By Bhumika Hooda

Abstract

Social media platforms provide a peek into the collective mindset of society. In light of the heavy influence possessed by Bollywood over our society, the interplay between social media and Bollywood is undeniable. Therefore, social media and Bollywood are essential resources to not only understand the transgender community but also to change such mentality for the better. It becomes imperative to glance at the representation of the Transgender (TGD) community on social media and Bollywood to aid our understanding.

In earlier Bollywood films, the trans characters played the roles of villains; for example- the character of Maharani in Sadak (1991) was a trans woman who tortured and trafficked girls, while the role of Lajja Shankar Pandey played by Ashutosh Rana in Sangharsh (1999) was involved in kidnapping children for religious sacrifices. However, in recent times, we have noticed a considerable shift in the portrayal of a trans character, for example, the role of Razia in Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), depicted in a more nuanced and neutral tone. We find an increase in the casting of trans persons in shows- Invanka Das in Bombay Begums and Mairembam Ronaldo Singh in Paatal Lok and the presence of the trans community in the moviemaking has also felt with the involvement of Gazal Dhaliwal, a screenwriter, who worked in movies like Lipstick Under my Burkha and Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga. But much like the earlier representation, transphobia is continuously used. In the 2021 release Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, a social issue drama, several transphobic comments and words like ‘andar se bahar se’ and ‘’Ladke ke sath sex, tu toh ladka bhi nahi hai’ are used, which are just crass and are employed for comedic relief, rather than to provide any concrete social message.       

Moreover, these roles end up imposing cisgender body standards on trans persons, which in itself is problematic. Hiring trans persons is earmarked for niche characters, which are often meagre, prejudiced or granted in the name of ‘authenticity’. It reduces trans representation by trans actors to a single dimension and leads to the perpetuation of stereotypes. Nikki Reitz, in The Representation of Transwoman in Film and Television, points out that there is more to the life of a trans person, and the stories on-screen must reflect ‘realness’ as opposed to the many fixed axioms of queer qualities. One of the ways the filmmakers can get closer to representing ‘realness’ is by offering opportunities to talented Queer people to depict queer experiences that are essentially sans-stereotype.

Media can be instrumental to a TGD person’s journey because of the exposure and assurance people may find through it. But it is important to note that this journey differs for everyone. The representations of transitions in media are significantly crucial because they offer a cultural foothold for individuals whose gender journeys are different and provide a larger space for heterosexuals to understand the process. For instance, social media may be a reference point for what transition looks like for everyone, in turn homogenising the experience of a transgender person. In reality, some TGD individuals’ gender journeys include a gender-affirmation medical procedure involving hormones, multiple surgeries, and other medical procedures. In contrast, others take no medical actions, and still others do not identify as any normative gender. 

This skewed representation further imposes pressure to fit into a transgender person’s transitioned gender fully. Through movie representations, too, a confident expectation is placed on transgender to look like their transitioned gender and to act that way. Today, even within the larger group of trans people, primarily those who have adopted gendered physical and societal norms and get recognition after transition, are likely to be readily accepted in society or on social media because they are easier to categorise in the binary. 

While some transitioned trans people may want to be part of the binary, it becomes a problem when we look at the accessibility angle, the medical transition being one example. It becomes hard to access privileges like proper medical transition. It makes it difficult for the majority of trans people to fulfil the binary expectations, which might as well be the key to feeling accepted in society. Society does not welcome trans individuals and imposes an additional layer of expectation, which makes this more burdensome. This representation is then, in some ways, invalidating the aspects of being transgender by perpetuating the heterosexual binary. Skewed representation can negatively influence people. 

This expectation of specific heteronormative behaviour from the TGD community brings forth the double standard in our society. One of the examples is the use of makeup by cis men and transwomen. When cis actors like Ayushmann Khurrana, Siddhant Batra and Ankush Bahugana wore makeup, people took them to be ‘revolutionary’ and ‘brave’. They are “revolutionary” when so many oppressed people have been ostracised, beaten, and even killed for doing the same thing. The heart-breaking case of Priyanshu, who used to post reels showing different make-up looks. He was so relentlessly bullied for it that he ended up committing suicide. Famous cismen get recognition for wearing makeup and dresses while, on the other hand, transgender people are receiving extreme, often fatal, backlash for it. They are mocked, isolated, and threatened with violence.  

While we have cismen engaging in cultural misappropriation, ciswomen, on the other hand, have their reasons for generating a backlash against transwomen. Radical feminists or gender critical feminists consider such embodiment of femininity by transwomen as a caricature of an idea of femininity, which the feminist movement is trying is reject and found this portrayal problematic in the advancement of the feminist movement. Transwomen end up becoming the “enemy” of the feminist movement. Following the backlash received after Caitlyn Jenner’s appearance on Vanity Magazine’s cover page for her ‘sexist’ representation of women, Hari Nef, an American transwomen model and actress, launched a Twitter movement, #FreeTheFemme intending to remove the social stigma surrounding trans femininity, in whatever form it may be.

Conclusion

Media representation of the Trans community has mixed effects. Media representations due to increased public understanding are often stereotypical. This increased representation is coming at a heavy cost to be borne by the trans community. Social media has provided trans persons access to like-minded people and anti-transgender activists to come together. Targeted attacks and anti-trans misinformation are the two tools heavily employed, forcing trans bloggers to provide a tailored version of do’s and don’ts for trans persons. Understanding the fluid nature of trans normativity from the perspectives of TGD audiences is crucial to managing the critical space between the positives from representation in popular culture and social media and the effects of normative heterosexual constructions of the TGD experience on the people living it. The presence and representation of Trans people have been successful in making people aware, which would have been difficult in the absence of social media. But going forward, we must be actively challenging the norm to facilitate and help Transgender community establish a presence online.

Author’s Bio

Bhumika Hooda is pursuing her five-year B.A.LL.B. law degree at Jindal Global Law.  

Image Source: https://phys.org/news/2022-03-series-euphoria-representation-trans-characters.html