FairnessUSA ad to air during Republican convention
July 15, 2016 6:47 PM Subscribe
This groundbreaking new ad [60s] depicts the challenges faced by transgender people in accessing public restrooms—and highlights the lack of state and federal nondiscrimination protections for transgender people. The ad will have its national TV debut on FOX News Channel next Thursday, July 21, during the final night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. It will air nationwide again on MSNBC during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia one week later.
I think this ad hits the right tone for the audience. No minds would ever be changed by that stupid Cyndi Lauper song and dance, but this actually might get people to think. The marriage debate was basically won by normalizing gays and lesbians, and trans people will win when we're seen as "just everyday people."
posted by AFABulous at 9:19 PM on July 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 9:19 PM on July 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
Talk about privilege. I grew in a racially and economically diverse neighborhood where I learned to think about the consequences of living in different places on those scales/continua early on but when a friend from college transitioned very transparently (which he didn't have to but that was his choice) wow, I learned a LOT about not just gender presentation privilege, but bathroom privilege and the mechanics some folks have to go through just to complete a biological function we ALL have to deal with. I'm grateful he was so candid. I learned so much (not that it was his job to teach me). Again, talking about privileges: it was fantastic to be able to witness his transition into more fully himself and be so much happier and comfortable in who he is.
posted by smirkette at 9:45 PM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by smirkette at 9:45 PM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh wow, the language. And as with all trans awareness raising projects, woo for people who pass, woo for people who are gender normative. Not so woo for those of us who absolutely do not read as our preferred gender, or are non-binary. I just do not see any gains made from a campaign like this generalising to someone like myself, with my three-day stubble, lack of makeup, six foot three frame, etc. I'm used to seeing my binary trans friends (who pass to various degrees, but all make some effort to) treated rather differently to myself and my non-binary trans friends, including by people who should know better and in spaces where you'd expect better.
Nobody is willing to stand up and defend us. Nobody is willing to stand with us. We're too "challenging" or something. Better to use people who will "more effectively get the message across" or better win over hearts and minds, and then ignore the fact that any progress you make excludes us.
posted by Dysk at 2:20 AM on July 16, 2016 [22 favorites]
Nobody is willing to stand up and defend us. Nobody is willing to stand with us. We're too "challenging" or something. Better to use people who will "more effectively get the message across" or better win over hearts and minds, and then ignore the fact that any progress you make excludes us.
posted by Dysk at 2:20 AM on July 16, 2016 [22 favorites]
I think this ad hits the right tone for the audience...
I agree that it's the right tone for the audience (especially if you're airing on freaking Fox News), but I think I hate pretty much everything else about it. (Trans Narrative (in capital letters)? Check. Middle-aged woman wearing a dress? Check. Somehow bathrooms are our biggest problem and we gloss over everything else? Check.) Is this strategy going to get enough of the job done (for all trans people) that it's worth making the bargain to hide the diversity of trans-ness?
Also, I want to know how many trans people have ever had a stranger stand up for them when being hassled about the bathroom.
posted by hoyland at 6:36 AM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
I agree that it's the right tone for the audience (especially if you're airing on freaking Fox News), but I think I hate pretty much everything else about it. (Trans Narrative (in capital letters)? Check. Middle-aged woman wearing a dress? Check. Somehow bathrooms are our biggest problem and we gloss over everything else? Check.) Is this strategy going to get enough of the job done (for all trans people) that it's worth making the bargain to hide the diversity of trans-ness?
Also, I want to know how many trans people have ever had a stranger stand up for them when being hassled about the bathroom.
posted by hoyland at 6:36 AM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile 21 states have sued the government for giving guidance to schools letting them know that civil rights laws also apply to transgender kids.
The battle is far from over in that there are those at the state level actively fighting against equal rights. Write your politicians.
posted by Karaage at 7:10 AM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
The battle is far from over in that there are those at the state level actively fighting against equal rights. Write your politicians.
posted by Karaage at 7:10 AM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
Also, I want to know how many trans people have ever had a stranger stand up for them when being hassled about the bathroom.
I was once hassled by two pretty angry looking women in the ladies' in a shopping centre, and when I mentioned that I was trans one of them immediately apologised, and started staring daggers at her friend when she started to say something before basically bundling her off.
