A reader writes: “I’ve noticed lately how many trans guys of my generation and a bit younger (I’m 29) first recognized themselves in the media while watching Boys Don’t Cry. I can count myself among those guys.
“I was a senior in high school and newly out as a lesbian, and I didn’t know enough about trans people (I wonder if I knew anything at all) to use that language, but I knew that there was something in this character (and his real-life counterpart) that resonated in me. I haven’t thought much about it, but recently a few YouTube channels have addressed media representations of trans men and many of the guys mentioned this connection to Boys Don’t Cry.
“My question is whether you think it’s problematic that so many of us have come to identify ourselves through such a brutal film and circumstance. I’d also love to hear from your readers about their thoughts on this, including trans women. Is there some media image of trans women that seems to hold a similar place in the community? What impact does it have?”
Boys Don’t Cry was also one of the first media representations I had of trans men. I was a couple of years into my transition and saw it at the theater when it was first released. Prior to that, I had seen the documentaries The Brandon Teena Story, on which the film was based, and You Don’t Know Dick, a documentary featuring a fantastic collection of guys, including many of my early heroes. Other than that, I was not aware of any films featuring or about trans guys.
Of course, we don’t know for certain that Brandon Teena was trans or how he truly identified. We basically “adopted” him after his death as one of us. But based on what I know, I am going to operate under the assumption that, had he lived, he might have eventually come out as trans and transitioned. However, I also want people to keep in mind that, as far as I know, we have no documentation of how this individual truly identified, and I could be way off base.
I think that there are positives and negatives that come with seeing ourselves through Brandon Teena. One positive is that, like Matthew Shepard for gay men, Brandon has come to symbolize the hatred and violence that trans men can be at risk for and subjected to.
His story serves as both a cautionary tale for trans men and as an educational tool that the general public can easily swallow, knowing that Hilary Swank will go home and magically turn back into a woman. I think that seeing his story has the capacity both to remind trans men that all is not always well and to energize us in terms of the fight – we aren’t going to take this; this is not acceptable.
I think another positive of identifying with Brandon is that it gives young trans men a sense of history – his murder happened almost twenty years ago. It gives all guys, but particularly those within a certain age range, a sense of a shared experience and a reason for continuing to press forward with demands for recognition and rights, including the right to be safe and the right to self-expression without the threat of violence.
There is also some (small) sense of justice – that his killers were caught, tried, found guilty, and are in prison, and that his mother received a monetary award for the negligence of law enforcement.
In my opinion, the negatives of having Boys Don’t Cry as a person’s “entry point” into the trans man community are that it can be scary for a young guy who is struggling and isn’t sure what he should do; it can reinforce the negative parts of being trans without offering hope; and it can overshadow the very positive trans male role models out there who have done and are doing incredible things for the community, but who are not getting the mainstream airplay because violence sells – hard work, path-building, and barrier-breaking does not.
I think everyone should know about what happened to Brandon Teena – it’s an important story. But I also think it’s unfortunate that it’s really the only story that has made it into mainstream consciousness, and then only for a brief period of time – we may still be aware of it, but the mainstream public has long since moved on.
I would like to see trans men and trans women get mainstream recognition for more than dying. It seems that the only time the media is interested in us is when we’re killed. And I think this is a problematic message that Boys Don’t Cry also sends. But I still think it is an important film (although I prefer the documentary), and my ideal situation would be that it would be one of many (many, many) that young trans guys are exposed to as they move into the community.
Readers, what do you think? And trans women: “Is there some media image of trans women that seems to hold a similar place in the community? What impact does it have?”
(Other films I would recommend: Southern Comfort, You Don’t Know Dick, Call Me Malcolm, Still Black – and that’s just scratching the surface. I know there are more out there – they are all indie, and I can’t think of them all right now, so I hope readers will chime in with other films as well.)
The film which I like and have watched several times is “Beautiful Daughters” http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/beautiful_daughters.htm. The reason I love this movie is that the women in the documentary are real, they are human, and intelligent. I think that this movie is particularly valuable to young people because is shows real trans women discussing real problems and successes in a non sensational way. Why do I think this is so important? Consider a question that a 16 y/o boy once asked me “What is my future, what options will I have”. “Beautiful Daughters” offers hope.
Cheryl
One problem I have with media portrayals of us–be it Boys Don’t Cry, Transamerica, or daytime TV like Rikki Lake–is that forming an image of transgender individuals from a viewing of one of those is like watching Uncle Tom’s Cabin and thinking you know everything there is to know about life as an African-American before the Civil War.
