#gws294

7th post: Course Reflection

As I sit and reflect on this course, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to take it. I had never taken a course like this before, and as someone who is minoring in gender and women's studies, i did not want to have a narrow lense on gender issues as it relates to cis women. What I have learned this semester is just how eurocentric our views on gender are. From learning about toms and zees, to mahu, and to two spirit, having the experience to understand these gender constructions that we take so seriously in america are not real, are not for everyone and are not expressed in the same way across different ethnic groups.

Extra Credit Post: BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER

In the video, Trans activists of color Cece McDonald and Monica James held a talk and discussion on black trans issues, with the main issues being targeted being the institutional racism and it’s relationship to trans people of color and transmisogyny within the trans community. Cece McDonald is a  black trans woman who was charged  for defending herself in a fight with a man who she called a “neo nazi”, whom had a swastika tattoo. After the assault, she was arrested and sent to an all male prison.  Monica James has been targeted by the police for years and now uses that experience to shed light on the abuses tran women receive from the criminal justice system.

Cece starts off making a powerful point that she might not have been there for the discussion if she was roaming the street alone when she was attacked, that she could have been “another name on a day that is given to us to remember our fallen sisters”; and that we should not wait to celebrate our trans activists when they are gone, but to appreciate them and are behind them and support them in the now. I also like that she pointed out that just because trans stars like Laverne Cox and Janet Mock are on TV, does not mean that the struggle is over, and that cis people should think about how to acknowledge those innate privileges on a day to day basis and think how can  use that to help trans women of color without taking the space of trans women, with an emphasis of agency. Monica James talked a lot about the activism needed, and how proud she was of the black trans presence at the event. She goes on to talk about that trans women make up 5% of the US population, yet they make up 20% of the prison population because of being targeted by police. She mentioned again that there needs to be more people involved in this movement because it was by chance that her and Cece were able to get out of facing many years of jail time, and if they would have been put away, who would be helping advocate for them?

I knew that there was a disparity between trans women of color being targeted by the police than white people, as there is in regards to most minorities, but that number shocked me. It is really hard to fathom that even though Trans POCs make up 5% of the population that 20% of them are put away in prisons.The systematic erasure of the black trans woman is real! I appreciated the fact that these ladies were able to get their points across in way that was understandable and relatable, which is something that I don’t see often from people who are well knowledged on the topic they are speaking about. Over all I found this to be a very insightful video.

Overall I’m not sure how much I learned from this project but I don’t feel it was as much as I should have. Had I done more research, spread it out, I definitely would have made some much better conclusions from this work however I’m satisfied with what I have now. Connecting trans representation and real world implications is something I enjoy doing and the broadening of my research does provide a better foundation for future works.

To start off with some Vloggers I mentioned:

Erin Armstrong aka Grishno https://www.youtube.com/user/grishno Great person who has documented almost all aspects of her life in regards to transition, providing guides for navigating day-to-day stuff to less frequent actions like being discriminated against.

Kat Blaque https://www.youtube.com/user/TransDIYer An active social justice writer and vlogger. Her daily activity ensures an acute awareness that she takes full advantage of.

TS ROADMAP http://www.tsroadmap.com/index.html An oldie, definitely helpful for eggs (those who haven’t come out yet aka hatched into chicks... or dudes or anything else) and although it has not really had much maintenance done it’s still something useful for most trans stuff to start off with. A swiss army knife of trans resources, but more akin to the one that you’ve had laying around a drawer for a few years because it doesn’t match up to a full-blown toolkit

Writing http://www.strangehorizons.com/2015/20150928/1morgan-a.shtml Some major points on writing better trans characters. You don’t have to be trans to write a character who is, but you should know what you’re doing at least. 

The trouble with seeing trans people on media is that it often is in a demeaning or inaccurate manner. Lazy writers, growing arrogance, and a lacking of a need to change (money keeps on flowing) means that the status quo will remain unaffected. This has real world implications, such as contributing to stereotypes and fueling hate through misrepresentation. A solution is still far from reach due to the numerous barriers around.

Earlier I’ve brought up some possibilities to solve this issue somewhat, although this problem has many roots so no one solution can solve everything.

Trans people in trans roles: It’s possible to have a trans person play a trans character at any point in life and transition. The use of cis people playing trans folk perpetuates harmful stereotypes as previously discussed and further bars the community from employment.

Trans people in cis/undisclosed roles: Countless roles when they’re written are just as easily switched genders on paper, yet somehow them being trans is a taboo idea. A better checklist to decide if a character can be trans is: Do this character’s genitals play a role that other genitals cannot? If not, then they can either be trans or cis, and if so then still they can be many cases. With the exception of pregnancy, pretty much nothing would exclude them. Erin Armstrong aka Grishno (vlogger) does some great commentary in her video on “Trans Face” and pretty much anything Kat Blaque (vlogger also) says on this is great to hear.

Proper recognition: To be openly trans and still receive an award that isn’t carelessly thrown around (Caitlyn Jenner) is rare. It’s part of the systematic bias that exists in the entertainment industry. The awards that are specifically for trans people (Trans 100 for example) have their own issues and even then aren’t exclusive to trans people, which isn’t what their true point is but the overall coverage is almost nonexistent outside the lgbt community.

Make a greater statement about how transphobia affects life. I’m proud that it was a friend of mine, Sarah Rose (trans musician), who started the petition about Zoolander 2 and become very vocal about it. No, it didn’t succeed in the end but what it did accomplish was generating more awareness on why this was an issue (writing and casting). It was an attempt at a cheap laugh at a film that barely made 10% into the black, but it’s a commonly seen one.

Get educated. Casting choices have been made by ignorance (Dallas Buyer’s Club, Stonewall) on trans actors and actresses and the general knowledge about transitioning are astounding. Educational initiatives aren’t entirely effective and even policies implemented don’t affect mentalities the same way as learning a relative or close friend is trans, where still it isn’t a definite thing as the astounding rates of homelessness and unemployment indicate.

The importance of proper representation means safer treatment in real life along with a spread of proper information.

“Bathroom bills”- Legislation is made based on false ideas and imagined threats. These in particular criminalize the very people who need protection. These garner support through fear campaigns and pandering to hatred and ignorance, and who should tell them they’re wrong when all their favorite shows present “men in dresses” for comedy.

With “Trans” being the so called hot topic as producers try to follow the money, why shouldn’t we also follow it too? It is not the trans community those portrayed but simply the storytellers scooping up what they can. 

A notable example is the vogue and ball subculture in New York where “The Fame went to Livingston and fortune to Madonna. The subculture itself... disappeared back into the world of sex work, HIV, and queer glamour, and within five years of the release of Paris is Burning, five of the queens in the film were dead (Halberstam 158).” None of the featured queens in the movie looked anywhere close to the end of their life, and yet that’s what happens. One was even killed during the filming. And who got the money from the film’s profits? Nobody featured in the film, that’s who.