I'm also the only trans person I know with an even slightly similar anecdote, og course. It's not really something that happens, least of all of it involves standing up to someone positioning themselves as an authority figure (employee, owner, security guard, etc) rather than your mouthy mate.
posted by Dysk at 7:24 AM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
I was once hassled by two pretty angry looking women in the ladies' in a shopping centre, and when I mentioned that I was trans one of them immediately apologised, and started staring daggers at her friend when she started to say something before basically bundling her off.
I'm also the only trans person I know with an even slightly similar anecdote, og course. It's not really something that happens, least of all of it involves standing up to someone positioning themselves as an authority figure (employee, owner, security guard, etc) rather than your mouthy mate.
posted by Dysk at 7:24 AM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
I agree that some of the language is problematic (e.g. "I was born a male") and it excludes people, but again we need to consider the audience, who really honestly does need baby steps and spoonfeeding. It should not be this way, and I absolutely care for the non-binary folks that face different and more difficult issues. I hate that you are being left behind, and I get that. I also know for sure that no headway would be made in leaping to Gender Studies 201 when the Fox News crowd needs Gender Studies for Dummies. I would like to know what you (general you) think we can do to be more inclusive that would also be effective on this audience.
The helpful strangers bit is not reflective of what does happen, but it's showing people what should happen. It's a very simplistic outline that a child can grasp. The restaurant owner is Bad, the people in the men's bathroom are Scary, and the helpful people are Good.
posted by AFABulous at 7:34 AM on July 16, 2016 [18 favorites]
The helpful strangers bit is not reflective of what does happen, but it's showing people what should happen. It's a very simplistic outline that a child can grasp. The restaurant owner is Bad, the people in the men's bathroom are Scary, and the helpful people are Good.
posted by AFABulous at 7:34 AM on July 16, 2016 [18 favorites]
I also noticed that the helpful people are both women, who invite the other woman into the bathroom with them.
This is very significant: the entire anti-trans rhetoric has been aimed at people who are AMAB (as opposed to AFAB, who are often almost invisible to the debates*), arguing that they are dangerous because they were assigned male at birth. It's had a huge amount of regressive sexism about it, "the wimmins need protecting" attitude. Which is, of course, so darkly ironic, as trans women face so much more violence than cis women.
In choosing to show cis women helping the other woman, this ad is directly undermining that. Far from being afraid, the cis women are annoyed -- and it further reinforces that a trans woman is just that: a woman.
*Actually, one trans man tried to point this out, by photographing himself in women's restrooms - and it didn't get traction outside of progressive circles.
posted by jb at 8:04 AM on July 16, 2016 [10 favorites]
This is very significant: the entire anti-trans rhetoric has been aimed at people who are AMAB (as opposed to AFAB, who are often almost invisible to the debates*), arguing that they are dangerous because they were assigned male at birth. It's had a huge amount of regressive sexism about it, "the wimmins need protecting" attitude. Which is, of course, so darkly ironic, as trans women face so much more violence than cis women.
In choosing to show cis women helping the other woman, this ad is directly undermining that. Far from being afraid, the cis women are annoyed -- and it further reinforces that a trans woman is just that: a woman.
*Actually, one trans man tried to point this out, by photographing himself in women's restrooms - and it didn't get traction outside of progressive circles.
posted by jb at 8:04 AM on July 16, 2016 [10 favorites]
one trans man tried to point this out, by photographing himself in women's restrooms - and it didn't get traction outside of progressive circles.
Good, because that was super-problematic. I understand the motivation, but it reinforces the bigots' premise. It conveys that men in women's bathrooms are threats, that trans men are threats, that women need protecting, and (if you already believe that trans women are really men), that trans women are threats.
Years and years of sexual assault studies prove you can't tell who will be a threat by how they look.
posted by AFABulous at 8:14 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
Good, because that was super-problematic. I understand the motivation, but it reinforces the bigots' premise. It conveys that men in women's bathrooms are threats, that trans men are threats, that women need protecting, and (if you already believe that trans women are really men), that trans women are threats.
Years and years of sexual assault studies prove you can't tell who will be a threat by how they look.
posted by AFABulous at 8:14 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
harm reduction will be handled imperfectly and will always require continuous improvement.
I understand everyone's irritation, I feel it too.
