09/04/2008
Transgender Contestant Isis Stirs Up America's Next Top Model
Last night was the debut of Cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model which featured perhaps the most silly 'futuristic' themed overhaul ever put on by Tyra Banks, but also the debut of pre-op transgender model Isis, whose presence is certainly one good reason to keep your eyes on this season. The other models' reactions to this contestant in their midst presented a range of reactions from the most accepting to the most bigoted.
What stood out most, however, was Isis' own strength through it all.
The action starts at around 1:36 in the clip AFTER THE JUMP...
Says one contestant Sharaun: "Isis is over the top. America's Next Top Model is not going to be a drag queen. I'm sorry. It's not."
Says another, McKey: "Isis is a pretty cool chick. In the situation that she's in, you'd think that she'd want to hide everything, but she's open, she's forthwith, she's not gonna hide who she is from anybody. I'm a big fighter girl and I think that she is, like, tenfold more brave than I am."
McKey and Isis swim together in the pool, where Isis explains her transition from male to female:
Isis: "Transitioning is like going through puberty all over again. It's like, I started out as like, a kid and now I'm like... I'm developing.
McKey: "You're like a butterfly."
Two other contestants then share their discomfort:
Clark: "I'm not gonna lie. It makes me uncomfortable as hell. It freaks me out that she got something else different down there than me."
Hannah: "I think the thing about Isis though is like, I was like trying to convince myself I was comfortable. I can't even comprehend I'm comfortable. But really, I'm not. Sometimes people have a really warped view of transgender people...coming from a small town, hell yeah we have a warped view."
Clark: "Hell yeah. You walk around like that in a small town, you 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' every day. Isis has no place in this competition."
There are a few other reactions in this episode that aren't highlighted here. Asian model Sheena shows her support for Isis early on, and one other contestant (I believe she's already been booted) said that if she needs to, "she'll stomp that man down."
Watch the clip, AFTER THE JUMP...
Previously
FOX Apologizes for Remarks about Transgender Model [tr]
FOX Mocks Next Top Model Transgender Contestant Isis [tr]
Posted 10:08 AM EST by Andy Towle in Models, News, Reality TV, Transgender | Permalink
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"Isis is an individual who deserves to be treated with respect, but let's not ignore the obvious."
You might want to follow your own advice, Ron. I don't watch the show, but from the clip it is clear that neither Isis nor the other contestants are ignoring "the obvious." In fact, they're being honest and open about it, even if some people are much more enlightened than others. I hope Isis's candor and bravery will open some "traditional" (aka narrow/ignorant) minds and help them out of their "biological" gender obsessions and pointless transphobia.
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 4, 2008 7:41:26 PM
okay dipshit ignoramouses.
Trannie's and drag queens were the spark that kicked off the gay rights movement at Stonewall. Rent the DVD, the characters are not "real" but the situations are, e.g., assimilationist Fire Island middle class "str8" acting do nothings.
Also... Tula, a trans woman, was a Bond girl as well as a Playboy model IN THE 80's. She got the cover and center fold in the European edition, but only a pictorial in the US edition (we are so provincial).
So there fuckwads.
Posted by: Qjersey | Sep 4, 2008 7:53:49 PM
Isis is not a transvestite. She doesn't just put on women's clothes and make-up.
She's a transGENDERED. A woman born in a man's body. She's saving up money to eventually have gender re-assignment surgery. In doing so, she will become a legal WOMAN and will be able to marry a man just like any other heterosexual.
In the eyes of the law, she will be just like any other woman. She's already living as a woman. In certain countries (I don't know about the U.S.), it's enough to be living as a woman and to have made up your mind to do so (as in it's something you know, and Isis has known for as far as she can remember) to be legally classified as a woman.
Her legal records might ALREADY say that she's a woman.
Get educated, Ron.
Posted by: Philip Wester | Sep 5, 2008 5:20:58 AM
Feh, runway models are nothing more than animatronic clothes hangers. Previously models were called "Mannequins" because they were nothing more than mobile store displays. What made one successful was not the genitals they possessed, but how well they can display/sell the product. Isis has proven that she can display/sell product very well. Better than the bigoted "traditional" cows who are her competition.
Posted by: Wheezy | Sep 7, 2008 2:20:40 AM
i'm sorry. how can these girls want to be models and feel uncomfortable with this?
how have these girls known about america's next top model and not felt prepared for this. if anything, jay was a transitional visual experience for them. and with miss j as a judge at panel, sheeit, these girls should know better...
Posted by: ian | Sep 7, 2008 9:42:49 PM