The media loves a great story that they know will have people talking. From Kelly Clarkson's heartbreak to (the so-called tragedy) that Jennifer Aniston is allegedly going to be raising a baby by herself, the media loves to give America people to pity and/or gawk at. Unfortunately, this oftentimes means demeaning the lives of people or communities that such stories represent. Just look at how bad the media is making single mothers out to be with the whole Aniston baby tabloid frenzy. Recently, they are doing a disservice to one community in particular that, until now, hasn't been given much coverage in the tabloids, transgender men and women.
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| From hlntv.com |
Since Kim Kardashian's parents, Bruce Jenner and Kris Kardashian, announced their divorce, the tabloids have been filled with stories that Bruce Jenner is a transgender woman. These rumors were ignited even more so earlier this week when TMZ learned that Bruce Jenner had consulted with a plastic surgeon to have his atom's apple shaved. The media jumped on this piece of information as more and more reason to suspect that Bruce Jenner was in the process of undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Even gay blogs speculated whether Bruce was in the process of transitioning. While they took a respectful approach to the topic, other media outlets turned Bruce Jenner, and the topic of being transgender, into a freak show that America could gawk at.
Transgender men and women have to deal with having to worry about whether others are going to see them as "others" every day of their lives, and the media is now perpetuating this idea that being transgender is something that Americans can gawk at free of consequence. Just look at how big of a deal the media made of Chaz Bono's transition from female to male, and the stories they told about how it was "tearing Cher's family apart". While I'm sure, like most parents of transgender children, it took some time to adjust to her son's transition, the fact of the matter is that the media spread lies about the situation. When all was said and done, this did a disservice to the transgender community because young transgender kids may be less likely to tell their parents about themselves because they may be swayed by the tabloids to think that it too may tear their family apart.
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| Image Via www.wipeouttransphobia.com |
Similar things are happening with the Bruce Jenner sex-change saga. They are making it look like, IF Bruce Jenner is transgender, that he is the reason for all the family problems. When, Bruce Jenner hasn't even said whether or not he is transgender, and we all know that more than one thing leads to two people calling it quits. The tabloids are also making it seem like the whole issue of whether or not Bruce Jenner is transgender is a sort of game that Americans can play to kill time in their dull, day to day lives. The reality is though, making someone's true gender into a game that America can play while simultaneously mocking the issue around transgender issues, will have a lasting affect on the way Americans see transgender people. In the end, it will just give uneducated Americans reason to discriminate against transgender individuals because, after all, the tabloids are teaching America that being transgender is not a valid way of living because. Instead, it's just another invalid alternative lifestyle that can be turned into media fodder for America (and the world) to eat up, and, when all is said and done, a game America can play to guess who is and who isn't.
I say all of this knowing that the media is not going to stop in their irresponsible coverage of transgender individuals anytime soon. The only way that they will be more responsible in covering transgender issues is if we stand up and say that we won't tolerate discrimination and irresponsible coverage against transgender individuals in our media. We must do this by writing letters to the editor, standing up to this behavior on social media, and doing whatever else we can to fight this intolerance. After all, if we stay silent, we are aiding the media in their degradation of transgender men and women. Because, while we might think it is just tongue-in-cheek talk about Bruce Jenner now, this kind of talk could affect the way every transgender individual in the world is viewed if we let this media sensationalism become the dominant way that transgender individuals are portrayed in the media. So, on this Saturday, I am asking you to do something, and stand up to transphobia in any way possible.
Saturday Straight Talk will be a weekly column where I will discuss issues of sex, sexuality, gender, and other issues pertaining to inequality. In full disclosure, I am not transgender. I am just an ally of the community who was upset by the coverage transgender men and women have been given recently. Find out more about trans issues and what you can do to help fight transphobia at wipeouttransphobia.com.
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