But it's like, we gotta start somewhere and then get better from there.
Me personally, I would like to see WAY more focus on sex worker rights and trans women of color. But that's just my particular "y'all are all ignoring this important subject" to grouse about.
What I REALLY want to avoid is throwing people to the sidelines like gay activists have done to trans people for decades.
So I'm willing to give on my 100% and search for best alternatives, I'm willing to do the hard work to figure out what a broad coalition of support for trans and GNC people looks like.
That's really hard work and I struggle to know where to even begin. I wish I was a better advocate and organizer.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:13 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
I understand everyone's irritation, I feel it too.
But it's like, we gotta start somewhere and then get better from there.
Me personally, I would like to see WAY more focus on sex worker rights and trans women of color. But that's just my particular "y'all are all ignoring this important subject" to grouse about.
What I REALLY want to avoid is throwing people to the sidelines like gay activists have done to trans people for decades.
So I'm willing to give on my 100% and search for best alternatives, I'm willing to do the hard work to figure out what a broad coalition of support for trans and GNC people looks like.
That's really hard work and I struggle to know where to even begin. I wish I was a better advocate and organizer.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:13 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
The anti-racist, anti-capitalist politics of gay liberation were diluted to their least disruptive form— gay marriage and lifting the military ban.
The same thing is happening with the queer movement. We will get bargained down from our demands for prison reform or racial & economic justice. We will get access to the bathroom, the military, and maybe correct pronouns if you're among liberals. Politicians will forever invoke these concessions as symbols of progress while continuing to pass legislation that further marginalizes the poorest of us.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 11:04 AM on July 16, 2016 [7 favorites]
The same thing is happening with the queer movement. We will get bargained down from our demands for prison reform or racial & economic justice. We will get access to the bathroom, the military, and maybe correct pronouns if you're among liberals. Politicians will forever invoke these concessions as symbols of progress while continuing to pass legislation that further marginalizes the poorest of us.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 11:04 AM on July 16, 2016 [7 favorites]
For the record, I think real progress might yet be possible but we absolutely need to stop half-heartedly applauding the Caitlyn Jenners of the world and view them with a more critical lens.
I don't want to be all doom and gloom, so check out these 2014 breast cancer awareness billboard ads in Bangalore featuring trans women.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
I don't want to be all doom and gloom, so check out these 2014 breast cancer awareness billboard ads in Bangalore featuring trans women.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
YES. More posters like that forever for the win.
OTOH I'm not gonna criticize Caitlyn Jenner or her politics. I am instead gonna rep my view while trying not to other anyone. That includes cishet people too.
I'm so irritated by feeling compelled to react off of someone else in order to make my point. Like maybe all this oppositional framing is really not helping my POV as much as it makes me feel good cause I just "told y'all" what's up. It seems counterproductive to my goals in the long run.
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
OTOH I'm not gonna criticize Caitlyn Jenner or her politics. I am instead gonna rep my view while trying not to other anyone. That includes cishet people too.
I'm so irritated by feeling compelled to react off of someone else in order to make my point. Like maybe all this oppositional framing is really not helping my POV as much as it makes me feel good cause I just "told y'all" what's up. It seems counterproductive to my goals in the long run.
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
FWIW my goals being to organize a broad coalition of support for trans and GNC people that doesn't exclude sex workers and the structural oppressions that trans POC face.
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:53 PM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:53 PM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
I thought it was a really great ad, fwiw. It's got a very short amount of time to engage the viewer and get a point across memorably; I think it achieved that. It's not going to cover everything, it's not going to make every possible point about gender - it purposely watered down the message to make more of an impact and reach more people. As said upthread, ya gotta start somewhere. Imagine if we had a whole *series* of ads like this, what could be addressed? It would be flippin awesome.
(Also, the sticking up for the ad by putting it down is a bit of a turn-off.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
(Also, the sticking up for the ad by putting it down is a bit of a turn-off.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't know how you (general you) effectively tell people "stop killing us!" until they see you as human. I mean, they object to us going to the bathroom for fuck's sake. We are not living breathing people to them. Of course they don't care that people kill trans women if they see trans women as male threats. The same people are likely to see black men as thugs who deserve to get shot by cops.
