Transgender Characters In The Media

The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of much debate. In her article, “It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV,” Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers.

Gender is a very hot button issue in 2017 America. Many citizens are confused by it all and don’t quite understand gender. Would four boys from the town of South Park understand? Probably not considering one boy would fake being transgender just to skip the long bathroom lines. In the following paper I will discuss and analyze the show South Park and its view on gender roles in one episode as well as Family guy and analyze its view on gender as well.

What dictates the social roles, the individual responsibility everyone has in society, and stereotypes, an overgeneralized and oversimplified belief of a particular person or group, in America’s 21st century society? Can rationale and critical thinking be held accountable for the establishment of ethical beliefs involving people and their sex, gender related value systems? The following readings covered in this essay are both found within the textbook, Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers; the Introduction: Popular Signs written by coauthors Sonia Maasik, a writing programs lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Jack Solomon, an English Professor at California State University, and located within the second chapter of the textbook, the brief article, Dove’s “Real Beauty” backlash, written by Jennifer L. Pozner, the executive director of Women In Media & News (“Sonia Maasik”)(“Jack Solomon”)(194). Mass entertainment culture, the popular interests of the majority broadcasted in the media, can be attributed for constituting and sustaining the potentially hindering culture myths, a fictitious but widely accepted belief of a certain culture, regarding all genders. These cultural myths are not exclusive to men and women as they also involve transgender individuals and others who identify as another gender not classified under ‘cisgender.’ An extensive analysis of mass entertainment culture and

In the hit show Orange is the new black there are lots of sexual tensions. For example one of the oscar nominated characters in the show is Laverne cox. Cox plays as an inmate in jail and she is her truth on the show which is transgender, and she is a phenomenal actress. Cox took a lot of negative talk when she first started on the show, but the show has multiple lesbian and transgender characters. Laverne Cox is an advocate speaker and goes on tours to speak to gay and transgender people. This is a positive thing to do to help some of these kids and adults realize it 's okay to be different, nothing is more important than living as your true self. Cox said in an interview, “ to love a transgender, is revolutionary.” “With more than 50% of transgender teens commit suicide before they even turn 20 it is clear that the societal inclination to generalize gender identity based on physical attributes present at birth results not only in the denial of basic human rights, but appears to be the impetus for this startling epidemic of suicide,” according to

Media has always been highly influential in our society; it’s carefully constructed in order to show certain values, beliefs and messages. When viewers are exposed to topics they have little experience or knowledge in, media can especially play a large role in shaping their own opinions. It has been shown that people who know a LGBT+ person in their lives are much more likely to be supportive of same-sex marriage and the community in general. In place of that, viewing characters in film or television can adequately supplement the empathy gained from personal experience. This is exemplified by Wilson Cruz, the actor of Rickie Vasquez, a gay character on the 1994 television series My So-Called Life: “...Vasquez was the first gay person that they knew and because of the light he shed on the issue...I think people took up the cause of LGBT rights...I know for many people the only LGBT people that they know are people that they meet on their television screens or at the movie theater.” Since then, the amount of programming featuring openly gay characters has steadily increased, and with it, people are gaining a better understanding of the issues they face. As the years progress, Canada is being exposed to greater diversity: both on the television screen and within its community.

Stories involving transgender people have been in newspapers, magazines, and tabloids for over fifty five years. These stories have captivated and intrigued American culture from the start, but not always in the most positive light. It began in 1955 when Christine Jorgensen, born George, publicly announced her gender confirming surgery and began life as a legally recognized woman. There was a media frenzy with headlines such as “Bronx GI Becomes a Woman!” and “Bronx ‘Boy’ Is Now A Girl”. But instead of “withdraw[ing] from public attention [Christine] turned the notoriety to her advantage with a series of lucrative tours on the lecture and nightclub circuit” (McQuiston 1989). “By cultivating the demeanor of a lady and refusing to call herself

In recent times, as society at large has become (arguably) more accepting of those in the LGBT+ community, we've begun to see an increase in queer representation in the media. However, for many who are not in the LGBT+ community, that one gay character in their favorite sit-com may be their only exposure to LGBT+ people, allowing the community at large to exist as an abstraction in their mind, in that while they know LGBT+ people exist, they may not personally know any LGBT+ people or have any insight into what it's like to be queer in modern society. E L I seeks to change that, by providing a first person account of a transgender man's transition and his life.

