Rates of violence against transgender individuals are higher than those of any other sexual minority. In the last 12 months alone, 15 people have been reported murdered (the last recorded on October 11th, 2010) in the United States and its protectorates ostensibly because of how their gender identity or expression was perceived by outside viewers. As such, Judith Halberstam's notion of the "transgender gaze" seems to have an unprecedented political currency. What cultural and social value does the experience of viewing with rather than at a transgender person have? In other words, how or to what extent -- according to Halberstam and yourself, via your own evaluation of Halberstam's position -- does this experience influence the viewing subject's own sense of gender identity and expression? In turn, does the transgender gaze have enough power to transform popular perceptions of transgender identities --particularly when it is put into effect via mainstream films like Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry (1999)?
As Halberstam implies her article and Melanie Taylor states in her discussion of Loren Cameron's photographs (of himself and other self-identified transsexual males), both Brandon Teena and Cameron are heavily invested in notions of conventional masculinity and its representation. Each wishes to speak, in short, from an unambiguously male position. On the contrary, the work of Del LaGrace Volcano, self-identified as intersex/gender variant (an identity that falls under the "transgender umbrella"), seeks to do the opposite -- challenging, repeatedly, the notion of gender as anything but normative or, for that matter, fixed. Given these contrasting views, how does Halberstam's notion of the transgender gaze stand up? This is to say, how can we productively unite Cameron's aims with those of Volcano through a particular way of looking?
I think Halberstam is splitting hairs in her evaluation of Pierce’s film. I understand Halberstam’s read of the fairly magical moment that Pierce created where theoretically the viewer was able to adopt the transgendered gaze. Halberstam offers Pierce no alternative to playing out the narrative while maintaining this tenuous gaze. In this article, Halberstam doesn’t give Pierce enough credit for presenting this issue in a provocative nonfiction mainstream film in a filmic language that can be digested by mainstream audiences.
ReplyDeleteAs critical as I am of J. Halberstam I was pretty engrossed by the readings. Lucy’s post sent me on an unexpected virtual P.I. adventure. I was regrettably unaware with regard to the numbers of transgendered individuals who are murdered. The number shocked me so that I went to the web and found a link on the HRC website to the Transgendered Rememberence Day website (TRD is November 20th by the way). This site has a memorial wall on which is posted name of the transgendered individuals who were murdered, location, age, cause of death, links to news stories, details of prosecution and a photo when available. The project is international but not world-wide. Certainly I have questions regarding the accuracy of the numbers, but the site does not make any such claim. The more carefully I looked and read the more disturbing it became.
ReplyDeleteA newspaper article regarding the epidemic of transgendered murders in Venezuela available on the TRD site led me to youtube where my search produced the following video link: (Don’t watch it until you’ve read this because you may not want to witness the violence) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2cLyblhpc The video is of a Memphis, TN local news broad cast reporting that a member of the Memphis Police Force was caught on camera beating a transgendered individual named Duanna Johnson, while another officer appears to be holding the victim. The incident took place at the police station in view of other officers who made no effort to stop the officer during the assault. Arthur Horn, the victim’s attorney states in an interview with the reporter, “it’s a scary site for many of the citizens of this community to see that that’s a possibility that could happen to any one of us.” Murray Wells, also the victim’s attorney, states, “We wanted some acknowledgement my client did just so that she would know that the Memphis Police Department did not condone this. We were optimistic that they would be just as outraged about this as we are. And we haven’t gotten any indication that they are interested in this at all.” Likely, racism plays some role in the beating. The white officer used racial and homophobic slurs against the black transgendered victim. Lucy asks, “What cultural and social value does the experience of viewing with rather than at a transgender person have?” At what point should our ethics kick in here? How empathetic do we have to get past one person is bullying/beating/murdering another human being? In the case of the Memphis PD versus Duanna Johnson one easily reads that transphobia and racism are systemic issues in our institutions of government. Atty. Horn does not seem aware that the “possibility” that “that” will happen to a person who is transgendered is greater than “that” happening to “any one of us.”