Staying alive and staying out of jail are vastly more important issues than being able to pee, but the bathroom bills were never really about the bathroom anyway. I see this ad as saying "Look, this is a human being, not so different from you and I, and she deserves the same rights and protections." Once you clear that hurdle of no longer being the monstrous other, it becomes a lot easier to get agreement that the killing/jailing/etc. needs to stop.
posted by AFABulous at 3:17 PM on July 16, 2016 [12 favorites]
Staying alive and staying out of jail are vastly more important issues than being able to pee, but the bathroom bills were never really about the bathroom anyway. I see this ad as saying "Look, this is a human being, not so different from you and I, and she deserves the same rights and protections." Once you clear that hurdle of no longer being the monstrous other, it becomes a lot easier to get agreement that the killing/jailing/etc. needs to stop.
posted by AFABulous at 3:17 PM on July 16, 2016 [12 favorites]
ICYMI last year, Google showed an ad during the ESPYs, right before Caitlyn Jenner spoke, about trans men who formed their own training program at a local gym. It's powerful in its humanization, its brief, simple explanation of transition, and ends with a sense of hope. I feel like these could be done for many different identities.
I still can't watch that ad without bawling like a baby. It was a few months before I started my transition and I had literally never ever seen an openly trans man on TV before. It meant so, so much to me to see myself represented, and I want that for all of you non-binary, GNC folks too.
posted by AFABulous at 3:28 PM on July 16, 2016 [8 favorites]
I still can't watch that ad without bawling like a baby. It was a few months before I started my transition and I had literally never ever seen an openly trans man on TV before. It meant so, so much to me to see myself represented, and I want that for all of you non-binary, GNC folks too.
posted by AFABulous at 3:28 PM on July 16, 2016 [8 favorites]
How about "everyone thought I was a boy when I was a child, but that never felt right, and I came to realize I was a girl"? I think that's both true and easy to understand.
posted by AFABulous at 3:51 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 3:51 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
Dysk, I think the world needs advertisements right now that show NB/GNC people.
It's a failing of the trans rights movement and feels like when we all got left behind for gay marriage. Repeating that same mistake would be horrible. Malicious even.
As far as the "born male" line. I winced. A better way to put that might be "I grew up in a world that expected me to be a man" or something like that. That way trans women who have male bodies, trans women who have female bodies, trans women who have intersex bodies and trans women who have whatever sex they have bodies are represented in the absence of specifying the particular sex a person is.
(I don't know if there's a unifying theory on the sexes of bodies that can go beyond "the sex of your body is that which becomes self-evident")
posted by Annika Cicada at 6:09 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's a failing of the trans rights movement and feels like when we all got left behind for gay marriage. Repeating that same mistake would be horrible. Malicious even.
As far as the "born male" line. I winced. A better way to put that might be "I grew up in a world that expected me to be a man" or something like that. That way trans women who have male bodies, trans women who have female bodies, trans women who have intersex bodies and trans women who have whatever sex they have bodies are represented in the absence of specifying the particular sex a person is.
(I don't know if there's a unifying theory on the sexes of bodies that can go beyond "the sex of your body is that which becomes self-evident")
posted by Annika Cicada at 6:09 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
One thing I liked about this ad: it models cis people taking action when needed to support trans people's access to the bathroom corresponding to their gender and help them be safe. On several occasions, my presence as a cis female accompanying a trans friend to the ladies' room helped; I could beam reassurance to allay someone's unease or simply be a witness, thus preventing her from saying/doing something hurtful to my friend. By showing cis people acting on their convictions in a way that's practical and supportive but not intrusive, the ad expands its intended audience beyond those whose minds need changing.
posted by carmicha at 6:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by carmicha at 6:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
That way trans women who have male bodies
Contradiction in terms.
posted by Dysk at 6:46 PM on July 16, 2016
Contradiction in terms.
posted by Dysk at 6:46 PM on July 16, 2016
Trans women are women. Our bodies are thus women's bodies, female bodies, and to claim otherwise is to attribute an intrinsic and immutable maleness to trans women. Needless to say, this is odious at best.
posted by Dysk at 7:45 PM on July 16, 2016
posted by Dysk at 7:45 PM on July 16, 2016
I was just struck by the fact that this is what the script writers chose, given who produced the ad.
