Robyn Carolyn Montague
Executive Director, TransHaven
Work It: ABC's New Low
Posted: 12/21/11 02:00 PM ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robyn-carolyn-montague/work-it-abc_b_1163362.htmlABC's new sitcom Work It will premiere Jan. 3 amidst growing outrage from the transgender community over the premise of the series, which portrays two unemployed men who dress as women to find a job. The series has already infuriated the trans community with a promotional ad depicting the two men dressed as women standing at a urinal, ostensibly urinating in a men's restroom. The series itself is a rehash of the Bosom Buddies sitcom of the '80s, yet the promo graphics and trailer bear ill tidings of a far less amusing portrayal of cross-dressing and, inherently, of transsexual women.
While the premise is ugly, the entire concept is uglier in that the potential for fundamentalist hate groups to use these graphics in anti-transgender lobbying is almost a certainty. The use of the image of two men in women's clothing at a urinal -- obviously in a men's public restroom -- will only further their contention that trans-identified women should not be allowed in women's public restrooms, and that they should only be allowed in male-orientated spaces. The show also will fuel the idea that trans women are just "men in dresses." To a happy end of their own, anti-transgender groups will enjoy the free ride to their advocacy at the expense of the trans community, so neatly prepackaged by ABC.
