Beginning with "this isn't your ordinary makeover show," the show is immediately situated as a "unique" spectacle for the viewer, a spectacle in which the transgender women are on display. The way in which the news anchor interacted with Laverne, Jaime, and Nina, calling them "transgender" as if it were an insult or a negative attribute, made us feel uncomfortable, although, unfortunately, that is to be expected from a mainstream news station. The news anchor asks the women to tell them about their experiences, an action that further reiterates the position of the women as a non-normative spectacle as they are asked to explain their decision to transition. The women are then asked about the term transgender, its meaning as an umbrella term for gender non-conforming individuals, and the differences between transgender and transvestite. Once the women begin to respond, however, they are soon cut off, which just reiterates the position of the media in promoting certain values. This made us really angry at first, but upon second look, we appreciate that that question was even asked on such a mainstream news station, as well as their responses as it revealed a greater degree of thought in "TRANSform Me" in revealing their politics.
Beginning with "this isn't your ordinary makeover show," the show is immediately situated as a "unique" spectacle for the viewer, a spectacle in which the transgender women are on display. The way in which the news anchor interacted with Laverne, Jaime, and Nina, calling them "transgender" as if it were an insult or a negative attribute, made us feel uncomfortable, although, unfortunately, that is to be expected from a mainstream news station. The news anchor asks the women to tell them about their experiences, an action that further reiterates the position of the women as a non-normative spectacle as they are asked to explain their decision to transition. The women are then asked about the term transgender, its meaning as an umbrella term for gender non-conforming individuals, and the differences between transgender and transvestite. Once the women begin to respond, however, they are soon cut off, which just reiterates the position of the media in promoting certain values. This made us really angry at first, but upon second look, we appreciate that that question was even asked on such a mainstream news station, as well as their responses as it revealed a greater degree of thought in "TRANSform Me" in revealing their politics.
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