Diversity and Representation in Media

...Is that for real or sarcastic?

If it was sarcasm, I'd use Sarcasm Mode.

Right, sorry.

Sometimes, the wording escapes me.

Maureen Ryan's new book Burn it Down as been heavily discussed as it takes a look at the abuse within Hollywood and spotlights several diversity issues. Namely, Lost and its culture of toxicity towards it's Black and other people of color cast and crew, Sleepy Hollow essentially turning against it's Black female lead, and Saturday Night Live's misconduct, racism and sexism.

Edited by MegaJ on Jun 6th 2023 at 2:22:52 PM

Hearing that makes me wonder if that skit regarding Beyonce's black heritage causing uproar among white people to be well-intentioned humor... or a shallow parody. Or that Asian Barbie skit.

I just remember that one skit where they had Kerry Washington play Michelle Obama, Beyonce, and Oprah Winfrey (yes, in the same skit), prefaced by a disclaimer of the show acknowledging its [ahem] general whiteness over the years.

(There's a little more info about it under the Live-Action TV section for Self-Deprecation.)

This is an inherently bad question, because you are creating a false dichotomy where being "shredded" is in some way in opposition to feminine features.

There is nothing inherently masculine about a toned, muscular body. Having bigger/more defined muscles doesn't make a woman or non-binary person less feminine or more masculine. Thinking women with lots of muscles "look like men" is a gross take usually peddled by misogynists who insist that women have to look a certain way, where that way is what is most attractive to them.

If you find yourself saying "women should be soft" with complete sincerity, you're already in the wrong and should quit while you're behind.

Edited by ArthurEld on Jun 6th 2023 at 2:30:56 AM

...Dude, I was simply asking, no need to launch into that brief rant like I have ulterior motives about this.

Right, and I was simply pointing out it's a bad question.

Can you explain the history behind the 'gross take' that you are talking about?

In recent works, slice-of-life manga Skip and Loafer has a positively depicted trans woman as a supporting character − the protagonist’s aunt and guardian Nao. They even play with it a little in the Date Peepers episode, where Nao crossdresses as a man to spy on Mitsumi’s date along with one of Mitsumi’s jealous friends, before revealing to said friend that she’s a woman − i.e. the opposite of how a "trans reveal" is usually played.

Her relationship with her niece is perfectly healthy, she even advises her on girl things and no one particularly comments on it^note except in one brief scene where some girls in the train wonder if she’s a man, although Mika (the jealous friend) is slightly taken aback at first.

Now before a sleepover she also tells Mutsumi to make it clear to her friends that she’s "biologically male" so that they’re not too surprised, which… I don’t know if trans people would do that in real life. Maybe it depends.

Edited by Lyendith on Jun 6th 2023 at 3:53:52 PM

There's a lot of shitty takes that say women with large and/or well defined, lean muscles are, in some way, less feminine, which is rooted in misogynistic "beauty standards." The idea is that large muscles are in some way inherently masculine, and so women that have such muscles are in some way, "manly" and thus, less attractive.

It's another way for misogynists to try and control women by deeming which bodies are and are not feminine enough, with "feminine" in this case being code for "attractive to men". It also ties into the equally vile viewpoint that men who are attracted to such women are in some way closeted homosexuals.

The "history" of it is just based on the usual patriarchal idea that women have to look a certain way to be "real women".

It says it's a ghost blog for me.

Sorry, it auto-flagged the post as mature just because I used a bathhouse scene as evidence for two characters being trans (the trans man in the men's bath and the trans woman in the women's bath). If you're still interested, here's the same Top 10 list as a Reddit post . Just... ignore the comments.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Jun 7th 2023 at 3:36:57 AM

New topic because I've got something on my mind

so this is in regards to the spiderverse movie and people arguing over whether Gwen is trans,I wish they could have just come out and said "yes,she's trans,and ?" like the devs of the Guilty Gear video game did with Bridget

instead they have to do a lot of dancing around the issue and cloak the implication in order to appease the mainstream audience.

Wait, what's the proof?

The trans flag appears in her bedroom and her father wears a pin with the colours or something

...Is that all?

I'm going off what I've heard mainly.

To provide more context: in addition to what Ultimatum mentioned, Gwen's relationship with her cop father is very easy to read under a Rainbow Lens. She's hiding a vital part of herself from her father because he's actively pursuing that part of herself as a "criminal". Additionally, all of her scenes are rendered in an impressionistic watercolor style, and when she symbolically comes out to him by revealing her identity as Spider-Woman the backgrounds take on the color of the trans Pride flag. Taken together it suggests the trans coding was a deliberate choice on the part of the filmmakers and one they weren't particularly subtle about.

Edited by Aleistar on Jun 7th 2023 at 2:35:39 PM

Ahhhh.

But the VA playing her isn't trans.

As for why they didn’t outright say it maybe:

• It’s an American superhero blockbuster releasing at a time of crazy anti-trans sentiment and legislation in America so they mayyybe wanted to make money and not be censored to oblivion
• There is one more sequel out next year where it could play a part or be mentioned

Edited by Synchronicity on Jun 7th 2023 at 1:42:42 PM

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh... cis people have played trans people before.

Which people have understandably been critical of when it happens (especially since it happens constantly).

That said the explanation could potentially be just that the coding is new to this film in the series, and the actress was already cast. Sometimes stories evolve as you tell them, and that can be a positive thing.

Edited by Pseudopartition on Jun 7th 2023 at 7:13:13 PM

I know it is. I am critical of that myself but it doesnt stop people from doing it, sad as it may be.

Or the character isn't Trans, but they saw the parallel and wanted to show some support.