Burke begins “Terministic Screens,”
by distinguishing the differences between two major approaches of terministic
screens: “scientific” and “dramatistic” screens. He defends the idea that
terministic screens allow us to form our own perception of the reality given
the how we interact and create meaning form language. He differentiates
scientific from dramatistic by stating, “scientific builds the edifice of
language” and dramatistic, “puts primary stress on horatory expressions” (44).
I plan on exploring on how the issue of transgender, given the media attention
placed on Laverne Cox, can be viewed using these terministic screens.
For those unfamiliar with Laverne
Cox, she played a prominent role in the popular Netflex series: Orange is the
New Black. Cox played a women struggling with her identity as transgender women
in a women’s prison. Her position as a transgender women in both television and
“reality” have lead her to advocate for equal opportunities for transgender,
which has made headlines in current media. Her roles in the community have
leaded her to receive multiple awards to which many consider the overall topic
to be controversial. In attempts to show how the media has affected our
perception of transgender actors/actresses, I hope to examine this new type of
“reality” framed by the media.
A scientific approach to this issue
would first consider a definition. Merriam Webster defines transgender as “of
or relating to people who have sexual identity that is not clearly male or
clearly female.” We may begin to note how “the nature of our terms affect the
nature of our observations,” thus meaning that we may judge Lavarene Cox’s
performance with our own preconceived notions of transgender (46). Viewing her on the show may correlate with
how we can define, interact, and create meaning with the idea of transgender. An
extension of this would be how there appears to be two kinds of terms, “terms
that put together thing and take things apart” (49). For example, we may be
able to identify that by the defining differences or similarities. When
discussing gender, some may not consider transgender a category of gender. In this
same respect, some may relate to Laverne as an independent African American
woman if addressing her as an individual. Others may question whether she is a
female or male, most likely resorting to the definition of transgender.
A dramatistic approach to this
issue “culminates in the kinds of speculation that find their handiest
materials in stories, plays, poems, the rhetoric of oratory and advertising”
(45). Therefore, the definition of transgender would expand to encompass how
Laverne is portrayed in the media. The media angles stories related to those
that are transgender further subjecting the community to discrimination. Those
in the media influence how the community perceives transgender, especially in
the workforce. When the media becoming preoccupied with how one transition as a
transgender takes away from the idea that transgender’s are individuals not
objects. Those that refuse to understand transgender based on any type of
personal reason, continue to contribute to this type of speculation enforced by
the media.
In the end, terministic screens
determine how we understand terms within our language that help us create our
own meaning, much of which is reliant on the individual’s experience. We can
take two major approaches as a way to see how media has affected our perception
of being a transgender in our society. Although there is one idea that remains
consistent, we can perceive the world around us through screens that shape the
way we understand language.
Wow, you've picked a really great and timely example for our unit! Laverne Cox's place in the media as a spokeswomen for those who are transgender is the perfect example to use for trying to explicate terministic screen (TS) as trans people are more visible in our society and trying to gain representation and rights.
ReplyDeleteOur TS are influenced through a myriad of ways as you’ve synthesized. There is the textbook definition of what it means to be transgender, our perceptions of what that means, the media’s portrayal, etc. What is especially vital in this time I believe is the trans experience to be defined by those who are transgendered. OITNB has fortunately given us a real transwoman playing a trans character while other pieces of media are still playing into the erasure of trans people by not hiring trans actors. Jared Leto won an Oscar for his portrayal of a trans woman in Dallas Buyer’s Club last year and Eddie Redmayne was just cast a trans women in an upcoming film. When will Hollywood realize the erasure that is at work here? Not only this but I believe casting cis-gendered men leads to altering TS resulting in confusion about those who are transgender. It erases trans people and the trans experience itself.
http://time.com/10650/dont-applaud-jared-letos-transgender-mammy/
The TIME article contests that Leto’s role in DBC plays up the majority of stereotypes and tropes associated with transwomen, she is not a real person but a caricature in the film, the butt of a joke or a trope. The article also argues that what is truly problematic about the role is the accolades and praise Leto has received for essentially what is misrepresentation (and bad acting). Yet, the Academy pats themselves on the back for being so “inclusive”. Is it really progress if the marginalized are still getting overlooked? Erasure is not justifiable in this regard because this does nothing for the advancement of these people's rights or their representation, they don't have a voice here.
I think this erasure of the transgender experience is a perfect example of terministic screens at work. I feel like we're constantly debating the fact in class of if there could ever be 'justifiable' erasure, and the examples provided in your post and the comment above show a clear indication that there cannot be. If we are able to identify erasure in the ways in which we try to "help" an ostracized group, and we choose to argue over whether or not its an acceptable use of erasure, we are failing in the ways that Burke himself urged against. We are not "listening", we are not remaking our habits, we are not giving a voice to those that are consistently blindsided within our terministic screens. Laverne Cox is a perfect example of the ways in which a group's voice can be and should be represented by the very group that it so immediately concerns.
ReplyDeleteThis discussion also made me think of Hollywood's infamous "whitewashing" in films that are supposedly meant to depict various cultures, and more specifically this photograph from the Humans of New York cite: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/114769910911/i-had-this-feeling-in-acting-school-that-once-we . If the point of pointing out erasure is not to discuss ways to work against it, to 'change' our terministic screen, then why point it out at all?
Erin,
ReplyDeleteYour post caught my eye because I, too am a fan of the now sadly suspended show Orange Is The New Black. While my own blog post dealt with issues of race, I believe gender roles are a controversy of the same magnitude when involved with language. You're right, just as Burke argues that language has the ability to construct a certain reality, so influencing are the external forces that will inevitably play a part in a reality's construction. It's hard to remove views from the media about transgenderism when we are constantly surrounded by them. It's almost as if the media has the power to "reflect", "select", and "deflect" a reality about this topic that is unwarranted.
Your post made me wonder then, how are we to escape these pre-conceived realities? I think the answer is language, our own, at least. As an advocate for transgenderism, and a transgender herself, Laverne Cox has done an exceptional job representing her reality through the TV show.
-Samantha Stamps