Modern Family has always been one of my favorite shows and sure, when it first started it seemed to do a great job of trying to create a depiction of what a modern family might look like today in America. At first I was all about it, and all aboard the this-family-is-diverse train. But then I thought about it, and as much as this family might seem different in racial, sexual, and gender aspects. There are still stereotypes that are casted upon these characters and it proves to be very problematic.
First off, we have your stereotypical gay couple on this show. The kind of gay couple that is always portrayed on television or in movies: white, middle class, men in their thirties. We have Cam, the stereotypical overly dramatic, overly-emotional, and of course very flamboyant gay man that the show makes sure to make full use of. He is often conveyed waving his hands around in a dramatic and wild manner, and talking loudly with his very high-pitched effeminate voice. In fact there are times where he has been misconceived to be a woman and the show does a fantastic job of making a parody out of him as well as other gay men basically insinuating that if you are gay, well then, you must also be overly feminine.
Then of course there is Gloria, the very beautiful and hypersexualized Colombian housewife of a much older man. The show definitely makes a point to highlight on her thick and dramatic accent when they mock her everytime she mispronounces a word. She is portrayed as the stereotypical loud and outrageous Latin American mother when she scolds her son and speaks to her older and very successful husband all while she is always shown wearing very low cut and revealing clothes whenever she is in the household.
Although this television show serves as a good laugh and an enticing show that seems to want to move this society towards the right direction with your not-so-typical and modern family, it does so with all the wrong stereotypes.
With the spread of globalization comes ideas and values from other parts of the world. For India there has been a fascination with Western lifestyle along with standards of beauty. I remember the first time I ever saw India’s ridiculous “Fair and Lovely” skin lightening products that “Guarantee fairness. Guarantee Fame.” It was actually in Kollam, India at my uncle’s store. It was July 2013, and that the time I didn’t even think much of it. I thought to myself, ‘This is weird. But I mean that’s their prerogative,’ as I looked at the box. But then I thought about it in more depth, and it wasn’t the first time I had seen those words “Fair and Lovely”, in fact I had seen them and heard them on commercials while I was staying at my cousin’s house. Looking back at it now, I am really bothered by how this product is marketed to young women and how they are made to think that they will not be able to benefit in life without it. However not all the blame can be put on skin care products, Bollywood is definitely the biggest offender.
There is a major emphasis and association that India has placed on beauty and the color of one’s skin and their class in society. This emphasis is sadly forced upon women more than men as there is a pressure for women to get married, have kids, and of course, look fair and lovely. However for both men and women, it is believed that if you are lighter skin you are more likely to be successful and are a part of a higher socioeconomic status. Which of course are also both traits that are considered desirable and are necessary when looking for a husband. However, actor and director in the Bollywood realm, Nandita Das is speaking out against it as the new spokesperson for the Dark is Beautiful campaign calling, “India’s obsession with fair skin- a prejudice she says has driven some young women to the brink of suicide.” Which leads to the point I have been trying to make, India is encouraging the necessity for fairness and places value on “whiteness” as the ultimate social privilege and it’s unfortunately gaining ground among the men as well. “Fair and Handsome” has been marketed towards young men promising fame and success, by no one other than Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Yet according to Nandita Das, the pressure is greater for women due to a “general lack of respect and inequality.”
Fair and lovely would not be able to sell its products if its female consumers weren’t already brainwashed to think that the fairer you are, the more desirable you are. We have Bollywood to thank for that. The actresses that are casted in these movies are chosen based on their lighter appearance, and it seems that as time has gone on, the producers of these movies look for very fair-skinned actresses. So if there is no place for darker skinned women in this industry, then what does that say about their place in society?
Nandita Das, the Indian movie actress and director, as well as the major spokesperson for the ‘Dark Is Beautiful’ movement.
According to Wikipedia, the definition of intersectionality is, “the idea that various biological, social, and cultural categories-including gender, race, class, and ethnicity- interact and contribute towards systematic social inequality.” Although wikipedia is not a “reliable” source and may not be as appreciated by the world of academia, I find it worth using for gender studies because of its easily-interpretable perspective.
I’m really liking this blog post because it analyzes the intersectionality of queerness, gender, race, and ableism. When looking at an oppressed community such as the LBGTQ and how to confront issues, it is important that the ‘other identities’ are taken into account. Although I am not an individual of this community, I am now able to examine myself and see that I am not a grouping of single identities. I am a Black, Indian,Mexican, able-bodied, heterosexual, cis-female. I am a combination of various identities that intertwine with one another. There are definitely some privileges along with oppressed identities that I have myself, and that I never even considered to be one of the two. Heterosexuality and heteronormativity along with being able-bodied is a privilege in our society because of the ability to reap benefits that the LGBTQ disabled are not. This new perspective is so important when connecting my passing privileges along with the not-so-privileged parts of myself.