Being accepted as a transgender in today's society is not only a continued struggle but it has also become another defining statistic that continue to raise hate crime rates nationwide. The excitement and bold move granted by the government to pass a law that allowed individuals of the same sex to be married appeared to break through needed to secure gay and lesbians place in the world. With this life changing event, the hinges on the revolving door appeared to strong enough for the LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) to conquer another hidden secret; life as a transgender.

The molds of gender norms have softened in the last couple decades with the acceptance of formerly radical identities such as cross dressing, drag, but these norms are difficult to break because genders are assigned to individuals at birth and complying to the norms associated with that sex is deemed as socially acceptable. Another reason these norms may be hard to break is that they provide comfort towards those who already been accepted into society. This provides a little insight as to why there is a restriction of genderqueer identities in television. Especially when accustomed to writing for an audience that has grown up with only the female/ male binaries, expanding past and between is a frightful risk for the television market (Killermann 51-52).

In this paper, I will be critically considering the perspective of gender through a trans women’s experience and back ground from my personal favorite show, “Sense 8”. During this process, I will be explaining how people are represented by the images, stereotypes, and social norms which are conveyed in this series, while also considering the questions provided in Supplement 21 of the course text.

Within the past couple of years, LGBT issues have been showing up more in our daily lives than ever before. Taking a closer look at the T in LGBT, there have been stories and articles about transgender individuals and this has triggered a large variety of emotions and opinions from people all over the world. Someone who is transgender is an individual who identifies as a gender that does not match the gender that is assigned to him or her at birth. One of the biggest stories that brought transgender individuals into the mainstream spotlight was the announcement that Bruce Jenner, an Olympic gold metal winner, is trans gender. This was broadcast to millions of people as he told his story in an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer. Laverne Cox, a transgender woman, has had a predominant role in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” for the past 3 seasons and has also helped spread awareness about the trans community. With all of these stories being seen by more and more people, there have been some that haven’t been very accepting of the transgender community. Transphobia can lead to aggression towards trans individuals, causing abuse that may cause physical and emotional damage. Trans individuals are being policed by not only society, but also by institutions.

The sexual minority community has historically been underrepresented in portrayals on TV. To investigate the portrayal of sexual minorities on TV, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has conducted an annual analysis of sexual minority representation on cable, network, and Internet streaming TV since 2005. It is worth nothing that GLAAD utilizes the acronym LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans), as they include trans characters in their analyses. Thus, though the focus of the current proposal is restricted to the sexual minority community, the acronym LGBT will be utilized in examining the televised representations. In the 2014-2015 TV season, 3.9% of series regulars on scripted primetime broadcast TV were LGBT (GLAAD, 2014). This 3.9% is a decrease from the 4.4% found in the 2012-2013 season, which marked the record high for LGBT representation on TV. The 2014-2015 season featured 64 regular LGBT characters on cable channels and 33 recurring LGBT characters on primetime broadcast channels. Some of the most inclusive shows during the 2014-2015 season were Fox’s Glee and HBO’s Looking. Furthermore, Internet streaming providers also featured some of the most inclusive shows, such as

Despite her dad’s confession of her struggles, Sarah replies by asking “Are you gonna tell me that you’re gonna dress up as a lady every day now?” (Transparent, Season 1, Episode 2). While the subsequent loving interaction between the father-daughter duo showcases Sarah’s support for her dad’s journey, Sarah’s thought that transgender people simply want to dress up “like a lady” showcases how she believes that transgender people’s wishes are to cross-dress and not be actually a different gender. The conflict between Sarah’s want to support her father’s journey and her lack of understanding of the transgender community helps to reflect that in society if people are not aware of the transgender people’s journey, then it will be difficult for even those with the best of heart to help and be supportive of transgender people’s plight. Through Soloway’s highlighting of the general lack of knowledge of how to accept transgender individuals in society, she is able to advocate for change in society to be more accepting and raise awareness for the transgender people’s plight.

I believe my character to be more ingroup, they are refer as a transgender woman and a person of color and is supported by many social groups similar to hers. My character is accepted in those similar groups and feels strongly towards those who are similar to her and would have a sense of individuality with those groups. We have ingroup and outgroup bias in order to protect ourselves to others who are different than us, and in order to feel comfort from others who are similar to us.

The depiction of transgender women characters in mainstream television has been offensive, insulting and derogatory. An article from GLADD called “Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television”, examines 102 episodes and storylines on mainstream television that contained transgender characters since 2002. Of these, more than half were characterized as containing negative representations of transgender. In 2007 only 1% of television series had a recurring transgender character, which has slowly increased to 4% in 2013.