As critical as I am of J. Halberstam I was pretty engrossed by the readings. Lucy’s post sent me on an unexpected virtual P.I. adventure. I was regrettably unaware with regard to the numbers of transgendered individuals who are murdered. The number shocked me so that I went to the web and found a link on the HRC website to the Transgendered Rememberence Day website (TRD is November 20th by the way). This site has a memorial wall on which is posted name of the transgendered individuals who were murdered, location, age, cause of death, links to news stories, details of prosecution and a photo when available. The project is international but not world-wide. Certainly I have questions regarding the accuracy of the numbers, but the site does not make any such claim. The more carefully I looked and read the more disturbing it became.
ReplyDeleteA newspaper article regarding the epidemic of transgendered murders in Venezuela available on the TRD site led me to youtube where my search produced the following video link: (Don’t watch it until you’ve read this because you may not want to witness the violence) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2cLyblhpc The video is of a Memphis, TN local news broad cast reporting that a member of the Memphis Police Force was caught on camera beating a transgendered individual named Duanna Johnson, while another officer appears to be holding the victim. The incident took place at the police station in view of other officers who made no effort to stop the officer during the assault. Arthur Horn, the victim’s attorney states in an interview with the reporter, “it’s a scary site for many of the citizens of this community to see that that’s a possibility that could happen to any one of us.” Murray Wells, also the victim’s attorney, states, “We wanted some acknowledgement my client did just so that she would know that the Memphis Police Department did not condone this. We were optimistic that they would be just as outraged about this as we are. And we haven’t gotten any indication that they are interested in this at all.” Likely, racism plays some role in the beating. The white officer used racial and homophobic slurs against the black transgendered victim. Lucy asks, “What cultural and social value does the experience of viewing with rather than at a transgender person have?” At what point should our ethics kick in here? How empathetic do we have to get past one person is bullying/beating/murdering another human being? In the case of the Memphis PD versus Duanna Johnson one easily reads that transphobia and racism are systemic issues in our institutions of government. Atty. Horn does not seem aware that the “possibility” that “that” will happen to a person who is transgendered is greater than “that” happening to “any one of us.”
ReplyDeleteRomaine Brooks paintings have a very European feel about them. It was surprising to find out she was American. I guess there is a stylistic similarity to artists like Schiele and Klimt Cameron's work looks very American. I'm not sure why that is.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of visual dissonance a little confusing in the Taylor reading. But it is interesting that she fears the "dangers of psychoanalytic theory" as far as transgender identity is concerned.
I'm torn about issues of exploitation in Loren Cameron and similar artists' work. It kind of reminds me of the bearded lady at the Alabama State Fair.
can a transgendered gaze be adopted? amy points to the idea of empathy in the case of duanna johnson, but this empathy would seem to be created by actively dismissing a difficult subject position in favor of seeing johnson as simply a human being. i'm not sure it's possible for an american public at large to get far enough outside of identity in terms of gender binary to achieve "empathy." we can feel sympathy for johnson, but i'm not sure we can project into a transgendered position to achieve empathy. we are constantly (and incorrectly) choosing elements of transgendered identity we identify with personally in an attempt to understand that position. in johnson's case we see a victimized woman, gay, black, but we can't see the combination of all of these positions into a single individual.
ReplyDeletei think this is the revolutionary possibility butler sees in the transgendered subject position and the transgendered gaze. to truly understand the position forces us to deny the gender binaries that create our own sexed identities. if we can make this leap the role of sexed identity begins to unravel. and we begin to recognize the idea of sex as the performance it is.
I agree that non transgendered folks have a difficulty identifying with the transgendered. Non-transgendered are so set in their traditional roles--and have been for centuries--that they automatically look for cues of identification. To them, transsexuals are confusing because they do not offer a ready definintion. I believe that this need for definition is so engrained that when we have difficulty defining--we typically react in anger or fear--because that is how our brains our designed. The thing is...we are in a process of evolution where our easy definitions of gender are being challenged. I think it will take much more time for the transexual to be accepted by non- transgenders.
ReplyDeletei'm really feeling the idea of needing a defination. i believe that society gets so caught up sometimes in needing a defination that we over look something that does actually have value to it even if it doesn't have a typical defination. who are we (and i mean we hypothetically) to say something doesn't have value because we can't stick a lable on it?? i really like aprils point of evolution. however you have to wonder that even with evolution, will people as creatures of habit learn to accept something that is so "out of the norm" to them as normal? with the idea gender being challenged in transgenders will "typical" people continue to quesiton acceptance of the transgender or will evolution take the "different" factor out all together??
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