Do you know much about MAP? They seem to be the ones with the media strategy or whatever. (Because, yeah, I'd expect more from the NCTE. Heck, I'd expect more from MAP knowing next to nothing about them, just based on recognising some of the people pictured on the cover of one of their publications.)
posted by hoyland at 8:15 PM on July 16, 2016
Do you know much about MAP? They seem to be the ones with the media strategy or whatever. (Because, yeah, I'd expect more from the NCTE. Heck, I'd expect more from MAP knowing next to nothing about them, just based on recognising some of the people pictured on the cover of one of their publications.)
posted by hoyland at 8:15 PM on July 16, 2016
Whatever internal consistency is needed to reassure you is in my best interests too dysk, describing my comment as odious at best doesn't sit well with me though.
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:16 PM on July 16, 2016
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:16 PM on July 16, 2016
The idea, the implication - attributing inherent maleness to trans women - is odious. I did not mean to imply that you did this on purpose. Apologies.
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
Thank you. I appreciate that a lot. I respect what you have to say and I don't believe I know all this perfectly. I'm still figuring it out.
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:59 PM on July 16, 2016
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:59 PM on July 16, 2016
joseph conrad is fully awesome: "(Also, the sticking up for the ad by putting it down is a bit of a turn-off.)"
I can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly appreciate that this ad is an effort to do the right thing. For the audience that I think they're targeting, it's a huge step forward merely to think of transgender folks as human beings. Failings of the ad notwithstanding, it does attempt to do that much, and I agree with AFABulous's point above that the intended purpose is to humanise transgender people and this matters hugely.
I guess where I** have reservations is that the ad is still remarkably gender essentialist. The only hook that it gives to the audience is "gender X in body Y" which isn't great, to put it mildly. Gender identities vary along a lot of different dimensions, and the very restrictive way in which the ad characterises what it means to be transgender gives this worrying feeling that, well, this isn't just a first step... maybe it's the last one too. Maybe nonbinary or gender nonconforming or agender folks will stay out in the cold. Like Dysk said at the start of the thread, there don't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for supporting those identities. I guess it's viewed as a harder problem... "a woman trapped in man's body***" makes a pithy marketing campaign, and "gender is just complicated" is a harder sales pitch. But that's pretty cold comfort to the folks who don't see any prospect of being welcomed into the fold.
I think a lot of the negative sentiment you're seeing comes from that. It's not that the ad is inherently terrible or the folks behind it aren't trying to make things better, it's just that I think a lot of people find it really hard to get excited about an equal rights campaign that appears to have left them outside the tent.
(**I should say I'm not really purporting to speak for anyone else here. I'm really just presenting my opinions and am drawing a little from the opinions of other people I've spoken to. No more than that
*** ugh. Where I should be clear I'm in agreement with everyone else above that this is a terrible way to talk. Definitely not endorsing this language!)
posted by langtonsant at 10:21 PM on July 16, 2016
I can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly appreciate that this ad is an effort to do the right thing. For the audience that I think they're targeting, it's a huge step forward merely to think of transgender folks as human beings. Failings of the ad notwithstanding, it does attempt to do that much, and I agree with AFABulous's point above that the intended purpose is to humanise transgender people and this matters hugely.
I guess where I** have reservations is that the ad is still remarkably gender essentialist. The only hook that it gives to the audience is "gender X in body Y" which isn't great, to put it mildly. Gender identities vary along a lot of different dimensions, and the very restrictive way in which the ad characterises what it means to be transgender gives this worrying feeling that, well, this isn't just a first step... maybe it's the last one too. Maybe nonbinary or gender nonconforming or agender folks will stay out in the cold. Like Dysk said at the start of the thread, there don't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for supporting those identities. I guess it's viewed as a harder problem... "a woman trapped in man's body***" makes a pithy marketing campaign, and "gender is just complicated" is a harder sales pitch. But that's pretty cold comfort to the folks who don't see any prospect of being welcomed into the fold.
I think a lot of the negative sentiment you're seeing comes from that. It's not that the ad is inherently terrible or the folks behind it aren't trying to make things better, it's just that I think a lot of people find it really hard to get excited about an equal rights campaign that appears to have left them outside the tent.