The point that you make about challenging various forms of oppression is so crucial because in order to understand the queer community we have to also understand the people of color, the disabled, the men, the women, the non-genderconforming, etc. Only when we listen to these different types of people, are we able to do something about challenging the violence inflicted by these oppressive systems.
Your definition of intersectionality is so significant because it allows us to look at gender studies in a different light. I am so accustomed to thinking of intersectionality as the conflation of issues as a person with different identities. I am so used to viewing it as “he is not just queer, he is a queer man of color” or just looking at the two discriminated identities. Intersectionality has always had a connotation of discrimination in my mind. The way you explain intersectionality as someone that is privileged yet oppressed at the same time, makes for a really important idea. This definition can help others to understand the term enough to challenge the social inequalities that they may be faced with in our society.
The video posted above is a promotional trailer for ‘Free CeCe’, a new documentary that is currently in production and that will illustrate the life of CeCe McDonald. For those of you who do not know much about her, CeCe is a transgender African American woman, who was the victim of a transphobic and racist attack, while walking down the street with a few friends in Oklahoma City. She was immediately arrested and charged with murder after killing one of her attackers in self-defense and was consequently incarcerated in a men’s state prison in Minnesota. The film will feature CeCe along with Laverne Cox, a transgender actress, as they challenge current issues with violence against trans woman of color.
The first time I heard of CeCe McDonald was actually this year, 2014, sadly enough, it was the same year as her release from a men’s correctional facility in Minnesota, a prison where she spent two years incarcerated for the aftermath of self-defense. I am someone who does my best to keep myself updated with news on a local, national, international, and political level in a variety of ways. I listen to FM news radio stations (since satellite radio isn’t afforded to the college student who survives on top ramen and easy mac), watch MOST TV news channels (notice how I capitalize “most”, because FOX News isn’t one of them), read newspapers in my local Starbucks, and of course scroll through online current events on my nifty, and very convenient Buzzfeed app. The point I am trying to make here, is that I don’t like to sit around clueless and unaware of the things happening around me. So I guess you could see why I found myself shocked, when I stumbled across a Buzzfeed article about the story of CeCe McDonald, that was published days after her release. But with that feeling of shock, were feelings of confusion and frustration. Why is it that I am only hearing about this now? Was I not paying attention? How is it that I didn’t hear or read about anything concerning CeCe McDonald during the past two years that she has been incarcerated? Where were all of these CNN television news broadcasts? Where were all of the articles? Or, was I just not looking in the right places?
To answer my own questions, I believe that there weren’t many broadcasts, online articles, or even print articles because of an unfortunate truth: the very minuscule amount of visibility for transgender women, especially transgender women of color. If I wanted to stay updated with any news from this community, along with Cece McDonald, I needed to look deeper. That is what is most frustrating about all of this, looking deeper, looking past the surface, all of this in its entirety is problematic because the media is so biased in wanting to only display media that fits our need and obssession for heteronormativity. How else will they gain their large audiences and their high ratings? With the exclusion of these trans bodies of color.
Well, thank God for documentary film-making, ‘Orange is the New Black’, and Laverne Cox.
Laverne Cox, a trans woman of color and breakout actress, plays a trans woman of color on the hit Netflix series ‘Orange is the New Black’. Her character’s story in some aspects parallels CeCe McDonald, a trans woman of color, who spent 19 months in a men’s prison. These similarities motivated the actress to co-produce a documentary that focuses on Cece McDonald, her life, incarceration, and the intersectional issues that have lead to a disproportional amount of violence against transgender women of color. This is truly a step in the right direction towards visibility and awareness of this community and their challenges they face on a daily basis. The purpose of this blog post is to spread awareness and visibility of the production of this inspiring documentary, along with the intersectional challenges that trans women of color face. My ultimate hope as I anxiously anticipate the release of this film, is that it sparks a reaction from its viewers; a reaction of shock and frustration that is very similar to my initial reaction upon first hearing about the courageous Cece McDonald. If the film can create those kind of reactions, and the audience questions the lack of visibility in mainstream media, then hopefully there is a call for a change. May that future change be the acknowledgment and awareness of the blatant violence that takes place in the community of transgender colored women along with other communities confronting intersectional issues.
Gender and All of The Above 