Transgender Television

I remember the first time I was formally taught the word "transgender". I was sixteen years old and attending a summer writing workshop at the University of Virginia. One of the other students liked to borrow girls' clothing and wear it to class. I'm not sure if he* was the impetus for our session about "Sex and Gender" or if it was already on the schedule but one afternoon someone somewhere decided that it was time for us to learn the correct terminology. We learned what LGBT meant. We learned the difference between sex and gender. We learned about pronouns. Coming from a slightly conservative public high school in Virginia, and a liberal but very sheltered upbringing, all of this was news to me. Interestingly, I took it all in stride. My biggest concern was that someone should really teach him how to dress better, because the skirt and top combo didn't match at all.

Later, when I attended Smith College, these early lessons in terminology came in handy. That's not to say that Smith wasn't a culture shock, because it totally was. During a weekend for accepted students I was housed by Junior who a) had the shortest hair I had ever seen on a girl and b) was openly gay. Interestingly, all the students that she lived with seemed to veer largely toward the Lesbian side of the spectrum. This certainly isn't the case all over the Smith campus, but in that particular house my long hair-polo shirt wearing- one step away from having pearls-high school self stood out.

Three years later I would be leading a session for new students where I talked about LGBT terminology. Full circle from clueless fashion-conscious sixteen year old to more knowledgeable but still pretty clueless twenty-one year old.

Yesterday I was riding a bus through Dorchester, which is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Boston. Two Black teenagers, a guy and a girl, were talking about what drag was, which then turned into a discussion about a family friend's decision to transition. They knew the terminology. Was that because they'd read up on what to say and how to say it after learning of their friend's decision? Of course that's possible. But I also think it's possible that media is playing a role.

OITNB: Can Season 2 Be As Good?

I may be mildly obsessed with 'Orange is the New Black'.

And by mildly obsessed I mean that Netflix should probably start paying me some serious change considering the amount of promotional work I'm doing for their show.

So far I've managed to persuade colleagues, relatives, friends, and the folks I volunteer with at a local homeless shelter to give in and watch the show. And, get this, no one has blamed me yet!

That leads to what I consider to be the big question: now what?

Orange is the New Black: Responding to Yasmin Nair

Race, Class, & Queer Issues in 'Orange is the New Black'

In These Times recently published an article in which the author, Yasmin Nair, stated that while Netflix's 'Orange is the New Black' gets "an 'A' on queer issues", it gets "a 'C' on race and an 'F' on class". While I agree it's important to contemplate and critique the portrayal of queer issues, race, and class in media, there are several points that the author states as fact which in reality rely on her personal interpretation of what is shown on screen.

In full disclosure, I am (as the main character in the show states) a white lady with blonde hair. I'm sure that colored my interpretation of the show, and I in no way claim that my perspective is the right one.

The first point that Nair makes is that 'Orange is the New Black' (OITNB) ensures that white women's nudity is "artfully covered" so that their "placement in the hierarchy of voyeurism" is made clear. To make her point she references a few key scenes; the first being the scene in the chapel where Morello and Nichols are having sex. Nair, rightfully, points out that Morello's breasts remain artfully covered throughout the scene in an unrealistic way. There is also a scene where Chapman gets out of the shower and her breasts are only briefly flashed before they are hidden by a towel (viewers will remember this as the "TV titties" scene). Nair states that in contrast women of color are shown naked fairly often--breasts and all. She sees this as a way to eroticize women of color, while the white women "preserve their putative modesty".

It certainly is true that eroticization of women of color in mainstream media is a major problem. However, I don't think that the examples Nair has given support her argument.