Misrepresentations of Trans in American Mass Media
By Megan Sorley
The birth of a child is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated events in a person's life. It is a day of excitement, anxiety, and overwhelming joy. But, in a moment, all of those happy emotions can be erased if you child is born with gender ambiguous genitalia. Newborns are rushed to the operating room in order to correct this "abnormality" and guarantee children and parents can be assured that he/she is in fact, a he or a she. Finally, the newborn can gain its humanity as an acceptable member of society. Both society and medical professionals use external appearances as the ultimate marker of gender identity. However, the focus on external genitals has meant that society has unknowingly raised "males" with ovaries or "females" with no uterus. Therefore, the "illness model" that demands corrective surgery for gender ambiguous infants does not assure that the infant will be assigned the more medically appropriate gender. Society, thus, cannot demand surgery out of biological or evolutional needs to maintain a two-gender system, but, instead, demands surgery out of a need for an individual’s external appearance to not actively challenge the dominant gender discourse of male/female.
Where then does this dominant gender discourse originate? One major source is the images in the mass media. All images within a particular culture have a significant impact on defining and limiting expressions of personal identity. As the third millennium progresses, the importance of the mass media in affecting social identities has dramatically increased (Mackenzie 206). The news media is essential to the public's every perception of the world, from simple information such as weather forecasts to complex social commentaries on gender or race. Every aspect of society - private and public, local and international - is essential zed, packaged, and mass represented in the media in the manner that is deemed least offensive (or in other words, conforms to societal standards). The mass media claim to be an objective outsider, free from social, economic, and moral dictates. However, trans issues are clearly limited to coverage concerning fixing that "illness" of gender ambiguity, and ultimately remaining loyal to gender binaries.
In this paper, I argue that the rigid dualist paradigm of gender in American society limits space for the expression of individuals who do not adapt to strict gender binaries, and instead, cross the borders between male/female. The emphasis that is placed upon external appearances, especially the genitals, has created a medical paradigm that treats intersexuality and gender border crossing as an indentity disorder that can be prescribed a certain treatment. While Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Trans (GLBT) issues have become increasingly more visible in the mass media in recent years, trans issues have not been accurately represented, as most representations ultimately fall back upon more socially acceptable stereotypes of gender transgressors as suffering from an illness of a lack of gender identity, that can be remedied by hormones and surgery.
The first aspect of the problem I will address is the manner in which trans (and gender overall) are portrayed in the mass media. The three areas of media coverage I will focus on are entertainment news, medical news, and coverage of GLBT politics. These will serve as examples as to how patriarchy, and the government work together to control gender categories and demonize transgressors. Secondly, I will focus on the effects of the media's marginalization and essentialization of trans issues on public health discourse, American trans politics, and contemporary gender ideology. I will conclude with a brief look at some possible strategies, such as Leslie Feinberg's "discourse interruptus," for challenging gender norms in the mass media.
It is necessary to define a few key terms within my argument. Trans includes any and all persons who do not conform to binary gender categories, and systematically engage in crossing gender borders. Moreover, the mass media refers to all American cultural news including the news media and the entertainment industry. Finally, the contemporary gender ideology that I refer to above includes the notions that there exist two distinct genders (male or female) and that there is a "natural" gender into which each person is born, as determined by his/her external genitalia.
First, the mass media largely misrepresents trans as ill people searching for a cure to his/her gender confusion. Since the mass media is limited to a dualistic, static notion of gender, there is little public space for those who do not conform to the categories of man/woman, male/female, and gay/straight. Persons who do not fit into socially acceptable categories of gender expression - such as feminine and masculine - are relegated to the fringes of society, where the mainstream can ignore and suppress them. Ironically, the press is usually interested in individuals who are visibly trans, and can be easily identified as a person attempting to "pass" for the gender opposite to his/her "natural" gender. The media often shies away from those who appear to be biological females/males, or can "pass" for his/her desired gender (Green 123). It would appear, then, that the media must have then been attempting to advocate border crossing if they allow obvious trans persons to be showcased. In other words, according to the model of mass media that claims it excludes social deviants, such as those who are visibly trans, it would seem as if the media would, then, choose to focus on trans who are able to "pass" with ease, and have no visible signs of being trans.
