Susan's Place Logo

News:

Please be sure to review The Site terms of service, and rules to live by

Main Menu

The Comedy You Love Uses Trans Women As Punchlines And We Need To Talk About It

Started by stephaniec, August 13, 2015, 01:57:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

stephaniec

The Comedy You Love Uses Trans Women As Punchlines And We Need To Talk About It

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/trans-women-as-punchlines/

Everyday Feminism/August 9, 2015 by Kat Blaque

"(Content Warning: Transphobia)

The "freaky love," the "man in a dress" – we're starting to get more positive transgender representation in the media, but these tired tropes and more are still around.

Do you recognize when popular shows and media use trans women as comedic devices? These "jokes" are so common that many of us still laugh along."
  •  

suzifrommd

Have you read my short story The Eve of Triumph?
  •  

Tessa James

Not so surprisingly we trans women relate and identify with women, in general, before and after transition.  Our feminism may be further aroused as we too experience the personal prejudice and discrimination that has existed for centuries. 

As a parent I was outraged when my daughter's gym teacher nick named her "dizzy blonde" and then just dizzy.  It is tough enough to be trans but the general joking misogyny of mass media is acutely more obvious to me now.

I grew up with crap like the Jackie Gleason show where Alice is threatened with "going to the moon" by an angry, fisted husband.  Old movies are particularly revealing of the times with characters threatening to beat up any woman who asserts herself or "talks back."

The reality and numbers regarding domestic violence and sexual assault mean one in four women will experience this.  Now I too am told to watch what I wear or where I walk and to worry about safety as trans women are murdered at alarming rates.

And yet this is the stuff of jokes and humor???

I watched a PBS program last night called "Oregon Lens."  One of the  supposedly cutting edge videos featured a person named Vivian who is suggestably transgender.   She is attired with clothes, awful garish make up, and behavior that makes her the walking joke and yes another "punchline."  I will be writing to PBS/OPB to express my displeasure today.

This is beyond tiresome and tedious bad taste and is further incitement to prejudice and violence.  I am ranting now but feel we must be part of speaking up for ourselves and better ways of getting along.  None of this is funny.


Open, out and evolving queer trans person forever with HRT support since March 13, 2013
  •  

HoneyStrums

I loved tom and jerry, have you seen that?

Jarry, is so gender fluid thats all you can call them. I never did or now find offece In making fun of a steio type.

Guidlines for tolarence need to be formed.

Dont see anything wrong In a joke like,

I dont like foot ball, but...
Im glad I had atleast some exsperience  with BALLs........
because although I dont play with them now......
Im realy glad I did at one stage In my life.

Because Now Im In a position to see things under a different light.

You see I DONT EXACLY play with my breasts,
But I do like to look after them. And what this means is
I dont want them to fall out of my bra and go all over the place,
It would be far too embarassing.

Unfortunatelly for me, My breasts dont just fall out, They Fall OFF.
And thats why Im glad I played with Balls as much as I did, Because

(Have you ever tried playing "keepy upy", through a dress)


But Boobs there not fun after you have had them a while, Ther a burden,
And That puts me In a unique postion. Meaning since mine arn't exacly attahed to me im privilged by it.
And my dad is too. My dad is privlged In his words, "To Know one of the few women that can go to bed, and leave their tits on the table."

But breast forms arnt the only thing I have bought to make me look more feminin, I bought a BUM, Yea I bought A pair of underwear designed to make It look like you have a more astheticly pleasing behind. I dont use it anymore but I did then, And every so often like everything ells a person wears, this needed washing.

Now one of the things I used to do with my washing was, Id wait untill ther was a few loads, and do all the washing at once, But whlst waiting for the last load to dry, I would leave it all on the living room sofa.

Anyway, One time My breast formes had broken, and I though to releve my increast torment by substituting my breast froms, with my padded underwear, So Im looking all over the house, trying to find them, I cant, And I reside  to the situation that Im not going to be able to find them.

Now, This is the first time Ive ever lost my BUM, So Im in a right state, I get quite upset and go downstairs and sit on the sofa, My dad notices I'm upset and says "whats up sweetheart?" So I say Its ok I just cant find my underwear.

Now it took a second for my dad to understand that I was reffering to a spacific pair of underwear. But bless him, he was trying to help. I say no dad its ok, But my dad wont let up, Hes like well your always loosing clothes in amongst your washing. I say Ive looked.

But my dad soon realises that this is more then just loosing some knickers. So He says, come on darling please tell me, what is it realy? Now Ive been getting more and more worked up, with each attept my dad made to help me, So almost in tears, I say to my dad,

"My tits exsploded and I cant find my bum"

So My dad bursts out luaghing, and in turn His luagh makes me luagh, so Im there chuckling away amongst the washing on the sofa, and I got my head burried in all my clothes in complete hysterics. When I manage to compose myself, the chuckling has almost subsided and then I see it.

It made my dads day when I said, Its ok I've found my BUM, and then tell him I WAS SAT ON IT

But humor is a strange thing, To me and my dad this was hilariouse, but Im sure to others, I wont be funny, and Its more then possible somebody might find it offensve.

I think all we can do, as a minority is try and make the lines of what is tolarable humour match up with other kinds of sujestive humour. But the reason we see offensive humours for any group is that, for the most part what most people find more funny, will be found increasingly offensive by fewer people.






  •  

Tessa James

BfV you seem to have have a keen sense of humor and it sounds like you have fun with your Dad about some real life wardrobe malfunctions.  It's cool that you can laugh about such events and maybe at yourself too?

What you experience with your dad may even bring you closer. 
The original post is about people like us who are exploited for laughs in mass media.  Do we laugh along? 

Slapstick and people getting hurt is still funny to huge numbers of people who tune in to watch people hurt in bad home videos or being whacked by obstacle courses.  Those kinds of humor are not about a class of people but are equal opportunity goofs. 

Racist and dumb blonde jokes are now less funny than a generation ago.  Time can and does change everything.
Open, out and evolving queer trans person forever with HRT support since March 13, 2013
  •  


Tessa James

Open, out and evolving queer trans person forever with HRT support since March 13, 2013
  •