A group of three men standing side-by-side. There is a purple graphic in front.
“[V]isibility is not the goal, it’s just a means to an end.” – Sam Feder, director of Disclosure
Queer representation as a whole has been an excruciatingly slow battle, but there has been progress. What happens though when we focus on just one segment of the community or just one type of media? The answer is interesting and sometimes disappointing. We’re going to be exploring how transgender men have been representing on television over the last few years. We don’t need to rehash Degrassi or the L Word and their less than stellar representation of transgender men, so let’s skip forward and see how the last five years have treated them.
You might expect more transgender men on streaming shows rather than cable, given the general transphobic ideas that keep transgender people off of television as a whole—or worse, use them as comedic or tragic props. You would, however, be wrong! Streaming and cable are two sides of the same coin, though cable does have a bit of a lead over streaming tv. That might be because television is evolving to match its growing transgender audience, or it might be that there are just more cable tv shows overall.
The majority of transgender men on tv are regulars rather than recurring or guest stars, and that’s a good sign. However, that doesn’t mean those characters are treated well by the narrative. That’s where we see the importance of having transgender people not only on camera but behind the scenes. Not all LGBTQ+ are going to do as well or care about how they’re depicting transgender characters. Shows like The Switch, created by and starring a variety of transgender people, offer a diverse look at transgender men throughout different phases of their lives and transition. On the other hand, shows like Glee, created by a cisgender gay man and starring multiple cisgender people playing transgender characters, use them as feel-good props for cisgender characters (and audiences). Is it better to have a transgender series regular who is treated as a joke or a transgender guest star who is more nuanced and well-rounded?
One of the most surprising changes over the years is not just the characters, but the actors playing them. In the past, the majority of transgender men were played by cisgender women, and that wasn’t surprising. Hollywood has a long history of this, particularly in its use of cis men playing transgender women for the sake of comedy. We’re still having the conversation about whether or not this is appropriate in 2020, so years early are no different.
However, in more recent years something seems to have changed. There’s been a surge not only in transgender men on tv but in those roles being filled by transgender men. Over the past few years, we’ve even seen a—albeit small—increase in non-binary people playing transgender men. Of the transgender man rolls on tv in the last two years, two-thirds were played by transgender men and one-third were played by non-binary people. This happening brings up a conversation that’s rarely needed to happen in the past: is it appropriate for transgender folks to play transgender characters of different genders?
For my part, I don’t think this is a bad thing; gender isn’t binary, and transgender people playing transgender characters is still a good thing. It’ll be interesting to see how that continues to shape transgender representation for all transgender people. For the time being, we can celebrate the little victories.
References and Further Reading
Disclaimer: some of the sources may contain triggering material
Capuzza, J. C., & Spencer, L. G. (2016). Regressing, Progressing, or Transgressing on the Small Screen? Transgender Characters on U.S. Scripted Television Series. Communication Quarterly, 65(2), 214–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2016.1221438
Cavalcante, A. (2017). Breaking Into Transgender Life: Transgender Audiences’ Experiences With “First of Its Kind” Visibility in Popular Media. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(3), 538–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12165
Gillig, T. K., Rosenthal, E. L., Murphy, S. T., & Folb, K. L. (2018). More than a Media Moment: The Influence of Televised Storylines on Viewers’ Attitudes toward Transgender People and Policies. Sex Roles, 78(7), 515–527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0816-1
LezWatch.TV: Queer Female, Non-Binary, and Transgender Characters on TV. (n.d.). LezWatch.TV. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://lezwatchtv.com/
McLaren, J. (2018). “Recognize Me”: An Analysis of Transgender Media Representation. Major Papers. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/major-papers/45