'The Next Best Thing:' Erasing an Identity in Popular Media
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/07/the_next_best_thing_erasing_an_identity_in_popular.php7/23/11
Rev. Emily C. Heath
Last week I was flipping through the channels when a documentary caught my eye. National Geographic's series Hard Time was airing a new episode filmed in a women's prison in Georgia. The episode was entitled "World Without Men" and, with shots of butch prisoners throughout, seemed to explore issues of gender identity in prison.
I turned to a friend and quipped, "I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that this might be the most significant representation of butch identity that I have ever seen on TV."
A few minutes in, I realized I was right and wrong about the significance. I was right because I cannot think of a time when I have seen more butches on television. But I was wrong because the documentary did everything possible to erase the butch identity of their subjects (to the point of never using the word "butch") and to explain it away given their incarcerated status.