However, the mass media chooses to target those indivuals who are visibly trans to alleviate the public's fear of those who may be able to "pass." The underlying motivation for allowing only obviously trans individuals, instead of those who can easily "pass," is to highlight the deviant nature of trans. As long as it is obvious that some persons are trying to "pass," then the dominant gender categories, which rely on claims of nature in determining gender, are not challenged. Society remains comforted by the fact that they can still determine the "natural" gender by external appearances. It is accepable for s/him to wear a dress and heels as long as I can still tell she is "truly" a he.
If a person can "pass," then the social standards, which rely on the ability to assign gender identities in a quick glance based solely on external appearances, begin to unravel. Ultimately, society starts to panic at the thought that gender cannot be easily defined and determined. Yet, the mass media does not completely ignore trans issues so there is undoubtedly some amount of public dissent permitted. According to Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model set forth in Manufacturing Consent, invisible filters exist that prevent representations that challenge American cultural assumptions from entering mainstream media outlets.
(T)he U.S. media do not function in the manner of a propaganda system of a totalitarian state. Rather, they permit - indeed, encourage - spirited debate, criticism, and dissent, as long as these remain faithfully within the system of presuppositions and principles that constitute an elite consensus, a system so powerful as to be internalized largely without awareness. (Chomsky 302)
This would account for the prescience of trans images in the mass media, and the limitations on the scope of coverage on trans issues. Society can simultaneously believe that the media is open-minded, uninfluenced by societal pressures, and never challenge their own assumptions concerning gender.
One of the dominant images of trans in the mass media is the "asexual drag matron" of American entertainment media. Films such as Psycho (1960), Dressed to Kill (1980), The Crying Game (1992), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) all present images of the matron who has been shunned from society in some form and turns to extreme violence and murderous rampages. American film tends to focus on the asexual drag matron either as the villain in sci-fi and horror or the comic relief. From The Birdcage (1996) to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) to Tootsie (1982), the asexual drag matron has been an acceptable form of comic relief insofar as she fulfills a stereotype, or transforms back into her "natural" state as a male. Other films that offered characters that did not easily fall into certain categories, such as The World According to Garp (1982) and Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) were not accepted by mainstream audiences (Mackenzie 206-9). This serves as an example of how trans representation are permissible in the mainstream as long as the character is one-dimensional, extremely disturbed, or loyal to his/her "true" gender in the end. This fulfills the "illness" model by assuming that each person is suffering from a confusing identity disorder that can be remedied by using any and all means (including surgery and hormones) to "fit" into one gender. Obviously, these representations do not represent trans in its full complexity, and limit discussion of more substantive and critical issues concerning dominant gender ideologies.
Another area of the mass media that inaccurately portrays trans issues is medical news. Medical news includes both popular medical journals and general public health news from the major media outlets - newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet. Medical news is influential in that it defines and locates public health concerns. The average media consumer is unable to process complex scientific and medical issues, so the media has a large amount of control over the public's access to medical information. The mass media acts as an intermediary that converts medical terminology into information the public can digest. Public health concerns originate from major media coverage, not direct contact with the health crisis (for the most part). For example, MSNBC.com's "Health" coverage focuses on issues such as allergies, pet health, fitness/nutrition, mad cow disease, bio terror, and stem cell research. One subject heading is titled "Sexploration" which includes discussions of sexually transmitted diseases, reproductive technology, and subcategories for "Men" and "Women" (MSNBC News). Of course, all information assumes heterosexual intercourse, and excludes all other sexual concerns, including those who do not identify with his/her "natural" or biological gender. While specialized media outlets do exist that cater to trans concerns, such as www.trangendercare.com and www.glbthealth.com, it is essential for accurate trans representations to exist in the mainstream mass media to ever achieve social acceptance.
Furthermore, medical journals are extremely limited in the scope of the coverage of trans health concerns. For example, the medical journal Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, defines major trans medical issues in terms of disease, in line with the illness model. In the Medline Plus "Medical Encyclopedia," the term hermaphroditism is defined as "being of both sexes (intersexual)." The entry lists causes, symptoms, tests, and treatment, just as it would for any other "illness." In an excerpt from the definition of hermaphroditism, it is apparent that the illness model pervades mainstream medical knowledge.
Treatment - The family of the infant needs to be informed of the child's condition as early as possible. It is a very sensitive time, requiring compassion and guidance to avoid feelings of guilt, shame, or discomfort.
