News from the Guardian this morning (via Liss) that the British soap Hollyoaks will feature a character who will be transitioning to live as a man (mind that the article is...imperfect, let us say, in its approach, despite what I believe are good intentions).
They've brought along a young trans man to help the woman playing the part to get it right, which is very positive. I'd say they should have just cast a trans man, but then we get into the problematic part of the trans person being required to play their birth gender - I know I wouldn't want to - so it's not maybe as cut-and-dried as that.
Given that, though, I do applaud the show's creative staff for taking this step. I think media properties with trans people as part of the daily life of a community are better than those without. I also think it's good that they've chosen to depict a trans man; too many people still associate transness with trans women, and it's good to see my trans brothers getting a bit more visibility (*fist-bump of trans solidarity to my trans brothers*)
Although it'd be nice, mind, to have seen them cast a trans man of colour. Trans women of colour are almost exclusively seen in MSM as sex workers, and trans men of colour just don't exist, apparently (if you go by MSM depictions!).
Edit: A Shaker who would prefer to remain anonymous (but whom I thank) points out that I missed out on my usual practice of noting "markedness" by identifying the apparent characteristics of the subject. In this case, I might have more effectively described the actor playing the role as being an apparently white cis woman; I relied on the picture accompanying the article to tell that tale, which is not useful for any Shakers who might be Blind, for instance, or just on dialup and not having the time or money to d/l the article. And leaving out the race label is, sadly, an artifact of the racism I've breathed in all my life. Only using labels for people who differ from the "norm" is an othering practice. My apologies for the lapses, and my thanks to the Shaker who raised the issue with me.
Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.
blog comments powered by Disqus