Recently Mav witnessed something fascinating on the internet. Several men arguing on a message over whether or not it was appropriate to post transgender cosplay models and to talk about how sexy they were. This isn’t to say that they were concerned about whether or not it was appropriate to objectify women — that was taken as a given. The question was whether or not transwomen qualified to be there. Mav was so enthralled by this that he coined is own portmanteau to describe it:
Transcosplapobia (tranz • KÄS • plə • fō • bē • ə) n. the irrational fear of, dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people who are dressed up as a character from a movie, book, or video game.
Interestingly enough there were people arguing on BOTH sides of the issue. And in the end, it appears that the side that won the argument was the side that was NOT transcosplaphobic. Score one for LGBTQ progress? Maybe? There is so much to unpack here! Mav and Hannah are joined by Jesse Jack and Danielle Amethyst to talk about transgender identity, transphobia, cosplay, the male gaze, gender identity, queer theory, trans theory and how it all ties together. Join us for a special Pride Month edition of VoxPopcast and let us know your thoughts.
Citations and Links:
- This episode’s Call for Comments
- Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler
- Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive by Julia Serano
- Visual and Other Pleasures by Laura Mulvey
- Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics by R.W. Connell
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Visit Danielle’s website at: https://danielleamethyst.org
- Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahleerogers
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
- Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com
- Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast
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