(**I should say I'm not really purporting to speak for anyone else here. I'm really just presenting my opinions and am drawing a little from the opinions of other people I've spoken to. No more than that
*** ugh. Where I should be clear I'm in agreement with everyone else above that this is a terrible way to talk. Definitely not endorsing this language!)
posted by langtonsant at 10:21 PM on July 16, 2016
I'm still curious how people in this thread would include non-binary and GNC people in an ad like this while considering that the concept is going to be absolutely alien to the prospective audience.
posted by AFABulous at 7:07 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by AFABulous at 7:07 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think there's room to get the "trans people are people too" message across without falling back on the Trans Narrative. That's more what I'm reacting to that anything else. We are talking about a fairly clueless demographic, but you can do more than just depicting one person and having them tell a super normative story. (I think we're supposed to conclude the other people at the table are trans, but I'm frankly not sure that's obvious.) I mean, contrast this ad with that poster campaign in DC.
posted by hoyland at 7:27 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 7:27 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm still curious how people in this thread would include non-binary and GNC people in an ad like this while considering that the concept is going to be absolutely alien to the prospective audience.
Run the same ad with the problematic language changed (solutions there already discussed in thread) and a non-binary or gender non-conforming protagonist. It's not that hard.
posted by Dysk at 9:32 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Run the same ad with the problematic language changed (solutions there already discussed in thread) and a non-binary or gender non-conforming protagonist. It's not that hard.
posted by Dysk at 9:32 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
In case people need it spelled out why a gender NC protagonist is important is because a) they exist in larger numbers than people think for a whole lot of various reasons and b) the whole "man in the women's room" panic button really needs to be shut down hard, like now. A gender non conforming protagonist would force people to confront that fear of "a man in the women's room" and hopefully the outcome would be a deeper understanding that not only is it sexist against cis nonconforming trans women to let that fear go unchallenged, it also places ALL the burden of solving rape culture on the same people, which is really messed up.
It's like, I'm glad the commercial exists but if it's doesn't get followed up with greater representation then we are failing horribly at this.
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:57 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's like, I'm glad the commercial exists but if it's doesn't get followed up with greater representation then we are failing horribly at this.
posted by Annika Cicada at 12:57 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I spent hours in workshops this weekend talking to the people behind this ad about it and the latest messaging research. I personally feel very confident in this campaign now in a way that I did not when I first got the email about it.
If you want to see some other video ads introducing trans people to a general audience, check out the Transform California campaign from EQCA.
posted by Corinth at 4:22 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you want to see some other video ads introducing trans people to a general audience, check out the Transform California campaign from EQCA.
posted by Corinth at 4:22 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Corinth, are the people behind the ad accountable to any of the concerns brought up in this thread?
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 4:49 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 4:49 PM on July 17, 2016
I'm not asking for them to take down the ad immediately, but I want to be able to criticize it without my so-called allies apologizing for it. I want the people at the center of this ad— the white trans people that this ad benefits— to be critical so they cannot dismiss these concerns as coming from indignant POC. I want the people who made the ad to accept and address these criticisms rather than ignore us. Otherwise, progress comes at my expense.
This is exactly why I love Black Lives Matter as an organization. They don't waste time appeasing white liberals, they center the least represented voices, and they're plenty effective.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 4:55 PM on July 17, 2016
This is exactly why I love Black Lives Matter as an organization. They don't waste time appeasing white liberals, they center the least represented voices, and they're plenty effective.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 4:55 PM on July 17, 2016
Might be helpful to remember that the woman in this ad is a real person. She is not a full-time actress, she is just a normal person who lives in North Carolina who wants to be able to go to the restroom when she is out and about living her life. The things she says in the video are consistent with the things she has said and says about herself and her experience in real life.
I'm not sure what "are the people behind the ad accountable to any of the concerns brought up [here]" means, exactly, but the person in this advertisement is a real human being and I am kind of disheartened at this conversation we are having about her and around her here.
posted by sockermom at 5:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure what "are the people behind the ad accountable to any of the concerns brought up [here]" means, exactly, but the person in this advertisement is a real human being and I am kind of disheartened at this conversation we are having about her and around her here.
posted by sockermom at 5:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm not apologizing. I am simply sharing that I work in trans advocacy and I believe it will be one tool in a toolbox that is currently very bare.
posted by Corinth at 6:13 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Corinth at 6:13 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
sockermon, I think you've missed the point of people's concerns about the ad. I don't have it in me right now to try and explain and I hope you'll forgive me for that. The short version is that we're worried the powers that be (i.e. groups with money to finance such an ad) will end up working to make sure that only some people get to pee in peace and leave everyone else out in the cold.
posted by hoyland at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
sockermom, I'm not criticizing this woman and resent your implication.
