Despite increased recognition and support
for the rights of transgender people, certain groups of cisgender
feminists continue to oppose the rights of trans people, and trans women
in particular. Such opposition centres upon the claim that trans women shore up
normative gender binaries. This claim results in a refusal on the
part of those who most recently
have been referred to as ‘trans exclusionary feminists’ to recognise trans women
as women. A primary focus upon such opposition, however, renders
invisible a range of other
issues that are central
to both feminism and trans people’s lives.
There are, of course, many forms of
feminism that are trans inclusive. Nonetheless, whilst trans inclusive feminisms are arguably more common than those that are exclusionary, the lives of trans people are still
yet to be fully treated as a central focus of feminist thought in terms of
gender and power. As such, recent trans feminist theorising has made an important intervention
into this lack of attention to trans issues (and more broadly cisgenderism)
within feminism.
A key recent example of the importance of
trans feminist thought is evidenced through responses to the high profile media coverage of
the life of Caitlyn Jenner, specifically with regard to her cover issue of
Vanity Fair. From some quarters there has been significant (trans misogynistic) opposition to the recognition of Jenner. From other quarters there
has been acknowledgement of Jenner, though this has been
accompanied by critiques of the focus upon her journey at the expense of
the journeys of other trans women.
More specifically, this critique of the focus on Jenner has emphasised the attention paid to trans women whose femininity is viewed by others as normative.
Such a critique has questioned why attention is not equally paid to women who do not normatively conform to conventional femininities, as
demonstrated by the hashtag #TransIsBeautiful. Furthermore, as Janet Mock writes, while Jenner’s public
transitioning should be celebrated, her privilege in regards to whiteness and
existing visibility in the media (which is inaccessible to most trans people) needs to be acknowledged.
A trans feminist account, however, such
as that elaborated by Julia Serano in her book Whipping Girl, challenges cisgender people to engage with the
space between exclusion from
representation and a critique of
normativity. Such an exploration would challenge cisgender people to
hold in tension 1) the forms of cisgenderism that might encourage some trans
women to believe they are best served by approximating a norm of femininity, 2)
the legitimacy of trans women – like all women – determining their own
engagement with norms of femininity, and 3) a critical interrogation of how all
people are interpolated into gender norms.
To think about media representations of
Jenner (and indeed her own representations, such as on Twitter),
then, is to think about what a trans feminist lens might offer us in terms of a
critique of representationality, without resorting to the dismissal or
exclusion of Jenner’s own embodied femininity. As Emi Koyama suggests
in her Transfeminist Manifesto, “It is not contradictory to fight
against the institutional enforcement of rigid gender roles while simultaneously
advocating for individuals' rights to choose how they live in order to feel
safe and comfortable” (252).
What we
might suggest, then, is that one of the issues at stake is how trans women’s
appearance is made to matter, and how it is treated as a valid point of
critique by some. Serano suggests that trans women are often subject to
comments on, and critiques of, their appearance in ways that would be
considered anti-feminist and marginalizing if applied to cisgender women.
Serano suggests that there is a significant difference between affirming
someone’s gender identity, and engaging in commentary about a trans person’s
appearance that suggests appearance should
matter. Laverne Cox further suggests that being chastised for having ‘passing
privilege’ can occur alongside being subjected on a daily basis to trans misogyny.
In the
case of Jenner, it hardly seems reasonable to hold her up to interrogation or
ridicule, given she is but one of many hundreds (if not thousands) of women who
have appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. The narrative provided in her story and
the accompanying photographs are not inherently exceptional in terms of the
broader style of stories and photographs that have appeared in Vanity Fair over
the years. Treating Jenner’s appearance as exceptional, then, is itself
questionable.
At the
same time, however, a trans feminist approach might encourage us all to think about what is
exceptional about Jenner’s profile in Vanity Fair. Exceptional is, perhaps, the
recognition of trans women, recognition that has widely been denied to trans people
across many media outlets. Whilst there are limits to how much we might want to
hail Jenner’s appearance in Vanity Fair as a victory for trans rights, at the
same time it would seem unfortunate to dismiss the importance of the recognition
it can produce.
Finally,
the representation of femininity provided in the Vanity Fair spread on Jenner
highlights an issue that requires ongoing attention from feminist thinkers. As
Ulrika Dahl has suggested, for too long the ‘femme’ within feminism has been
derided. Whilst Dahl does not suggest the simplistic recouping of femme presentation without
a feminist critique of gender and power, to dismiss the representation of any woman
(and here in the case of Jenner) as ‘too femme’ would itself be anti-feminist.
Posted by: Damien W. Riggs and Clare Bartholomaeus
Flinders University
Adelaide, South Australia
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