Read on Twitter
I believe representation is HUGE for trans acceptance. Norms are spongey, and their function is to absorb new things into their existing, normative systems. Which is why (from a trans feminine perspective), I think demonstrating that straight men are into trans women ... /1
just as they into cis women is of huge importance—largely because it is TRUE. /2
SPOILERS FOR BIG MOUTH BELOW
SPOILERS FOR BIG MOUTH BELOW
I wasn't expecting a trans woman's story in the new season of Big Mouth, but there it was. It was well done for a story that focused on trauma, while showing a trans woman as more than her trauma. The desire to "move past" was palpable, and this was a story about that process. /3
I know that myself, I have a rather clearcut definition in my life between then and now. It is difficult to bridge that gap and deal with all kinds of now-odd expectations for things like my behavior and presentation. Continuity is rarely real. /4
But what I think is important for society-as-a-whole is normalization. And we're really, really on that pathway, now, to a degree I didn't quite believe would happen so quickly even a few years ago. Big Mouth took an important step toward that normalization. /5
I am moved often to tears by the depiction of straight men who unproblematically love trans women. Why? Because it is true-to-life. Straight men are attracted to trans women. We look like women. We act like women. We are women. And straight dudes... they're into women /6
(what a shock, yeah? lol they don't shut up about it). But Big Mouth depicted a trans women having her first kiss... with a dude who was both A) really into her, and B) embarrassed to be into a trans girl. This. Is. Real. Life. /7
But really, it is about how norms are spongey and expansive. We're seeing more and more trans people in media who are just like the cis audience watching them. I know the way men look at me when I am out in public; what they say when they think other people aren't listening. /8
So a long-winded way for me to say how thrilled I am to see trans representation growing into something that is making a real difference. The list of shows recently that have non-centered trans people is growing. Or at least, that transness is something addressed and then left /9
behind because it was already addressed. Anyway, this is happiness/hope rambling. And I might delete all of this because I never feel comfy enough to talk authoritatively about transness. But I am happy, and hopeful. /10
"I can’t believe that someone so stupid made me feel so bad."
