Last Tuesday night, against my better judgment, I tuned in to MTV’s “Faking It,” a show about two teenage girls who pretend to be lesbians because it’s — get this — “cool” and will help make them “popular” and “desirable.” The show itself has been around for a while so this rant isn’t directed at the series. It’s directed at the episode’s guest star, Laverne Cox.
Unless you’re one of the few people who doesn’t have a Netflix subscription or who doesn’t share a Netflix account with 10 other friends, you know Cox as Sophia Burset from the hit Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.”
If you’re a little more dialed in and socially aware, you know her as the hot new face of one of the most pressing movements of our generation: The fight for sexual equality and LGBT rights.
Cox herself has shed light on the issue of transgender rights, something that as a gay man I’ve seen be wrongfully overshadowed in the LGBT movement. She spoke out with vigor about the injustice the trans community faces. She made a name for herself and scored a Time magazine cover in the process. She’s paving the way for trans actors and actresses, and the trans community itself.
So, with all of the good she has done in mind, when I heard Cox would be guest starring on “Faking It,” I was slightly taken aback, but I had to find out what it’s all about.
Via: The Boston Herald
I forced myself to watch a marathon that was conveniently airing on MTV in preparation for what the commercial teased would be the most dramatic episode yet — tap dancing and flamboyance guaranteed.
The show itself is anti-progressive. The concept is ludicrous and manages to completely overlook the struggles that most LGBT youth face. Although at one point in Tuesday’s episode it seemed as if something meaningful would happen, as one of the main characters opens up to Laverne Cox’s character about faking her lesbian status in a desperate attempt to be popular, that was quickly turned to shit when Cox’s character broke down in tears and applauded her bravery, which was later further applauded by one of the gay male leads, who all but kissed her feet and claimed to empathize with the courage it took to come out… as a pretend lesbian.
In a typical MTV-style plot twist, one of the two girls pretending to be a lesbian actually turns out to be one and falls in love with her best friend, who — you guessed it — is only pretending to be a lesbian to make guys more attracted to her. The problem with this logic is that it insinuates that lesbianism is attractive, and it manages to perpetuate an idea that lesbians can be changed, the ignorant idea that you can, “Fuck the lesbian out of her,” “All she needs is a good dick,” “She just hasn’t been with a real man yet,” or maybe… They’re just faking it.
Via: Zap2It
The problem is further manifested in the main character’s behavior. She’s a lesbian for sure. She has feelings for only women, more specifically her best friend, but then, one day, out of the blue, she hooks up with the boy who her best friend is trying to get with and suddenly she finds herself also attracted to men. She tries to explain this later to her friend by saying that her mind says no but her body says yes, further perpetuating the aforementioned idea.
I’m by no means erasing the possibility that she could be bisexual, but the problem with the series is that it billed her as a lesbian and played with her sexuality in a fluid manner. This perpetuates the idea that has been instilled upon LGBT youth by society and their parents for years, “How do you know you’re gay if you’ve never been with a woman?” And, “You just haven’t met the right boy yet!”
“Faking It” also fails to deal with any real-world issues LGBT youth face, which is what frustrates me about Cox’s involvement. I wonder how she so willingly attached herself to a series that is harmful to LGBT youth and the community as a whole. How is she so willing to be a part of something that enforces ignorant beliefs and perpetuates negative ideals about sexuality and fails to shed light on the actual issues at hand?
I believe this can all be explained fairly easily: It was a ploy to plug Cox’s new special, “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” a documentary about transgender youth in America, which will be airing on — again, you guessed it — MTV.
Via: Rebloggy
Interestingly enough, the documentary will also be airing on LogoTV, which managed to find an open slot somewhere between “Queer as Folk” reruns and the network’s cash cow, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the latter of which was recently brought under scrutiny for its lackadaisical usage of the term “she-male” by former contestant and transgender activist Carmen Carrera. Carrera put the show’s creator and namesake, RuPaul, on blast regarding the term and suggested that LogoTV do something about it, to which he immaturely responded saying that he pays the network’s light bills so he can, essentially, do whatever he wants — a statement that, to my knowledge, never spurred a response from LogoTV.
So, again, I’m left questioning Laverne Cox’s involvement with, now not only a TV series but an entire network. I want to know why Cox is so readily overlooking the aforementioned issues. Is it about money? Do her means justify her ends because she’s being forward-thinking and looking at the big picture — the long-term progress of the LGBT movement?
I have tried reaching out to Cox via Twitter, including during her #AskLaverne campaign on Tuesday, during which she enthusiastically answered groundbreaking questions such as, “What’s your favorite Beyonce song?” and plugged her guest role on “Faking It” instead of addressing more important questions, like mine, which regarded her disappointing involvement with “Faking It” and “LogoTV.”
I think it’s necessary for me to restate the fact that I’m not trying to erase or overshadow all of the good Laverne Cox has done. She has achieved so much in such a short amount of time. I just think it’s important to call these issues into question. I want answers because I want to understand.
Feature photo courtesy of: Locker Dome
