Tag Archives: transgender

All that Jazz?

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Jazz Jennings posing with her book that was written to support transgender teens.

Fourteen-year-old Jazz Jennings became a You Tube star as she advocated for transgender rights.  Recently, Clean and Clear featured her in an online advertising campaign called “See the Real Me.”  [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyNZXQ136oI[/youtube].

Now she is becoming the first to star in a reality TV show that focuses on the life of a transgender teen.  According to CNN, the show called “All That Jazz” will debut on TLC in the summer of 2015 and focus on Jazz and her family “dealing with typical teen drama through the lens of a transgender youth.”

I’m glad to see more shows with diverse casts that feature people in in more complex ways who are transgendered.  But, given that TLC is the same network that featured such “reality” shows as Here comes Honey Boo Boo and Toddlers and Tiaras, I am not holding my breath waiting for a thoughtful portrayal of the life of a young person who also happens to be transgendered.

If this show falls prey to the same oversimplified, one-dimensional representations of gender that some of the other TLC shows include, this leaves us with question: Is it better to have no or few representations of a person who is transgendered, or one that may have some truths to it, while overemphasizing “drama” and perhaps reinforcing some stereotypes too?

Fight Night

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0tXP17GgqU[/youtube]

In the world of sports there has been a lot of debate over the fighter Fallon Fox, in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Fallon Fox was born a man but now identifies as a woman. She has gone through all of the horomonal and physical changes that qualify her has a legal woman and therefore is allowed to fight in the women’s division in MMA. Many people claim that she has an unfair advantage because she previously developed as a man. They claim that these physical attributes can never fully be taken back and therefore she should not be able to compete against other women.

In my opinion, I believe that Fallon Fox does have some advantages physically over other women she is fighting. She should therefore be required to explain her physical past against her opponent so that they may know what they are getting into when they decide to fight her. I agree with Ronda Rausey, in that there are some physical changes that can not be undone. Fox will almost always be able to perform in a superior way than other female fighters who were born women, purely because of the difference in the biological make-up of men and women.

This debate has given light to the type of situations and questions that transgender people face as well as how society responds to different types of genders. Our society is so use to dealing with just two genders and it is interesting to see how it must adjust in accepting and acknowledging new identities. I love this debate because it shows just how far society has come. It may be hard to distinguish what is fair and unfair, but I’m happy that society is being put to the test. I’m glad that I’m being made to think outside of what I thought was possible. I’m open to new ideas and regulations for different ways that people identify.

Former Navy SEAL comes out as transgender: ‘I want some happiness’

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Transgender civil rights are gainer wider national attention.  Here’s a great example of how Kristin Beck, former Navy Seal, came out as transgender after retiring from the military.  She talks about how she had to hide the “real me” for 20 years in the military because people who are transgender are banned from the armed services.

Gendered Identities in South Asia

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There are many countries that identify more than two sexes and the gendered identities that go with these.  Click here for an article about how Pakistan has had its first “shemale” candidates for political office and here for an article on how Nepal has created a new designation for sex on citizenship documents and in the national census.

Both of these stories demonstrate how institutions (in his case government/law) influence perceptions of gender in important ways.  By changing laws, these governments have changed understandings of what is possible and acceptable.