it’s tiiiime for another installment ooooof…
~*SOPHIE’S UNPOPULAR OPINIONS*~
There’s been a lot of talk about the projecting of queer identities onto existing fictional characters, how it’s done because we lack any true representation.
And it’s true! Our representation in the media, well
it’s pretty fucking awful.
But taking any existing cis person or whatever and saying they’re trans? Honestly, I don’t see that as the way to go about this. Why? Well, whether or not they’re trans plays a huge part into who they are. There WILL be some things that set them apart from cis people, be it elements of their appearance, mannerisms, interactions with other people, whatever.
I want to be represented in the media, but I want more than just representation: I want someone I can relate to.
I (officially; don’t ask) met my first trans girl friend back in 2010. We’ll call her Friend A. She’s my age, but came out successfully during her teen years, started hormones at 16, had her name changed shortly after, and got surgery six months after turning 18. She’s a good friend, but honestly? I can’t relate to her much outside of us both being trans.
Friend B is someone I met just about a month ago. I don’t know her too well, but we have a LOT in common. She first came out during her teen years and was shot down completely. She tried again later, without much more success. She was able to start hormones by taking things into her own hands, but had to live as male for almost two years before going full time and getting her name changed. Her story is shockingly similar to mine.
If I were watching a television show with a trans character, I’d find Friend B a hell of a lot more captivating and relatable, because at the point she’s at in her life, being trans is far more than a footnote. She had to deal with hiding it. It’s more than just a small ghost of her past. Obviously, everything a trans character DOES in a media production doesn’t have to revolve around being trans, but it needs to be much more than an afterthought.
What I’m trying to say is that when you make a trans character, being trans needs to be a part of who they are, so your audience can relate to them. Taking an existing character and projecting the queer identity on them doesn’t work, because ultimately, they embody idealized cis norm traits. What you’re essentially doing is the queer equivalent of whitewashing.
In conclusion, the lack of queer representation in the media really sucks, but imagining your favorite character is doesn’t get us anywhere. What we need is the creation of queer characters from the ground up. Tumblr is simultaneously a den and vacuum of creativity, and I think if some of us could get into the mainstream media (or even small-time media) world, we could be seeing some REAL queer characters in the future. It’ll take time, but it will happen.
