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.

In another episode, "Brené with Laverne Cox on Transgender Representation, Advocacy, and the Power of Love," Brown and Cox discuss Cox's documentary "Disclosure," which examines transgender portrayal in media. They discuss how cinematic depictions impact societal perceptions and the importance of the trans community being authentically portrayed on screen. Despite the significance of this film, Cox acknowledged the difficulties in promoting and selling transgender-centered narratives owing to public sentiments of the transgender population. They draw attention to the violence against transgender women, in both society and legislation, which contributes to the marginalization of transgender women. In addition to the violence that transgender women face, Cox introduces the idea of trans-misogyny, which targets transgender women with sexist and homophobic stereotypes.

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

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

Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to The Intruder by Andre Dubus, Kenneth Girard a

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.

Over the past few years, the issues faced by people who identify as transgender (gender dysphoric) have gained momentum in the media. From Caitlyn Jenner to which bathroom to use, transgender people have made a lot of progress in addressing

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.