Chapter 5 Transforming Narratives: Laverne Cox and the Black Transgender Icon Throughout this semester, we have carefully analyzed the attributes that make up a racial icon. An icon is someone whose presence sends a message and as a person has a tangible influence. Laverne Cox embodies these characteristics as well as a manifold of other inspirational attributes. Her role in ‘Orange is the New Black’ and other widely consumed programs has shed a new light on transgender experiences. Even in her personal life, the poise and grace with which Laverne presents herself is truly admirable. Her activism as a black transgender woman breaks barriers and her very existence is a political resistance. Cox’s most recognizable role is as Sophia Burset, …show more content…
In line with a Toni Morrison analysis, a person holding a certain identity being able to accurately portray people of their identity allows them room for authentic representation and conversation. In fact, though filled with problematic aspects, the Netflix original deals with some very prevalent themes relating to Cox’s identity. This sentiment echoes when considering Cox’s role as “Frank N Furter” in the 2016 remake of Rocky Horror Picture Show. The character of Frank N Furter is a “sweet transvestite” crossdressing alien from their home of Transylvania. Frank N Furter constantly acts as a deviant and an object of moral failing from the perspective of the normative characters of Brad and Janet. In the original 1975 make of the movie, this role was filled by a cisgender man named Tim Curry. Upon its release, little discourse had been created around the subject of transgender identities and gender nonconformity. Thus, this depiction created strong outrage, fear, and backlash toward anyone deviating from gender norms. With Laverne Cox more familiar with the actualities of gender variation and feeling alienated from society, this role was given more depth and a different interpretation in a modern American
Laverne Cox is a prominent actress and advocate for trans rights, most recently gaining attention for her role in the Netflix original show “Orange is the New Black”. Cox plays a transgender prisoner named Sofie, who throughout the course of the show faces bigotry and cissexism from her peers as well as the prison staff. The role gained attention for being one of the first prominent trans characters to be played by a trans actress in a way that accurately demonstrates the difficulties trans individuals face. Though recent years have seen an increase in trans awareness, there is still a distinct disconnect in the communicative cultures between trans and cis speakers when it comes to the subject
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
Activist.” Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 26 May 2011.
In today’s society, pre-existing assumptions and stereotypes of other ethnicities and individuals play a large part in the way we see others. This social construct of stereotypes has placed restrictions on many people’s lives which ultimately limits them from achieving certain goals. In this sense, stereotypes misrepresent and restrict people of colour to gain casting within the Hollywood film industry. The issue of how casting actors to certain roles and how these actors are forced to submit and represent these false stereotypes is one worthy of discussion. White Chicks (2004), directed by Keenan Wayans, illustrates this issue through the performance of Latrell, performed by Terry Crews, and his performance of the hyper-sexualised “buck” will be a prime example in this essay to discuss the racial politics and stereotypes in Hollywood casting.
In both Jill Lepore’s The Secret History Of Wonder Woman, and Adilfu Nama’s Super Black the authors delve into the role superheroes have played in conveying empowering messages and images regarding women and African Americans in American society. Lepore focuses solely on arguably the most iconic female superhero of all time in Wonder Woman, while conversely Nama focuses on a number of different black superheroes, such as Black Panther, John Stewart as Green Lantern, Luke Cage, and Black Lightening to name a few. Although their approaches differ, both Lepore and Nama effectively convey the idea that these superhero icons were and effective means of displaying empowering images and messages regarding women’s and African American’s role in American
Gay suggests another way characters within pop culture are portrayed as unlikable or at least not powerful, is by being a person of color. As stated earlier, there exists a narrow conceptualization of womanhood and femininity, which primarily mirrors the privileged class, which dominates pop culture in terms of the books we read, television we watch, ads we consume, heroines we aspire to be, and music we listen to. However there does exist different identities of what it means to be a woman. In Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens. Cathy J. Cohen imagines the contemporary view and power of women to be in relation to their homogenized identity. This meaning, to be a woman also depends on other factors of identity; to be a woman in relation to if you are poor or rich, black or white, gay or straight, queer or fall into the dominant class. Luckily, this understanding of womanhood has somewhat expanded. The scope of racial expansion somewhat increases by moving to include Gay’s idolized Black Miss America. Unfortunately, this expansion follows the privilege trend where only a certain type of green girl is able to satisfy the role of Black Miss America. A large issue that Gay has with representation of women of color is that they are tokenized, they are stereotyped, and they are grossly generalized. Instead of this poor misrepresentation of women of color, both Gay and Cohen seek, “a new political direction and agenda, one that does not focus on integration into dominant structures but instead seeks to transform the basic fabric and hierarchies that allow systems of oppression to persist and operate efficiently” (Cohen 165). Gay concludes that inclusion of women of color in pop culture fails to portray them as more than one dimensional characters. This lack of depth is attributed to the lack of respect that women of color face in real life as well. While the
