Discover Top Posts Tagged with #zeke smith

Rafael Silva reacts to Zeke Smith proposing to Nico Santos at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards - April 2, 2022 | [Source]

#rafael silva #videos #events #glaad media awards #glaad #glaad media awards 2022 #april 2022 #zeke smith #nico santos #glaad awards 2022 la

Red-footed Booby (Sula sula)

#red-footed booby #sula sula #sulidae #suliformes #birds #zeke smith

Pics Cam Kramer

#wrestling #wrestler #sam turner #zeke smith #u23 #freestyle #us #nationals #gif

Readers of this blog will know that I am obsessed with trans media. After decades of being portrayed by cis people as tragic deviants, we are finally starting to see transgender people playing themselves in roles written by trans people, directed by trans people, and produced by trans people. It’s an amazing feeling to finally recognize yourself in characters on screen.

Disclosure (2020) is a documentary about the history of trans people in media. It starts at the turn of the century, with depictions of gender non-conformity and cross-dressing alongside racism in the films of D. W. Griffith. We see trans people being played as a joke, or as sex workers, or as mentally ill and dangerous, or as something deceptive and disgusting that is met with nausea and vomiting. On talk shows, we were asked intrusive questions that focused on bodies instead of humanity. We see cisgender men win awards for playing trans women, over and over again, for forty years.

All of this is told through the experiences of real trans people. Their experience is front and center as they share how these images affected them growing up and discovering themselves. This shows just how complex these depictions are. Something that is problematic can still mean a lot to someone, because it was the first time they saw what was possible for them, even if it was an unfair depiction. It’s said in the beginning of the film that the biggest problem in trans representation is that there’s not enough of it. We’re left hanging onto stumbling, wrong versions of ourselves, because it’s all that’s there. But that’s changing.

It’s disappointing that non-binary people are not well-represented in this film. The problem with non-binary people in film and tv is that they are assumed to be binary and thus erased. In Disclosure, trans men and women discuss how representation affected them, but we don’t hear the same from non-binary people. It is only mentioned that some of them are on tv now. It’s a shame they’re not more included in this film, and we must make sure that they are not left behind as binary trans people progress in the world.

That’s my only critique of this film. I watched it twice over the weekend and I’m really obsessed with it. Here are some takeaways for trans and cis folks.

Cis people: I hope you learn from this that trans people are not what you have probably seen in tv and film. I hope you understand how it feels to only see people like you as disgusting monsters on screen growing up, and I hope you try to do better by us. I hope you think about this next time you hear someone laugh at anything gender non-conforming.

Trans people: This film might be hard for you to watch. I hope you see that we have always been around, and for as long as media has done us wrong, they couldn’t take their eyes off of us. We are so special, whether or not the world can see it. Being trans is a gift.

small rant

I am pissed off and want to make this known. In season 37 of Survivor: Game Changers, a season who consisted of players that had made “game changing” moves. Two players on this season were Zeke Smith and Jeff Varner. Jeff Varner, A OPENLY GAY MAN, publicly outed Smith as trans(ftm), Varner was hit with quite a bit of backlash, obviously, however Zeke publicly forgave him at the reunion show. (As i nice tidbit i would like to add that Zeke is dating Nico Santos who plays mateo on superstore). Back to Varner, who was hit with quite a bit of criticism, as is fair. BUT-but, he is claiming to be the victim of cyber bullying; “I suffered quite a bit of cyber bullying myself,” Varner said. “So I have a point of reference, and I have an experience that helps me communicate to them the importance of empathy, being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes to understand the experience they are bringing to a conversation or a situation.” and is even writing a book titled Surviving Shame. This is an awful thing but is even worse knowing Varner is gay and would do such a thing. So all in all-Fuck Jeff Varner

#survivor #game changers #jeff varner #zeke smith #ftm