‘If you don’t “pass” as cis, you don’t exist’: the trans audience's reproofs of ‘Cis Gaze’ and transnormativity in TV series

There are currently more trans characters than ever in television series, while at the same time scrutiny of trans people is intensifying in social and public debate, and the correspondence between this increased presence in the media and improvements in the trans community's rights is in d...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Villegas-Simón, Isabel, Sánchez Soriano, Juan José, Ventura, Rafael
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/56562
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/56562
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02673231231163704
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:transnormativity
trans
cispassing
audience studies
TV series
Descripción
Sumario:There are currently more trans characters than ever in television series, while at the same time scrutiny of trans people is intensifying in social and public debate, and the correspondence between this increased presence in the media and improvements in the trans community's rights is in dispute. This research aims to find out how trans audiences relate to their portrayal in TV series, to learn about their perceptions and opinions, and to understand how these depictions affect their everyday lives. A qualitative analysis was conducted of 19 trans people in two focus groups and nine semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the participants perceive a clear distance between their realities and the most popular narratives about trans lives. They identify cispassing as a transversal element that drives the production, creation, and distribution of media narratives, leading to a transnormative representation. Consequently, the trans audience demands the inclusion of trans people in the (audiovisual) cultural circuit in order to combat the ‘cis gaze’ and to create more diverse narratives.