I am criticizing the political choice to make an ad featuring a white, binary trans woman with a narrative that is frequently misattributed to all transgender people ("born a man, became a woman"), to present it as a way to "understand the lives of transgender people" when it actually doesn't explain anything about a significant portion of transgender people, and to make a website that doesn't explicitly address nonbinary identities.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 6:35 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am criticizing the political choice to make an ad featuring a white, binary trans woman with a narrative that is frequently misattributed to all transgender people ("born a man, became a woman"), to present it as a way to "understand the lives of transgender people" when it actually doesn't explain anything about a significant portion of transgender people, and to make a website that doesn't explicitly address nonbinary identities.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 6:35 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
(And I'm criticizing mefites for applauding this as brilliant political maneuvering when it's just another example of building a movement on the exclusion of the most marginalized constituents of a group for the sake of respectability.)
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 6:43 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 6:43 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
I am not fucking around here when I say this ad and this thread and the meta has convinced me that I need to listen better what the wider trans community needs, I need to stay in my lane and I need to get real with myself and finally figure out if I have what it takes to do trans activism in the way I think it needs to be done, which is:
*listen* to black trans women
*listen* to sex workers
*listen* to cis nonconforming trans ppl
And help in the way that I am able to without taking up space in the conversation that comes from a place of blind privilege.
I take the criticisms seriously. I'm an apologist, I'm harming you, I'm playing respectability politics. I hear you. I know how to put my defensive knee jerk reaction on check.
We have to build coalitions, there's not enough of us to all retreat to our corners. If there's more calling out I need to hear, if there's more direct criticism you need to lay on me, Lay it on me, yours and my survival is at stake here and I do not want to make mistakes that come at your expense because I am ignorant.
posted by Annika Cicada at 6:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
*listen* to black trans women
*listen* to sex workers
*listen* to cis nonconforming trans ppl
And help in the way that I am able to without taking up space in the conversation that comes from a place of blind privilege.
I take the criticisms seriously. I'm an apologist, I'm harming you, I'm playing respectability politics. I hear you. I know how to put my defensive knee jerk reaction on check.
We have to build coalitions, there's not enough of us to all retreat to our corners. If there's more calling out I need to hear, if there's more direct criticism you need to lay on me, Lay it on me, yours and my survival is at stake here and I do not want to make mistakes that come at your expense because I am ignorant.
posted by Annika Cicada at 6:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
You cannot explain anything about a significant portion of transgender people to Generic Television America in under sixty seconds, which in any case is not the goal. It will hopefully reduce support for anti-trans bathroom bills when dozens of them are introduced at the state level next year.
posted by Corinth at 8:33 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by Corinth at 8:33 PM on July 17, 2016
Based on your experience do you feel qualified to comment on potentially better ways to explain significant portions of trans people to generic television America besides a 60 second commercial? I understand the current dilemma of limited time and having to run with what's most likely to connect, but do you have any ideas as to what the near term (6-8 months out) is looking like for greater representation?
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:50 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:50 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Annika, I just wanted to say that I appreciate your taking my comments seriously, but also that they weren't directed specifically at you or at any individual mefite. Your comment in the MeTa made me think— I hope my doom and gloom doesn't trigger anyone. I struggle between being hopeful and also presenting what I believe to be an accurate view of our politics. Much of my views are shaped by historians... they can be a depressing bunch.
& I'm going to bed... I might have already posted too much.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 9:05 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
& I'm going to bed... I might have already posted too much.
posted by I made this account so Matt could have a $5 beer at 9:05 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
We're venturing pretty deeply into "the perfect is the enemy of the good" territory with this discussion.
This is a single, very focussed politically aimed advertisement airing during two major political events that addresses a legislative obstacle that is likely to be a divisive issue during the election and subsequent legislative sessions across the country. It's not intended to be a master class, a 101 class, or even a primer on transgender identity or attached political issues. It's aimed at one single issue in a vast and complex situation that enough people live in for it to be an issue.