Early assignment of the sex is important for the emotional well being of the person. In large part, the decision is based on the corrective potential of the ambiguous genitalia, rather than on chromosomal determinants. The initial care should include a team of professionals that include neonatologists and pediatric specialists, endocrinologists, radiologists, urologists, psychologists, and geneticists.
All of these specialists will focus on what is in the best interest of the child and family. Once the decision is made regarding sex, parents should be left with no ambiguity in their minds as to the gender of the child.
Corrective surgery is used to reconstruct the external genitalia. In general, it is easier to reconstruct female genitalia than male genitalia, and the ease of reconstruction will play a role in the determination of sex.
Expectations (prognosis) - With corrective surgery, the appearance of external genitalia may appear normal. However, childbearing potential will depend on the underlying cause for the aberrant appearance of the genitalia.
Calling your health care provider - Hermaphroditism will typically be diagnosed while your child is in the hospital. If you notice that your child has unusual appearing or multiple genitalia, call your health care provider.
Prevention - Please see the individual conditions. (Newmark)
From this definition, the only rational conclusion that a media consumer could arrive at is that not belonging definitively to one gender is an immediate illness that must be cured. In the DSM IV, the leading medical journal that defines mental disorders, had, in previous editions, labeled homosexuality as a mental disease. However, this has now been changed to "Gender Identity Disorder," which labels those who do not fall into the strict categories of biological female or biological male as mentally ill. This disorder is cured when the individual makes the transition to the gender of his/her choice. Intersexuals are therefore considered to be inherently ill according to the mental health community (Jeffreys 47). These beliefs allow for the contemporary gender ideology to remain unchallenged.
Overall, trans medical news is impacted by a combination of medical models and the "norms, myths, rules, and sanctions" placed upon the trans community by the mass media, and society as a whole. A trans must go through a series of transformations that Anne Bolin calls "rites of passage" - separation (from his/her previous gender), transition, and incorporation (into new gender) (Bolin 6-8). These changes occur very publicly as the trans person changes social roles as s/he changes gender. Therefore, society, and in particular, the mass media, heavily affect how society (those persons who must accept the trans gender role reversal views the transition.
Incorporating both approaches, the transsexual is viewed her as participating in a rite of transition with all the facets of a ritualistic and symbolic transformation of status. Structure, content, and meaning arise from transsexual interaction patterns and relations with medical and mental health caretakers. Transsexual transition is a process of becoming a female, hormonally and socially. Not only does a social identity transformation occur, encompassing the individual's role, performance, and others' perceptions of that performance, but a personal identity (the individual's self-concept) metamorphosis also occurs as a mechanism of the feedback of the individual and society as the transsexual incrementally becomes female. (Bolin 8)
The public nature of the transition is a critical issue for the trans community. As a person changes gender roles, s/he relies on the public to accept his/her new social position. The medical community and mental health professional function like the trans shaman, in that they regulate the transition so closely, with a strict counseling schedule for potential gender reassignment surgical candidates. The trans shaman becomes the omnipotent, omniscient gatekeeper to the other gender, "officiating personages," and restoring equilibrium to our two-gender society (Bolin 47-48). This mirrors the media's role in serving as the gatekeeper of knowledge about the trans community in society at large. Due to the reliance on society assumptions of a binary gender system, medical news chooses only to focus on the aesthetic qualities of "becoming," such as hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery, which emphasize that intersexes is a state that needs correcting. The public is taught to only accept the transition if it is physically verifiable that a person fulfills the gender role that his/her external genitals dictate.
Finally, the last area of coverage of trans in the mass media falls focuses upon GLBT political movements. In the time from January 2004 to April 2004, there was little to no mention of trans political movements on CNN.com or The New York Times. The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and OutWeek (a gay and lesbian magazine) both made headlines in The New York Times in the 1990's, but these types of organizations have failed to sustain mainstream media coverage (Signorile 69). Among most mainstream media outlets (including CNN and MSNBC), coverage of GLBT issues tend to be limited to the same simple discussions of STD's, AIDS, hormones, and surgery. Unfortunately, the mass media lumps trans issues into the GLBT movement, and ignores the special needs of a population who is desparately trying to find a socially acceptable identity with which they can be comfortable. In order to find more complex portraits of trans politics, it is necessary to step outside popular media outlets.