My Womanhood Is Not A Fraud

This is a post my dear friend, actress Trace Lysette posted on Facebook last month. I needed to share this to show what some of trans folks experience trying to live our lives and our truth. Trace Lysette July 31 at 11:36am ·  I recently attempted to acquire some footage for my acting reel from a film I shot a couple years ago. I shot this film before I was out to the world as trans. I was hesitant to post the response from the producer but I want the world to know what kind of transphobic attitudes still exist. Me: "Hey, hope all is well. I am trying to put my acting reel together and I never got the final copy of "....". Do you have a high quality link I can provide to my reel editor so we can pull some of it? I'm in LA now and the rough edit I have is back in NYC." Producer: "Trace I don't have a link available for the film which at this point is void as per your posts it was all a lie a plot of deception. Congratulations I was fooled from day 1 and because of that I have compromised my judgement and the integrity of my film and those who were involved. I have spent large sums of Time, Money and Resources based on a deception and the sad thing is I am sure you don't feel any accountability as all you had to say to me is once again self centered and about you. I guess that's how it's always been. Once again congrats you sure made a fool out of me, continued success and I commend your honesty although way too late to matter now. For the record I won't be releasing the film and I do not give you permission to use any of it as it was all a fraud!" My womanhood is not a fraud, I am a human being who deserves safety and respect at the very least. This type of thinking and mindset that has been engraved into the mind of society is the same kind of thinking that leads to violence against my trans brothers and sisters. It is the same mindset that allows people to disrespect and abuse us verbally and physically. Calling my womanhood a fraud is an act of violence. ‪#‎transphobic‬ ‪#‎translivesmatter‬ ‪#‎transisbeautiful

My Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation

Whenever I have spoken up and out about issues that are important to me I have tried to do so in ways that illuminate the discussion, put it in historic and cultural perspective with love, empathy and understanding. I have never been interested in interpersonal attacks, feuds or 'checking' individuals publicly. Whether people perceive my work in that way or not, my intention is always to have conversations with love, empathy nuance and understanding. When in answer to Andy Cohen's question on "Watch What Happens Live" on July 12, "White girls and cornrows, yay or nay? "I said what I said in an attempt to not get involved in what I understood at the time to be an Instagram feud between someone with whom I was not familiar and Kylie Jenner on the topic of cultural appropriation. I have never been interested in getting involved in any celebrity feuds. In that moment, I also felt that the topic of cultural appropriation needs way more than the 10 seconds or less I had to respond at the end of the show to fully unpack. I said as much to Andre Leon Tally after the cameras stopped rolling. So on camera with seconds left in a live broadcast I said, "Bo Derek" the first iconic example of a white woman wearing cornrows I could think of. To be clear I understood when I said, “Bo Derek” that her rocking of cornrows with beads in the 1979 film "10" and that look on her subsequently becoming a cultural phenomenon when the black folks who had been rocking cornrows for decades before her had not similarly become a sensation is an example of the ways in which what bell hooks calls imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchal systems privilege certain bodies' performances of cultural traditions over others. This is when cultural appropriation can tend to erase the marginalized people from whom the culture emerges. Many are taking me to task for not defending Amandla Stenberg who I now know is a 16 year old black actress known for her work in the "Hunger Games" who has spoken out quite eloquently on the topic of cultural appropriation. In researching Amandla's work and words, I was very impressed with a video I saw from her on cultural appropriation where she chronicled a recent history of cultural appropriation and black hair specifically. (https://youtu.be/O1KJRRSB_XA) I was most moved by the question she poses at the end of her video, a question I, too, have asked from lecture stages. "What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?" For me this is the question at the heart of the discussion about cultural appropriation. What of the people whose culture is being mined for the ingredients that can be used in mainstream contexts to spice up the otherwise familiar recipes? Far too often culture is appropriated without an understanding of the history and hardships from which that culture emerges. How do we lovingly make people aware of that history and the potential affects of cultural appropriation that further marginalize and stigmatize those already the most adversely affected by systems that disadvantage certain experiences, bodies and identities over others? These are points Amandla makes beautifully in her video. We live in a multi-cultural society where being influenced by cultures different from ours is inevitable. But when the traditions and practices of marginalized communities are used by those in power and the material conditions of those who are marginalized are not changed individually and systemically this is when cultural appropriation is deeply problematic and even potentially exploitative. These are some of my brief thoughts on cultural appropriation, thoughts that I felt needed a context different from the 10 seconds I had on live TV on Sunday night. I am writing this in the hopes of continuing a dialogue about this issue in a loving, empathetic way that is not about individual attacks but about individual accountability. I always hope we can celebrate cultural differences without erasing those from whom the culture originates. bell hooks in her essay "Eating The Other" talks about this way better than I can. Read it here: http://genius.com/Bell-hooks-eating-the-other-desire-and-resistance-annotated