It's a bit of a miracle that Fox News accepted this ad to run during the final night of the Republican convention at all, let alone that the organization which created it found the funding to pay for such an advertising slot.
I've really appreciated all the stuff I've read in this thread. It's opened my eyes to how the trans community (or at least the outspoken ones who are also members of MetaFilter) feel about these issues. But battles about transgender issues, both of legal and social acceptance, are going to be a long haul fight that will feature battles on all sorts of fronts using all manner of tactics for many years. I think, personally, that this one little missile, this one salvo being launched into a very public sphere, will probably do more good than harm, and will help move the entire cause toward eventual victory.
posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
This is a single, very focussed politically aimed advertisement airing during two major political events that addresses a legislative obstacle that is likely to be a divisive issue during the election and subsequent legislative sessions across the country. It's not intended to be a master class, a 101 class, or even a primer on transgender identity or attached political issues. It's aimed at one single issue in a vast and complex situation that enough people live in for it to be an issue.
It's a bit of a miracle that Fox News accepted this ad to run during the final night of the Republican convention at all, let alone that the organization which created it found the funding to pay for such an advertising slot.
I've really appreciated all the stuff I've read in this thread. It's opened my eyes to how the trans community (or at least the outspoken ones who are also members of MetaFilter) feel about these issues. But battles about transgender issues, both of legal and social acceptance, are going to be a long haul fight that will feature battles on all sorts of fronts using all manner of tactics for many years. I think, personally, that this one little missile, this one salvo being launched into a very public sphere, will probably do more good than harm, and will help move the entire cause toward eventual victory.
posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
As I understand it, the research shows that the most effective way to help people understand is one-on-one canvassing, ideally by trans people.
This year, right before HB2 blew up, my organization killed a worse anti-trans bill less than twelve hours after it was filed because the bill author wasn't ready and wasn't plugged into national weight. Since HB2, and to a lesser extent post-HERO, the right has organized really tightly around this issue and begun providing more resources to states willing to run with it. I am absolutely terrified of what we might face next session, and scared of what could happen if we don't prepare thoroughly enough in this legislative off-season. We need all the help we can get.
I am not asking or demanding that other trans people be satisfied with a 60 second spot's gender theory. I am just trying to convey how high the stakes are.
posted by Corinth at 9:43 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
This year, right before HB2 blew up, my organization killed a worse anti-trans bill less than twelve hours after it was filed because the bill author wasn't ready and wasn't plugged into national weight. Since HB2, and to a lesser extent post-HERO, the right has organized really tightly around this issue and begun providing more resources to states willing to run with it. I am absolutely terrified of what we might face next session, and scared of what could happen if we don't prepare thoroughly enough in this legislative off-season. We need all the help we can get.
I am not asking or demanding that other trans people be satisfied with a 60 second spot's gender theory. I am just trying to convey how high the stakes are.
posted by Corinth at 9:43 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm down with that optimism too but I wanna also make sure I'm doing everything I can to ensure outcomes that allow other people the hope that optimism is a possibility.
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:46 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:46 PM on July 17, 2016
Good heavens, I'm not sure what I've said that indicates any amount of optimism for the coming year. Sorry if I gave that impression. It's all doom and gloom over here!
posted by Corinth at 9:57 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Corinth at 9:57 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think you've done that, I think you're factually laying it out. Not sure how people will interpret it.
My optimism comment was directed at hippybear, I should have indicated.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:13 PM on July 17, 2016
My optimism comment was directed at hippybear, I should have indicated.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:13 PM on July 17, 2016
It's like, I see where we are and I see where we need to go and I want to acknowledge the fights we have to take on today because of the political landscape we face, but I also want to make sure we are doing that with a clear notion that this isn't gonna end up where cis normative trans people (me) gain social status and non cisnormative trans people get left behind.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:17 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:17 PM on July 17, 2016
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THEY GET IT.
For real I would bawl so hard if cis strangers gave me that kind of time of day when I'm getting hassled.
I really hope this makes a difference. There's of course a few ways that maybe the language in the video isn't exactly the most perfect, but I think it's pretty damn good overall and I'm not complaining.
posted by Annika Cicada at 9:09 PM on July 15, 2016 [28 favorites]