns, or pronouns used will be in accordance to the individual’s preference.

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

With so little transgender celebrities and almost no representation of transgender in the media, it is no wonder that you hear of so many trans youth killing themselves. The most famous representation of the transgender community is Sophie in Orange is the New Black, who was thrown into prison for credit card fraud to afford her transition. There is also Adam on Degrassi, a female to male transgender whose mom did not fully accept him until he was dying. Degrassi is my favorite representation of transgender youth because when people of the school found out about Adam, the jocks of the school started to tease him and pick on him, even throwing him into a window. This accurately showed what it is like to be living as a transgender person in a bigoted society where you don’t feel like you belong. One celebrity that comes to mind when some hear the term ‘transgender’ would be Caitlyn Jenner. Born Bruce Jenner and being a famous Olympian, she proudly came out as Caitlyn and made the brave decision to publically transition. But yet, people of the world did not want to accept her as Caitlyn. People even made pictures and posts saying “Bruce is not brave, our soldiers are brave,” and comments out loud saying “Gender identity is something Bruce Jenner is struggling with.” Although there was a number of support, trans youth cannot be expected to fully come out and love themselves if they have very little representation and

In the media today, we hear of football players, celebrities and even pupils who are divulging that they are either homosexual or bisexual. In the TV show, House, one of the main characters, “Thirteen”, is a bisexual woman and nobody in the show treats her differently. However, there is one member group of the LGBT is still being represented poorly by the media. According to GLAAD, they are being depicted as villains, sex workers, and are still victims of offensive jokes. A friend I interviewed even claimed that people like her are the most looked down-trodden affiliates of the LGBT! This group is called transgendered. They are one of the most misunderstood and least respected groups in America today.

Transphobia and trans prejudice manifest in the objectification, misunderstanding, and pathologizing of a transgender’s physical appearance.

The governmental perpetuation of the myth that people who do not identify with their assigned gender at birth have a mental illness enforces public misunderstanding, fear, and hate. When government agents prohibit the gathering of information about trans individuals, they close themselves off from understanding the values and motives, of a large portion of the population. The government perpetuating the misconception that trans-gendered individuals are “mentally ill” encourages citizens to fear people who are not like them. Sustaining a culture of ignorance and

A large issue facing trans women today is the violence perpetrated against them. In 2003, fourteen murders of trans people were recorded in the U.S, most of them being trans women and people of color. (Bettcher, p. 280) By mid-October of 2015, twenty-one trans women, who were also mostly women of color, were murdered in the United States, and this number exceeds the amount of trans murders in 2014. (Wilkinson, “You Know What Time It Is”) It is important to remember that these are only recorded instances that do not count the murders that went unreported. The amount of these murders is increasing as more years pass. This violence is rooted in the idea of trans women are seen as deceivers due to the vulva-vagina-uterus anatomy being seen as the “normal” anatomy of a woman. This is explained in Talia Mae Bettcher’s “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers”, as she outlines the “rhetoric of deception” throughout the article. In the article, she states “frequently connected to this appearance-reality contrast is the view that genitalia are the essential determinants of sex.” (Bettcher, p.281) Because of this, trans women are put in a double-bind to either “disclose ‘who one is’ and come out as a pretender or masquerader, or refuse to disclose (be a deceiver) and run the risk of forced disclosure, the effect of which is exposure as a liar.”(Bettcher, p. 283) The normalization of this anatomy being linked to femaleness puts added pressure on trans women to “prove” themselves, or else be

From Silence of the Lambs to Psycho, horror films have long demonized transgender characters. These negative representations often lead to an increase in violence within certain communities.

This past 2 years have seen more and more transgender characters displayed on our screens than ever before. I do feel like this representation is amazing and some cases have done our community proud in so many ways but of course some have not been so good.

Above is a conversation between two characters in Bioware’s 2014 smash hit RPG, Dragon Age Inquisition. This conversation took the transgendered community by storm. Krem, second-in-command to the mercenary group ‘The Bull’s Chargers’, is a man born a woman, and a hero to many transgender gamers. Transgendered people are often grossly misrepresented in entertainment media. They are made a mockery of through cheesy

Lastly, one of the most normalized tropes on television about transwomen has helped encourage nationwide transphobia. Extremely frequently, transwomen are depicted as hyper-sexualized. Transwomen are seen as devious, deceitful predators. It is often assumed that the primary goals of transwomen