The key to me is the phrase “transgender individuals;” we are all INDIVIDUALS. Sure, some of us may have things in common, and ALL of us might share one or two experiences. But exactly how much does a 16-year-old who is questioning his or her identity have in common with a 60-year-old grandfather who comes out as a grandMOTHER?
Whether movies, TV shows, magazines or newspapers, the media have one main purpose: to sell advertising. Program content is merely the bait to get you to watch the advertising. From time to time, transgender issues are in the news, which makes them timely. Therefore, they then get used to sell advertising.
Unless and until some major studio or publishing house is willing to take a chance and tell a story about us from our point of view, don’t expect too many sympathetic (or accurate) portrayals.
Hey. I’ve been told a few times that I ought to see this film. I’ve been debating it though because some of my anxiety triggers center around physical violence and brutality. Should I avoid the film or have a buddy watch it with me?
It’s been so long since I’ve seen it that I can’t remember how much actual violence is depicted on the screen. Hopefully, someone else will remember. But I think that, if you want to see it, you should have someone watch it with you if you are easily upset by violence or the suggestion of violence. It never hurts to have someone there to dissect a film afterward, anyway. It can be a good discussion. But I hope we hear from others on how much violence is actually shown.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, but the level of violence in it definitely stuck with me. The main character is beaten, raped (twice) and ultimately murdered along with another character, all on-screen. Ultimately, I’m glad I watched it, but it certainly wasn’t an easy movie, and people have different levels of tolerance for that kind of brutality. I would feel extremely uncomfortable recommending it to someone without a trigger warning.
Thanks for that reminder. I knew what happened to Brandon, but I couldn’t remember how graphically it was depicted in the film. That’s good to know.
I don’t want to weigh in on whether trans men should connect with the Brandon Teena story or not (which is really up to them), but I do have an issue with how Brandon’s death has become, in a sense, deified to the exclusion of the estimated 2,000+ trans women (mostly of color) who have been murdered since his death in 1993. It’s to the point where Brandon continues to be mentioned at every Transgender Day of Remembrance because “we need a trans guy murder” to go along with the all the murders of trans women–most of whom are forgotten in a week or two if they’re even reported on by the media. (There was yet another murder of a 19-year old trans woman in Puerto Rico a few days ago… who’s reporting that one?).
This isn’t to diminish how horrible Brandon’s murder was, but is it really any more horrible than what those thousands of trans women experienced… much less more important? And when I’ve had discussions with trans men about anti-trans violence and said it’s overwhelmingly aimed at trans women, especially trans women of color, they often mention Brandon’s death as though that evens everything out. No, it’s not the ‘oppression Olympic’ (a term I hate) but it is important to realistically discuss who is actually being attacked and why. As someone who’s spent a lot of time and effort tracking anti-trans crimes, I can honestly state that, in the last 15 years, trans men have an extremely low incidence of violence against them, much less murder… very likely less than the general population. So if Brandon’s murder is keeping someone from transitioning, that person should know they’re more likely to be attacked living as a woman (especially a noticeably gender variant woman) or even if they were a cis man. And please don’t showcase Brandon’s death as one of the prime examples of violence against trans people, because by doing so, you’re inadvertently dismissing the deaths of thousands of women at the expense of trying to play being in the eye of the storm. There are other, better ways to show concern about these issues.
That is a good point but perhaps there are more transwomen murders because:
1. There are 3 MTFs to every 1 FTM
2. Transwomen can have a more difficult time passing/transitioning realistically
I’m not sure your numbers are correct, Jack. From what I’ve heard, there are about as many FTMs as MTFs, but their numbers appear greater because they are more visible. As you said, they don’t pass as easily in some cases.
Gina, I agree that more trans women are targeted (particularly trans women of color), but this isn’t a contest. I am one of those people who will cite Brandon Teena’s case (as you mentioned), but only because I’m tired of hearing comments about how trans men “have it easy” and are not subjected to threats or violence. These comments come from people who never get to see news reports of injustices toward trans men, so citing Brandon’s case helps dispel that myth.
Brandon Teena’s story is an important one, but it certainly isn’t the only one in our community or for the mainstream public’s consumption. Personally, I’d love to see a movie on Billy Tipton’s story. When the news of his “secret” broke after his death, it was the first time I remember identifying with any gender-variant person.
I also think the numbers are pretty equal, but the visibility is not.
Billy Tipton’s story is sad because, if I recall, that was a highly preventable death that happened only because he didn’t want to go to the doctor and reveal his “secret.” My memory’s bad sometimes, but I think this is the case.
