journalists and trans people

[Shana A]

journalists and trans people
28/01/2009
Posted by minam->-bleeped-<-ie

http://engender.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/journalists-and-trans-people/

When Taysia Elzy and Michael Hunt were murdered late in 2008, a huge amount of attention was focussed on the fact that Taysia was transgendered. Reporters made sure to point out that "he" had not had "the surgery" yet, that "he was living as a woman". Commentary by readers was similarly obsessed with Taysia's gender, and if the fact that the two of them were murdered was mentioned at all, it was mostly as an afterthought. The Huffington Post has a good summary article detailing events around the case.

Unfortunately it's an all too common complaint against reporters covering trans-related stories. There was a rash of murders last year of trans people in the US, especially amongst black women, and yet most of the reporting was much more concerned by their gender than by their murders[1]. Closer to home, the Sunday Times in South Africa ran a feature called "->-bleeped-<- Day"[2] in October of 2008. And most recently, I came across this little gem:

from LA MetBlogs:

    I went to the ->-bleeped-<- session and out of all the minorities struggling to find their voice in the LGBTI movement, none is between a bigger rock and a harder place than ->-bleeped-<-s. Generally considered a liability – as in, "You Buffalo Bills and walking Thai surgery centres represent that slippery slope argument they keep talking about" - ->-bleeped-<-s are the black sheep of the LGBTI family. My group was stymied as to how to make their social and political challenges relevant to the movement without alienating the public and indirectly hurting the gay community as a whole. What I took away from this was: that's how non-white gays and lesbians used to, and still do, feel![3]

[Sephirah]

Very good entry. You could also expand that to include transgendered people in TV shows and who get any sort of public exposure. In the eyes of the press, they seem to lose the 'person' part and the 'transgendered' aspect gets all the attention. *sigh*

I think journalism has yet to get over the fact that 'transgendered' isn't synonymous with 'newly discovered species of human'. Unless it's all a deliberate act to sensationalise their story/article by assuming the readers/viewers will pay more attention if they play on something that isn't seen by the majority of their target audience as 'normal'. I mean, people get murdered all the time, and to report on that... well, as tragic as it is, to your average de-sensitised reader... it would barely get a second glance.

But tell them the person in question was transgendered... well, that's different. That's something that supposedly makes that story stand out. It has an angle, an edge. It plays on readers predjudices and, I suppose, is more likely to illicit a reaction, or at least an interest.

*sigh* I know that probably sounds cynical.

[tekla]

Well, once upon a time they were not noticed at all.  Then they were the killers like in Psycho, or Dressed To Kill.  At least we've made it to victim, which is better than the other two.  At least people give you some sympathy.