Trans Representations on Reality TV

Yesterday US Magazine broke the story that one of the 14 contestants to compete in the new season of America’s Next Top Model is transgender. 22-year old Isis is from Prince George's County, Maryland and will be one of fourteen women competing to become America’s Next Top Model. When asked by US if she wants to be a role model she replied "I like to help people, but I'm here to follow my dreams." GLAAD is already all over this with the president of GLAAD, Neil Giuliano, saying "We applaud Tyra Banks and The CW for making this historic visibility of transgender people possible." The new season debuts September 3rd on the CW.

I haven’t really been following the VH1 show I Want to Work for Diddy, but I certainly have been following the talk about Laverne Cox, a transgender woman competing for a chance to become Diddy’s assistant. Diddy’s reality show also features and openly gay black man named Rob Smith. In a piece he wrote for AfterElton.com he says:

Like they say here, visibility matters, and for both myself and my transgender competitor Laverne Cox, I know that it was very important that we represented who we were openly from the very beginning. But let’s not get too serious. We‘re all aware of how absurd reality television is, and I plan on both injecting a little humor into these recaps and taking every opportunity available to laugh with and at everyone onscreen, not least of all myself.


Smith’s quote brings up interesting points about both Queer visibility and the nature of reality television. The question I have is about the precarious nature of advancing queer visibility through a vehicle such as reality television. At this point it is fair to say that there is nothing real about reality TV. It is pretty well established that most shows are scripted so some extent and I’m sure that I Want to Work for Diddy and America’s Next Top Model are no exceptions. My question is will reality television allow queer folks to represent themselves in a complex and multidimensional way? I’m thinking about the way that the so-called “non-traditional” models in America’ Next Top Model are paraded around like diversity show ponies. The plus-sized models and models with disabilities are defined solely by the factor(s) that sets them apart from the “normal” models, the “real” models.

Increased visibility for marginalized people always presents itself as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, media visibility is incredibly important in terms of its ability to alleviate feelings of alienation and invisibility by creating characters who challenge racial, gender, and sexual norms. On the other hand, marginalized people often remain marginalized on television, never shown or allowed to be fully realized individuals. These portrayals as much as they might knock the door down can also reify the boundaries between normative and non-normative behaviors and people.

I don’t think that there is an easy solution to an obviously complex problem, nor am I trying to take away from the importance of those who are going out on a limb attempting to increase the visibility of marginalized groups. (Let’s be real, you know I’m going to be rooting for Isis and Laverne!) I do think, however, that we need to be aware of the ways in which the media industry shapes how we see our identities reflected back to us. In many ways media and popular culture mediates our understandings of ourselves and others (which is obviously why I think Pop Culture Studies is really important). What do these representations mean to trans people and queers in general? What do they mean to people of color? What do they mean to women? What do they mean to everybody else?

What do you all think? Is there a way, perhaps even a socially just way, to increase the visibility of disenfranchised and marginalized populations in the entertainment industry? Or are we stuck with a Catch-22?

In the meantime check out the Laverne’s amazing website, she is definitely one beautiful and intelligent women and the one to beat on I Want to Work for Diddy according to this clip...

Why Puerto Ricans Need to Support Obama

I am pro Puerto Rican independence. A number of family members still live on the island, including my father and my brother and sister, and as a Nuyorican I am keenly aware of the way that policy here affect the lives of those on the island. All Puerto Ricans on the island and in the diaspora are living under the effects of a neo-colonial system, and we need to deploy a variety of strategies to ensure that boricuas are able to fight for self-determination (however differently we might define that term). While we will always need los independistas and los macheteros, we also need to support Barack Obama as contradictory as that sounds.

While I have no illusions that a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for Puerto Rican independence, I feel that it is important for Puerto Ricans to vote for Obama to ensure that we are able to move forward and not backwards. Recently, the Puerto Rican community has suffered under the Bush administration’s “terrorist” witch-hunts. Anyone who speaks up against the inhumane conditions in Puerto Rico or in the Puerto Rican community in the states is branded a terrorist. The Bush Administration is trying to breed fear in our community and prevent us from mobilizing. The grand jury hearings this past year were reminiscent of the 1950s on the island, a time when even speaking about Puerto Rican independence would land you in jail, a time when the very notion of Puerto Rican pride was treasonous.

We need a change. We need Puerto Ricans to stop dying in Iraq (actually we need everyone to stop dying in Iraq). We need better conditions in barrios in the U.S. and on the island. We need the surveillance and COUNTERINTELPRO shit to stop. While Obama is no political savior (and I think we all need to recognize that he has steadily become more centrist in his rhetoric) he can provide the Puerto Rican community and People of Color more broadly with the political climate necessary to organize and mobilize our communities. McCain represents more of the same: war, repression, cronyism, and a disregard for queer communities and communities of color.

I recently came across this YouTube clip of Miguel Luciano endorsing Barack Obama in the primaries and I think he does a excellent job talking about the political contractions that U.S.-based Puerto Ricans face in this election.



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