Medical care is a huge thing for trans people, both men and women, and remains so. It’s not the same as the violence, but it’s an ongoing concern that affects our physical and psychological health.
@CaptLex: Maybe it’s time for trans men to de-emphasize the violence aspect (since realistically… them transitioning isn’t exposing them to more violence than most cis men, less than queer cis men and probably less than noticeably gender variant women) and emphasizing other forms of discrimination that might impact their health… especially health care (and Tipton’s story is more related to that), access to transition services, job/legal discrimination, their relationship to cis-men’s circles and things like that. I will never say trans men have it easy but suggesting they have it as hard as most trans women just isn’t supported by reality.
I don’t think trans women being murdered has much of anything to do with “passing” (there are a lot of trans women who were murdered who looked pretty damn amazing!) and more to do with the transgressive nature of what is perceived as “men pretending to be women” and the intense violent homophobia and shame that often releases and, yes, that trans women of color (especially ones who are young) often end up in extremely dangerous sex work. Seriously, trans men don’t set off the same issues so why focus energy on that or, at least, do so as allies and concentrate on issues that really do impact your lives?
I think the messages we put out about our communities are especially important for people approaching transition who might be scared off by all the “bad news” when, I think it’s fair to say, one of the most dangerous things to be for one’s health is a trans person who’s too scared to transition. I would never suggest someone early in transition see “Boy’s Don’t Cry”… and personally, I think TransAmerica kind of sucks (‘She’s a Boy I knew,’ however, is a wonderful film and a new film ‘Romeos’ is a great film about trans guys!).
“Maybe it’s time for trans men to de-emphasize the violence aspect (since realistically… them transitioning isn’t exposing them to more violence than most cis men, less than queer cis men and probably less than noticeably gender variant women) ”
…because there are no queer transmen or gender variant transmen? =_=
And hey, I’m a pre-everything transman who got beaten up because I “looked weird” (androgynous) by a bunch of cowards too chicken to attack me alone. So, yes, being a transman does expose us to violence, thank you very much. I would REALLY like to be immune to it, but unfortunately that isn’t the case.
As a trans man, I feel at very low risk for the violence that women, and particularly trans women, are threatened with or experience on an ongoing basis. I don’t think Brandon’s death is an example of this type of violence. I don’t think there’s any comparison.
I have no argument with anything that you’ve said here. I think that trans men need to be aware of their safety and the potential for violence, and it seems that Brandon was too trusting of his “friends” in a very small Midwestern town.
We have to be aware of the possibility of violence, but the risks that trans men face are minimal compared to those of trans women, and I would never presume to compare the two or try to equalize them in any way.
And I agree with what you said about trans men transitioning – this one incident, while it can be very scary for new trans guys if this is their primary or first exposure to trans man issues, should not keep them from transitioning.
I am interested in the direction this discussion is going–how accurately the film portrays a trans experience (or if it even does) and how it may be used by some to assert a trans masculine experience of violence/oppression (perhaps at the expense of trans women…). I think these are valuable things to discuss and my very brief thoughts are, first, that no one piece of media can represent an entire group of people and I doubt anyone would claim it should and, second, that trans women are certainly more often attacked and that should never be ignored.
I am the one who asked this question. (Thanks, Matt, for the response!) And I was really just wondering if people thought that identifying so strongly with such a brutal circumstance made it harder for trans people to come out–to themselves and to others. Though I don’t feel that it has created a stronger fear in me, I know that it has an impact on how other people interpret my identity or the danger I am in. My father, for instance, is convinced that I am gong to be attacked and this is a real fear for him. It may not be a completely ridiculous notion but it’s likely that the risk has been augmented in his mind by what he sees “what happens to trans people,” which has been informed by Boys Don’t Cry (among few other media representation of trans experiences).
I have watched every film about trans people that I could find. Many are better than BDC though few had the budget they had, but I still think it’s a valuable film for all of the reasons Matt mentioned.
And, to those who noted films about women… I loved Beautiful Daughters!
I do think that this type of depiction is scary for people and for those around them. It does affect people’s decisions about coming out and about transitioning, I would think. Before I transitioned, I was afraid of the violence. I thought that I would be at much higher risk than I actually am now.
I think the fear is real and not completely unrealistic. Obviously, as Gina said, the risk is much, much higher for trans women, but I think the fear is there for both, and I think it is hard to convince loved ones that we will be safe.
It was weird for me, because before I transitioned, I was afraid of the violence (when, again, as Gina said, I was likely at much higher risk for violence as a female), but my sister’s fear was that I wouldn’t be able to find a job and that I would be homeless (also not an unrealistic fear). Maybe she was afraid I would want to move in with her!
