Is it transphobic?

[yozhikisblue]

b) I don’t know, the villain is a cis - man, and not a trans woman so does that make any difference in your opinion?

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure that makes a difference.

And that's mainly because from the perspective of someone who is transphobic, there is no such thing as a true transgender person. There are only "mentally ill people" who have been "brainwashed into thinking they are the opposite gender" or "perverts" and "sexual deviants" whose entire goal in life is apparently to "coerce people into sleeping with them" or otherwise "force 'normal' people to indulge their 'disgusting' sexual fantasies".

In other words, as far as a transphobic person- or even an everyday person who could care less and is generally ignorant about transgender people is concerned- any character who goes out of their way to crossdress and impersonate another identity can come across coded as "transgender". All the more so if they fall into transphobic stereotypes they may have distantly come across.

A part of me wants to say that so long as the creator's intent isn't bad, they shouldn't be held responsible for how people interpret their work. I certainly hold no real animosity towards the creator of something like Box Trolls. They probably fell into this controversy entirely by accident. I like to believe in creative freedom in general.

On the other hand, there are many popular misconceptions about transgender people, and very few actual transgender people to go around. Most people will never meet a transgender person irl who can debunk all the bizarre ideas floating around out there simply by existing around them. This means transgender people regularly end up in situations that range from uncomfortable to discriminatory to downright dangerous. So it's very hard to discount even well-intentioned mistakes as no big deal when media portrayals may be the only exposure to transgender people that most people will ever get.

Of course there's also something to be said here for me not giving people enough credit. I would like to think most people can tell the difference between a transgender person and a "villainous crossdresser" in a children's movie. It's just that my everyday experiences tell me that's not necessarily the case

[yozhikisblue]

f my memory does not fail me, haven't there been cases where cisgender gay people have been pushed to fulfil a gender role they do not identify with on the basis that it will "make them straight"?

Oh, absolutely. Some examples I can think of (just a warning- only follow these links if you're feeling up to it- they describe very cruel treatment of LGBT people):

"The Aversion Project" in South Africa during apartheid. This was also commonplace in the Soviet Union- and arguably still happens in parts of Russia and post-soviet nations with young people being sent to psychiatric institutions by their families for "corrective treatment" of their sexuality. It's an ongoing issue in Iran as well.

I absolutely agree that queer cisgender people who go through this kind of manipulation and brutal treatment in order to "fit in with society" deserve to have their voices heard, just as much as transgender people do.

I also wish trans-exclusionary feminists, ""drop the T" LGB people and other groups seeking to silence and demean transgender people would stop exploiting the experiences of psychiatric survivors dealing with extreme forms of homophobia in their respective native countries as some kind of bludgeon.

[indagold]

spiritual makes it sound like its religious? Idk weird wording so it confused me.
Nah I doubt thats being transgender, I've read about people who detransition (which is probably the most similar thing), they still identify as their biological sex. They went through the full process but are still cis so hormones and surgery for them couldn't change it.

[NickRowler]

The Skin I Live In is not transphobic. If you are familiar with the director and his work, you would know that he has made films about transgender characters. The Skin I Live In is a film that brings up the topic of gender identity. And you could have a discussion if the character is technically a transwoman or not. I took a class in college where we had to analyze the film in depth, so I am a little bit too familiar with this film. At the end of the day, the film is a horror film and the characters are not perfectly black and white.

[punkarsenic]

terf lesbians

in the butch culture

(i dont wanna derail this, but i wanna make it publicly clear that while there are definitely vocal lesbian terfs - who i will denounce on sight as a nonbinary butch lesbian - there are also a great many straight terfs. butch community and culture has historically been closely aligned with trans culture - our seminal text, stone butch blues, was written by a nonbinary butch lesbian, who identified as trans and was an outspoken trans activist. terfs are vile and hateful, and to connect them explicitly to butch womanhood and lesbianism is to weaken our community at large and let straight women off the hook, when there are also masses of straight terfs, and masses of hatred for butch women in terf circles. i understand that the narrative that terfs are lesbians is a common one, i dont blame anyone for believing it, but its my duty as a lesbian who is hurt by terf rhetoric to debunk this misconception)

anyway, i can see why both pieces of media can be seen as transphobic, although given both issues are about trans women i cant say from any firm footing if they actually are. arguably the first falls into the 'man in a dress' gag, but it seems to more clearly be drag? its one of those fuzzy lines i cant personally draw

the second one... its not explicitly transphobic, but depicting sexual reassignment as a horrific punishment cant be great for the general reputation of the procedures. that said, i havent seen the movie and dunno how its handled, and the horror of being forced to live as a gender youre not - well, thats the closet. it sounds like something that could probably feel hurtful watching, but its not explicitly hateful - or it could be borderline empowering if done right? i dunno

[NickRowler]

The woman in The Skin I Live In may not technically be a trans woman.

SPOILERS

It's a man being forced to live as a woman as a punishment for raping a man's daughter. They feel gender dysphoria as a man stuck in a woman's body, hence the title "The Skin I Live In". The character is in sort of a gray area when it comes to gender. The film may seem hurtful to watch not because of the gender identity stuff but because of rape, torture, and disturbing images.

[punkarsenic]

no i know, i looked it up, i know the character isnt a trans woman. but its still a transition from m to f that could either resonate with or hurt someone going through that transition irl, or resonate with trans men in the horror of being a man forced to live as a woman. and yeah, the rape will probably be more immediately hurtful. again, im not saying 'yes this is definitely hurtful', im saying 'i can see how this might be'

[Mari]

the film is good in a way that just when you start to feel bad for the victim you get reminded that he did in fact rape a mentally ill girl and punch her too