When an oppressed class comes under attack from a dominant class for deviating from its norms, one common response is to not only internalize that attack but to respond to it by shifting criticism to subclasses oppressed along other axes. Mumford provides several examples of this, noting how some leaders in the black community responded to the Moynihan report by urging community self-regulation against black expressions of homosexuality and against other perceived deviations from the standard of white patriarchy. This is exacerbated when the only members of the oppressed community who are allowed to be visible in the mainstream are those that conform to a completely unrealistic and dehumanizing idea of "respectability" dictated by the oppressive class. This however presents opportunities for subversion, where those visible members use their visibility to redirect discourse and challenge the dominant norms within the constraints placed upon their behavior and speech.
This bears similarities to recent dialogues around respectability within and without the trans community, where the lived experiences and behavior of trans women and people of color are minimized and constrained in the name of respectability.
The recent high-profile media appearances of Laverne Cox, Carmen Carrera, and Janet Mock exemplify the ways in which TWoC are made to respond to attacks . Both Carrera and Cox responded eloquently to incredibly invasive and inappropriate questions in a recent interview with Katie Couric. The overwhelming praise both received for these responses masks the fact that they couldn't have responded in any other way and have been taken seriously by Couric and her audience. A justifiably aggressive or angry response to such questions would have been perceived as playing into the stereotypes of emotional instability and "crudeness" that are constantly used to police the behavior of trans women and women of color.
Janet Mock faced a similar dilemma in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. After Mock responded critically to Morgan's sensationalization of her body, Morgan threw what can only be called a tantrum on twitter, calling Mock "cisphobic" among other things. That a white cis man would express feeling personally attacked and threatened by a black trans woman who (politely) questioned his overstepping her boundaries and her identity speaks to the incredible degree to which he is insulated from social critique and to the impossibly rigid standards of behavior and expression TWoC are held to if they are to be considered "respectable".
This becomes deadly when one considers that trans women of color, the most demonized members within the trans community, are also the most at-risk for sexual violence, murder, and HIV. While the white (and predominantly male) components of the trans community seek to leverage events like the TDOR for political capital while maintaining an politically-respectable image of trans people, it excludes those people who are the actual victims supposedly being commemorated.
This bears similarities to recent dialogues around respectability within and without the trans community, where the lived experiences and behavior of trans women and people of color are minimized and constrained in the name of respectability.
The recent high-profile media appearances of Laverne Cox, Carmen Carrera, and Janet Mock exemplify the ways in which TWoC are made to respond to attacks . Both Carrera and Cox responded eloquently to incredibly invasive and inappropriate questions in a recent interview with Katie Couric. The overwhelming praise both received for these responses masks the fact that they couldn't have responded in any other way and have been taken seriously by Couric and her audience. A justifiably aggressive or angry response to such questions would have been perceived as playing into the stereotypes of emotional instability and "crudeness" that are constantly used to police the behavior of trans women and women of color.
Janet Mock faced a similar dilemma in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. After Mock responded critically to Morgan's sensationalization of her body, Morgan threw what can only be called a tantrum on twitter, calling Mock "cisphobic" among other things. That a white cis man would express feeling personally attacked and threatened by a black trans woman who (politely) questioned his overstepping her boundaries and her identity speaks to the incredible degree to which he is insulated from social critique and to the impossibly rigid standards of behavior and expression TWoC are held to if they are to be considered "respectable".
This becomes deadly when one considers that trans women of color, the most demonized members within the trans community, are also the most at-risk for sexual violence, murder, and HIV. While the white (and predominantly male) components of the trans community seek to leverage events like the TDOR for political capital while maintaining an politically-respectable image of trans people, it excludes those people who are the actual victims supposedly being commemorated.
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