About 6 months ago I found my way to a Wikipedia page about Brandon Teena. It had a link to the trailer for Boys Don’t Cry on Youtube, and I watched the trailer. If that wasn’t horrifying enough, what really got to me was when I read in the Wikipedia page that on his tombstone it said “loving daughter and sister”. And at the time I thought he had identified fully as male, and that just killed me. How could someone be so cruel? I thought. So many people don’t understand that it’s painful enough to live in this body without the help of a world that hates without trying to understand.
Before I knew I was a transman, I thought everyone struggled miserably to accept their body and life. And yeah, Boys Don’t Cry even though that was not the first time I had thought anything, it was the first time that really stuck with me, and it made me realize I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had a problem.
Nonetheless, I think the movie looks like a great movie and it does more for the public than you think. You might be way ahead of them and thus think the media is moving too slowly, but I definitely believe that the movie was a good step forward. It popularized transgender, which is making it more known. Now there are people who are aware and supportive. It’s a step. We can’t just leap forward into awesomeness right away. Also, this movie shows the struggle of trying to fight the world just to be someone you desperately want to be. It shows the meaning behind the word in that being transgender is not all hunkey dorey. It’s awful. I have had times where I want to run away from my body, but it’s my body running so I can’t escape the living horror. But nobody gets that. And this movie helps with that aspect. There is plenty of time to put out good happy transmen movies.
It just occurred to me that the place of this film in our culture is so powerful because we have so few texts with which to relate. I have always used film and literature (stories, in general) as a way to understand myself and the world. I have put myself through a course-load of gender-focused fictions, memoirs, and studies in order to make sense of all I feel and in order to better relate it to others. But it’s a limited course!
My graduate work was on post-colonial literature (particularly from the Caribbean). I’m interested in the correlation between the writing of previously colonized people and the writing of trans people. Could our bodies ever be considered colonized spaces? What happens when we seek to carve our identities over such actively policed spaces? It makes me think of the culture of exile and emigration in the Caribbean, as well as the difficulty those in Caribbean nations face in creating a sense of national identity that doesn’t solely reflect the influence of years of colonization. Is the same thing an issue for us??
Okay, I’m getting off topic, but this comes to mind because of the fear or expectation we may have for violence as well as the overall ownership of our bodies (for which we often have to struggle). I wonder how often our sense of self is created through these violent histories and how we are shaped by others’ perceptions of what our bodies are/should be or what gender is/should/can be.
Don’t mind me if this doesn’t make complete sense!
It makes perfect sense. The human body in this society is an absolutely colonized space. At every turn, people in places of power have seen fit to bestow more power to themselves by creating these separate sets of rules that all human beings are expected to follow based on their sex organs – and then enforced these rules through written laws and unwritten societal pressure. Obviously things have become less strict in recent years – but consider the legal hoops that trans people still have to go through to have our gender recognized. The government will not gender us correctly unless and until we have undergone radical treatments to make our bodies look as cisgender as possible, despite the fact that these treatments are expensive, risky, have permanent life-changing effects (heck, if you don’t lose your ability to have children, much of society won’t believe that you’re really trans) and are not always available. (Such as the case of the trans guy I met with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. How is he supposed to take the male hormones needed for legal transition if they have no effect?)
The above paragraph might make it look like I’m against surgeries/hormone treatment. I’m not. In fact it’s something I desperately want for myself. But that is a personal issue, and it does not give the government or the institution of psychiatric medicine the right to tell me that I *must* do it to be recognized as a man. This is colonization of our bodies in the most blatant and ludicrous degree – yet it is often unrecognized because we have learned our standards of normalcy from the cisgendered.
I’m with you all the way. I was drawn to this idea because of those “learned standards of normalcy.” Studying Caribbean Lit, I was struck by the influence of education on the colonized–particularly where a colonially-imposed British education expressly promotes imperialism. I think that is the equivalent of trans people being taught that it is unnatural or wrong to be trans, making it so much more difficult to form a clear sense of our own identities. Then, we get into the systematic colonization of our bodies that you describe.
I think this relates back to this talk about Boys Don’t Cry because it’s one of a limited selection of texts that we can use to create a more inclusive picture of human experience. If we are educated on a strictly non-trans curriculum, we are at a loss. If our most visible images of trans experience are of violence, we are still at a loss. I’m not saying that images of violence are all we have–there are a number of books and documentaries out there that present a different picture. And the solution is pretty obvious–write more, support trans publications, etc. But I do think this situation is worth looking into because I think it has a significant impact on us culturally.
