New World View

ANTM: The Much Anticipated (and Impressive) Transgender Reveal September 4, 2008

We all know that Tyra Banks has always used her show America’s Next Top Model as an opportunity to discuss controversial topics, such as anorexia, gay and lesbian issues, body image, and racial stereotypes.  And in my opinion, she has always done a terrible job of it. She’s always chosen controversial contestants for their ratings values, not modeling abilities, making for the awkward message: “a lesbian (or fill in the blank) can be a top model too, except they actually can’t because this person is an awful model”. For example, last season’s winner, Whitney, was clearly chosen as the best of the worst mostly because she was the show’s forth or fifth attempt at spotlighting plus-size models.

So when I heard that this cycle would feature a transgender woman, my transgender-loving heart dropped. So many things could go wrong! What if they picked someone who had absolutely no talent and every viewer decided that no trans person could ever be a model? What if she was referred to as a “he-she,” a drag queen, or a man? 

Well, the name calling did occur, but I am happy to report that I was very impressed with last night’s episode. Overall, the insulting comments only came from other contestants, and the editing clearly labeled those opinions as the bigoted views of jealous competitors. And best of all, Isis was clearly one of the most talented contestants and she did an impeccable job explaining who she is: a complex and beautiful person. (For the record, she considers herself not transgender, but “born in the wrong body,” so I will do my best not to refer to her as such.)

I thought that it would be interesting to track some of the best and worst quotes from the show, in order to track any possible changes in opinion (dare I say growth!) from Isis’s competitors and just to keep a record for posterity purposes.

The Worst:

“Ain’t this supposed to be a girl competition? How did you get through the door?” – Kacey

“You walk around like that in a small town, you’ll get shot. And it’s not so much a close-minded view – it’s just more traditional. Coming from a good southern family, I was really thrown back by Isis. Growing up in the South, you don’t exactly run into a he-she everyday. Isis has no place in this competition” -Clark, Pawleys Island SC

“It is the funniest thing, like, in my head – her like trying to be sexy. REALITY IS she’s a man.”
-Sharaun, Chicago IL

The Best:

Kacey to Isis: “Are you . . . all female?”
Isis: “Physically, was I born female? No.”

Isis does a fantastic job of drawing the line between what body she was born into, and what she actually is – a woman, plain and simple.

“Well I think with the transgender issue, it’s very easy to caricature someone like Isis, but when I spoke to her the other day, she really knew her light, she knew what to do, and she was smart. She’s got real emotion and feeling, and I think it’s because she’s lived.” -Nigel Barker (photographer & judge)

I’m very excited to see the rest of the season.  Certainly, Isis cannot represent the entire transgender community – or even the majority of transgender women – but she is going to pave an important path for others.  Maybe she’ll even be America’s Next Top Model (I sure hope so!)!