Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Transgender Representation



We’ve seen it before with Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto, Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club and now with Eddie Redmayne who is due to star in the highly anticipated film The Danish Girl. What do all of these films have in common? They all depict transgender characters. However the producers of these films all see it fitting to cast heterosexual, cisgendered, white men for the roles.


The importance of representation in the media goes without saying. With 45% of transgendered people of the age 18-24 having attempted suicide it’s vital that more is done to make transgenderism more widely accepted in society and that the support is there to help those people who are struggling with their gender identity. The representation of transgendered people in the media can help in making society a more accepting and show those who are experiencing gender dysphoria that they are not alone and, as clichéd as it may sound, things will get better.

However Hollywood recently have seemed to see transgenderism as more of a plot device, often portraying characters in stereotypical and patronising ways. What’s even worse is that it’s the same cisgendered men who are cast. It’s no secret that Hollywood is rife with discrimination with not a single black or asian actor being nominated for an oscar this year and with no transgendered people being nominated ever. What’s more, it seems as though roles such as Lili Elbe, the first ever recipient of sexual reassignment surgery depicted in The Danish Girl, would be perfect for a transgendered actor and would be a great opportunity to forward the fight for transgender rights but none the less the cisgendered eton-educated Eddie Redmayne has been cast. It’s extremely unlikely that any of these cis men playing transgender rolls have a comprehensive understanding about the real day-to-day struggles faced by transgendered people and Hollywood needs to learn that a transgendered woman does not equal a cis man in a dress.


Furthermore it is very rare that one ever sees a transgendered man represented in the media. That’s not to say there aren't any but it seems that they are hardly ever given a voice. But why is this? It seems that the stories of transgendered men are not deemed as sexy to audiences. This could possibly be because it clashes with society’s preconceptions about the female body and how it doesn’t like seeing them de-feminised. Because if you’re not conforming to society’s view of women and in fact actively rejecting the gender you were assigned at birth and femininity unfortunately many see you as an outcast which is yet another reason why it’s so important to increase representation of transgendered people.


The emergence of actresses such as Laverne Cox in her role in Orange is the New Black finally gave some hope that times were changing. However the persistent clichéd ways transgendered people are still being portrayed not to mention by privileged cisgendered men shows that the media still have a long way to go especially in regards to the representation to transgendered men.


Written by Tash

Picture credit: Ellen

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/AFSP-Williams-Suicide-Report-Final.pdf 

1 comment:

  1. This is a really great post, the points you make are really valid :) I just wanted to note that generally trans people have said the term 'transgendered' is offensive and they want people to stop using it. There's a pretty good explanation of it here: http://theroguefeminist.tumblr.com/post/68919457674/why-the-term-is-transgender-and-not
    The term is just transgender or trans - and it's the same for cisgender as well. Thanks :)

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