I have the video of Boys Don’t Cry. Me being visually impaired, I probably didn’t get the full impact of the violence because so much of the movie was dark – mostly nighttime scenes when alot of the bad stuff happened.
Yes, I agree that much more transwomen get violence directed towards them because of the basic woman-hating society we live in. Transwomen are seen as “traitors” to their male sex and are especially hated. It is almost more acceptable for women to present as male than males to present as females. After all, tomboys are tolerated whereas “sissies” are defineatly not.
I think mainstream movies like Boys Don’t Cry and transAmerica are good starts to aquaint people with trans people AS people. The rest will follow.
Remember back in the 1950s and 1960s, Black people were shown as bad guys – robbers, rapists, prostitutes. Now, we see one of the most beloved TV personality in Ophrah Winfrey. Gays used to be bad guys or victims in the past and now you see them in sit coms and other popular TV shows and they are shown as people you’d like as your relative, neighbor, etc. Times change for us and it will get better!
There is a movie similar to Boys Don’t Cry for trans women as well. It was aired on lmn. Its called A Girl Like Me.
I think that there can be a problem with it, especially if that is the first source you learn FtM existance from; for me it was the second…and the first one was a serial killer on CSI =_= so yeah…when the only “role models” you have is a guy who got killed by racists/homophobes and a serial killer, it’s not a very positive thing.
I think that there should be a new movie about FtMs; MtFs have plenty of movies with positive representation, even if problematic at times (like Transamerica…yes it isn’t perfect and it’s not 100% realistic, but it’s still a positive portrayal), why we only have one?
I’m not talking about documentaries, also becuase they are hard to find in other languages and since they are not showed everywhere you might have to illegally download them, I’m talking about MOVIES with FtMs characters. Is there ANYTHING else out there apart from BDC?
Sweet baby cheeses. How am I supposed to figure out I’m trans when CSI tells me that it’s part of being a Truly Messed Up Individual and doesn’t actually fix any of your problems and besides you’ll probably be a serial killer and commit suicide anyway?
Also it’s unclear whether he was intersex (he said that “something went wrong” when he was born but “his parents did nothing to fix it”…but that wouldn’t really make sense, since intersex people “getting “”fixed”"”" (aka mutilated) are almost always turned into females as a standard because it’s an easier procedure) or trans; when I first saw it I didn’t know anything about FtMs and the like and I just felt envy for that “something was wrong when I was born, I should have been male”, and sad as if I couldn’t be male because nothing had been wrong with me when I was born.
“I’m talking about MOVIES with FtMs characters. Is there ANYTHING else out there apart from BDC?”
Not that I can think of, Tommy. Aside from a TV character here and there (like on “The L Word”), I haven’t seen any FtM movie characters. Definitely less visibility, which perpetuates the myth that there are far fewer of us. I’d love to see a well-written, positive story of a gay FtM, actually, to dispel the other myth – that we’re all former lesbians. One can only dream . . .
I found out about one! It’s called ROMEOS, and it’s a recent movie! I don’t know if it’s any good, but apparently it’s the story of a gay FtM, and it sounds promising from what I’ve heard.
Adam Torres on ‘Degrassi’ is a teenage FtM. Here’s a link to his character bio:
http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/Adam_Torres
Matt, I think your comments very closely echo my ambivalence about “Boys Don’t Cry,” which was an extremely important film for the entire transgender community, but which also ends with a brutal death rather than the possibility of a life for Brandon Teena as a transman — or however else he would have chosen to identify. I do think BDC is a net positive because it vividly depicts for mainstream audiences the transgenderphobic violence that we’re all potentially at risk for. I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent for the transfeminine community, nor would I want to speak for all transgendered women. I loved “TransAmerica” — except for the first 10 minutes, which was way too ‘GID’ for me — but I wouldn’t say that it had the same impact on me as “Boys Don’t Cry” did, despite my being a transwoman. “La Vie en Rose” (the story of a young Belgian male who identifies as a girl) actually moved me more than “TransAmerica.” One film that some people wanted to claim was a representation of our experiences was “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” but there are some serious problems with that movie, not least the egregiously racist depiction of a Filipina woman in one scene. Given the diversity of our community, there simply isn’t any film that can adequately capture the experiences of all transwomen or transmen, much less transgendered people as a whole; we just have to hope — as you say — for many, many different depictions of transgender experience in narrative feature films as well as documentaries. And speaking of documentaries, there is a documentary about my life & work that premiered in 2008:
“Envisioning Justice: The Journey of a Transgendered Woman,” made by Larry Tung:
http://www.paulinepark.com/index.php/about/