Kane, Matt. “Victims or Villans: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television.” GLAAD. N.p., 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
On Halloween of 2016, I was invited to a midnight showing of the cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, at the Princess Twin Cinema. As the queue quickly grew, I felt overwhelmingly plain—other movie-goers were donned in intricate costumes and full-faced makeup—and I was wearing generic jeans and a sweater. Although I had previously heard of the film, my expectations of the screening were nothing in comparison to what the actual evening had in store for me. The film tells the tale of the couple Brad Major and Janet Weiss who find themselves with a flat tire on a rainy evening. Seeking a telephone, they find themselves at a nearby castle and are taken under the shelter of Dr. Frank N. Furter, a “sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania,”
In the month of March 2016, Women of the World Poetry Slam had Rachel Wiley, a poet and body-positive activist, present her now viral poem called “The Dozens” (Vagianos 2016). This poem was about slams white feminism as a clear indication of whiteness self-defense mechanism. In this poem Wiley included various kinds social events that have occurred in the past years and just to name two: Raven Symone on blackness and Miley Cyrus and Nicki Manji at the VMAs. White feminism continues to become more problematic as the media continues to allow it to be because whiteness makes money; however, intersectionality about race, public imagery, and actual feminism also continues to go viral as the diversity of American become more and more productive.
Identity-“Ones personal qualities.”Identiy is something only he or she can fully define. My uncle says I am affectionate,cheerful, and calm. My grandmother sees me as slim, pretty and sweet. My dad described me as perky, cheerful and happy, my mom says beautiful, gentle, and self-conscious. These adjectives describe me accurately, yet they are only abstract versions of me. Adjectives cannot begin to describe me and I aknowlege these descriptions for what they are, a condensed translation from my outward self to the world. It is impossible for anyone to understand me completely because nobody has experienced the things I have. My mother has never cherished a raggedy doll named Katie and my father never spent hours upon hours making collages and scrap books for his future children. My uncle never hid in the back of a pick-up-truck and traveled four hours to New York and my grandmother has never walked hours in the rain looking for the Queen of England. My identity is something only I can define.
Orange Is the New Black; three years ago that statement would have been met with laughing. How could someone possibly think that a colour like orange could even remotely come close to the classic, chic, colour that is black? But now if one were to say that phrase, most people go crazy. Orange Is the New Black is a television show sweeping the world. It has everything we love and are fascinated by: sex, drugs, rule breakers, and personal narratives that keep you on edge. The most interesting part of the show however, is Lavern Cox’s character, Sophia Burset. Sophia is a trans woman, who found herself in prison for fraud charges- using the money to pay for her hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. Cox’s character brings forth an issue
In many cases, texts might contain ideologies, ideas, or beliefs that the translators disagree with. This creates a tremendous challenge for translators as they decide to reject the work, distant themselves from it and lose some job opportunities. To avoid that, many translators tend to find ways to make the narrative more acceptable for them, by reducing or emphasizing the meaning of some words by using the framing narrative theory. The following strategies are part of the framing narrative theory which translators mostly use during their work:
If I was to choose a perfect team of reflective change agents I would choose a few people close to me, people, whom are near to the issues that are commonly unchanged in education. The first person I would choose to be on my team of reflective change agents would be my Highschool buddy Destiny. Destiny has always been one to appreciate culture, life, and religion. My friend Destiny graduated from UC Berkley in 2015 and has been working with inner-city kids in Oakland and Richmond California since. I would choose Destiny first because we have a lot of the same values and would be a good base to implement change. The next person I would choose would be my mother Taliba Carr. Not only is she my family and one of my favorite people on the planet.
The one person who has influenced my life the most is my dance teacher from middle school, Mrs Linden. Mrs Linden is the dance teacher at Sunnymead Middle School, and has taught there for many years. She was my dance teacher for all three years that I was there, as she inspired me alot. My life has changed for the better since I met her because she has taught me to fight for what I want and to not give up on something I love which is dance. She believed in me when many did not.
Modern social media has coined an acronymic term to capture a sect of feminism making a resurgence in the public sphere. TERFs, or trans-exclusive radical feminists, see the increased visibility of the transgender community thanks to activists like Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, and Carmen Carrera, and have countered with transgender exclusivity. As a result, a divide has deepened in the feminist movement, a war of sorts between trans-exclusive and trans-inclusive activists—a TERF war. In this essay, I analyze the theory behind trans-exclusive feminism, positioning it within contemporary feminist history. This essay asserts that trans-exclusive radical feminism undermines feminist theory by perpetuating a misguided relationship between sex and gender,