Help Us Complete "Free CeCe"

On the show #OITNB I play Sophia Burset, a trans woman of color who experiences violence from corrupt individuals and a corrupt prison system. In the documentary film #FreeCeCe and through the story of #CeCeMcDonald we're exploring in depth this culture of violence that far too many trans folks particularly trans folks of color experience everyday. We need your help to complete this film. Please contribute whatever dollar amount you can to our #Indiegogo campaign and share our campaign in social media. I have experienced the power of truthful storytelling can have to ignite social change. Help us tell this story. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/free-cece-post-production-campaign#/ #TransIsBeautiful #FreeCeCe

On May 29, 2014, the issue of timemagazine magazine which proclaimed the “Transgender Tipping Point” was revealed with me on the cover. June 1, 2015 a year and 3 days later, Caitlyn Jenner’s vanityfair cover was revealed proclaiming #CallMeCaitlyn I am so moved by all the love and support Caitlyn is receiving. It feels like a new day, indeed, when a trans person can present her authentic self to the world for the first time and be celebrated for it so universally. Many have commented on how gorgeous Caitlyn looks in her photos, how she is “slaying for the Gods.” I must echo these comments in the vernacular, “Yasss Gawd! Werk Caitlyn! Get it!” But this has made me reflect critically on my own desires to ‘work a photo shoot’, to serve up various forms of glamour, power, sexiness, body affirming, racially empowering images of the various sides of my black, trans womanhood. I love working a photo shoot and creating inspiring images for my fans, for the world and above all for myself. But I also hope that it is my talent, my intelligence, my heart and spirit that most captivate, inspire, move and encourage folks to think more critically about the world around them. Yes, Caitlyn looks amazing and is beautiful but what I think is most beautiful about her is her heart and soul, the ways she has allowed the world into her vulnerabilities. The love and devotion she has for her family and that they have for her. Her courage to move past denial into her truth so publicly. These things are beyond beautiful to me. A year ago when my Time magazine cover came out I saw posts from many trans folks saying that I am “drop dead gorgeous” and that that doesn’t represent most trans people. (It was news to be that I am drop dead gorgeous but I’ll certainly take it). But what I think they meant is that in certain lighting, at certain angles I am able to embody certain cisnormative beauty standards. Now, there are many trans folks because of genetics and/or lack of material access who will never be able to embody these standards. More importantly many trans folks don’t want to embody them and we shouldn’t have to to be seen as ourselves and respected as ourselves . It is important to note that these standards are also infomed by race, class and ability among other intersections. I have always been aware that I can never represent all trans people. No one or two or three trans people can. This is why we need diverse media representstions of trans folks to multiply trans narratives in the media and depict our beautiful diversities. I started #TransIsBeautiful as a way to celebrate all those things that make trans folks uniquely trans, those things that don’t necessarily align with cisnormative beauty standards. For me it is necessary everyday to celebrate every aspect of myself especially those things about myself that don’t align with other people’s ideas about what is beautiful. #TransIsBeautiful is about, whether you’re trans or not, celebrating all those things that make us uniquely ourselves. Most trans folks don’t have the privileges Caitlyn and I have now have. It is those trans folks we must continue to lift up, get them access to healthcare, jobs, housing, safe streets, safe schools and homes for our young people. We must lift up the stories of those most at risk, statistically trans people of color who are poor and working class. I have hoped over the past few years that the incredible love I have received from the public can translate to the lives of all trans folks. Trans folks of all races, gender expressions, ability, sexual orientations, classes, immigration status, employment status, transition status, genital status etc.. I hope, as I know Caitlyn does, that the love she is receiving can translate into changing hearts and minds about who all trans people are as well as shifting public policies to fully support the lives and well being of all of us. The struggle continues…