'You Don't Look Trans Enough'

Dana Aliya Levinson  writes over at HuffPost:

‘Sorry, you don’t look trans enough,’ is a phrase that I, a transgender actress, have heard when auditioning for trans roles. Many of my trans* identifying actor friends across the ‘passing-as-cis-privilege’ spectrum, as well as gender non-conforming friends who are not medically transitioning, have heard this from casting directors or producers as well. Now you tell me, what looks more ‘trans’ than anactual trans* person?

Levinson points out that stereotypes exist as ways that the minority ‘other’ can be distilled to a majority audience in a quick caricature. Stereotypes are familiar. Stereotypes give some audiences comfort:

We don’t even need to go back a century to see when black-face was not only accepted, but considered a plausible way to portray a black character in media directed at a mostly white audience.

Which is why both movie producers and the audience expects trans characters who align with those stereotypes.

(Photos of cis actors playing transgender characters).