Something came up in a thread that got me thinking about how what I consider to be "phobic" and what's not. I know there's an LGBT thread and 4-5 other phobia threads, but there didn't seem to be one focused on this one, or pop culture, and I'm curious about other's views on transphobia in pop culture specifically, and what's considered acceptable and unacceptable.
To shorten a page-long rant and some unnecessary quoting (this post has been through a lot of revisions), there was a contest between two game studios over who could do a better job of emasculating two male leads from two of their major franchises at the time. To quote the person who brought up the contest and said it was a bit transphobic: "The literal point of the contest was for each company to humiliate the other's protagonist by cross-dressing them."
I was originally going to respond with:
While I could see that being "harmfully" transphobic, that we're at a point where I even have to consider that leaves me rather conflicted.
Men can wear pink, own purses, go through sex reassignment. That's fine, that's their choice.
What a man can't do is walk down a street in a tu-tu, leggings, high-heeled shoes, a high-reaching thong, and with a pacifier stuck in their mouth and toenails painted pink - and expect for people not to laugh. Like, socially we're not there, and I really don't think we ever should be. I don't know that many transsexual people, but I'm pretty sure anybody who dressed like that would be mocked.
Unless there's a massive global shift to where tu-tu's, nail polish, high heels, thongs, and traditionally/stereotypically feminine clothing is just the new vogue. Like, when senators walk to their offices like that, when I can go to a job interview like that and expect to be taken seriously - fine, I could see your point.
But until then, taking two characters who are super macho and dressing them up girlishly is pretty darn funny to me, transphobia be damned.
Which seemed a bit insensitive so I didn't post it, but that was my kneejerk reaction.
I got into a huge, self-questioning tizzy over whether the contest was offensive or not. Did it truly matter if they weren't going out of their way to attack transgender people?
That got me wondering what's actually considered transphobic in pop culture. I inundate myself with Japanese franchises where androgynous, effeminate characters are fairly frequent, so I fear I might be suffering from tunnel vision.
I feel like it's not as prevalent in pop culture as one would think. Perhaps it is, and if it is, can transsexualism be an Acceptable Target? I'm curious if there are examples of transphobic humor that might be seen as non-harmful, or examples where it's outright offensive.
How do we feel about transgender representation in pop culture in general?
Something came up in a thread that got me thinking about how what I consider to be "phobic" and what's not. I know there's an LGBT thread
To shorten a page-long rant and some unnecessary quoting (this post has been through a lot of revisions), there was a contest between two game studios over who could do a better job of emasculating two male leads from two of their major franchises at the time. To quote the person who brought up the contest and said it was a bit transphobic: "The literal point of the contest was for each company to humiliate the other's protagonist by cross-dressing them."
I was originally going to respond with:
While I could see that being "harmfully" transphobic, that we're at a point where I even have to consider that leaves me rather conflicted.
Men can wear pink, own purses, go through sex reassignment. That's fine, that's their choice.
What a man can't do is walk down a street in a tu-tu, leggings, high-heeled shoes, a high-reaching thong, and with a pacifier stuck in their mouth and toenails painted pink - and expect for people not to laugh. Like, socially we're not there, and I really don't think we ever should be. I don't know that many transsexual people, but I'm pretty sure anybody who dressed like that would be mocked.
Unless there's a massive global shift to where tu-tu's, nail polish, high heels, thongs, and traditionally/stereotypically feminine clothing is just the new vogue. Like, when senators walk to their offices like that, when I can go to a job interview like that and expect to be taken seriously - fine, I could see your point.
But until then, taking two characters who are super macho and dressing them up girlishly is pretty darn funny to me, transphobia be damned.
Which seemed a bit insensitive so I didn't post it, but that was my kneejerk reaction.
I got into a huge, self-questioning tizzy over whether the contest was offensive or not. Did it truly matter if they weren't going out of their way to attack transgender people?
That got me wondering what's actually considered transphobic in pop culture. I inundate myself with Japanese franchises where androgynous, effeminate characters are fairly frequent, so I fear I might be suffering from tunnel vision.
I feel like it's not as prevalent in pop culture as one would think. Perhaps it is, and if it is, can transsexualism be an Acceptable Target? I'm curious if there are examples of transphobic humor that might be seen as non-harmful, or examples where it's outright offensive.
How do we feel about transgender representation in pop culture in general?
edited 16th May '18 1:18:39 PM by Soble
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