Yesterday afternoon I watched the latest episode of the INO Podcast, a production hosted by Marcus Myers and Kofi Jones. This was not the first time I had seen the show which focuses on hot topics and popular culture, which was the main reason I committed to watching this episode which featured a conversation with 24-year-old Transgender activist Alexa Hoffman.
It would not be untrue to say that the show is perhaps a barbershop conversation for the digital age, or rather Barbados’ answer to the Breakfast Club Radio show, with Myers in the role as irreverent provocateur, Charlamange and Jones as more of a DJ Envy, a quieter more subdued sidekick.
In the beginning, Alexa tells her story of growing up and realizing she was different and the reactions of intolerant institutions and individuals. I found this a compelling part of the entire show particularly because it provided an insight into the work that we as parents and teachers and an entire community need to do at with children to root out discrimination of any kind.
As young content creators, the pair and their team should be applauded for thinking this conversation is important enough to lend their platform to, especially when so few others seem to share that sentiment.
They also took the opportunity to make jokes about trans disclosure and the particulars of trans bodies. Jokes that are as old and tired as they are offensive. To make things worse, there were also moments in the exchange where their views as admittedly cisgender straight males were centered more than Hoffman’s. In a moment where Hoffman was describing the vagaries of disclosure to potential intimate partners and the physically dangerous experience it can be, Mayers said: “I am glad you do it, I respect that about you.” As if to say you putting yourself in harm’s way is a fair trade-off in the interest of holding together fragile masculinity. It seemed like a dismissal of the dangers, an odd rebuttal to cases of death to violence of trans women.
According to the project Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) run by the non-governmental organization Transgender Europe (TGEU), a total of 2,115 murders of transgender people were reported worldwide between January 2008 and April 2016. Additionally, just a month ago Transgender activist Sasha Fierce lost her life in Trinidad.
Let me be very clear, these young men were not hateful, they were ignorant. As such this is a moment I hope they learn from and the rest of us too. To break it down It is as inappropriate to ask a transwoman about her genitals, as it is for Carol Roberts or Cassandra to just ask: so, Marcus, you’re into women, for our viewers what exactly you working with? Or to enquire of a Female, what size you bubbies is? You might be curious, it might be fascinating but in this day and age, ain’t nothing that Google can’t solve. If you ask, so how is it dating as a transwoman in Barbados? It gives the interviewee ample space to provide as little or as much detail as she wishes without seeming to reduce her to your fascination with penis size.
I acknowledge we live in a takedown culture, my objective, however, is not to discourage their creation, but ask that they take greater care in the formulation of their questions, and greater sensitivity with their subjects, be more informed. Irreverence may be part of your brand however in the age where Google can help us all to be a lot less problematic, let’s start there.
The question becomes is it better to have this problematic conversation or none at all, particularly in the context of the mainstream media’s mediocre attempt at telling stories of transgender people with any nuance, complexity or depth. The guys at INO can be commended for creating space for Alexa to tell her story and to shed light on a community’s experience but the commitment has to be greater.
They need to commit to listening and learning. Not only in this instance but in most of the episodes I have seen Myers and his co-host listen a lot less than any interviewers should. Having conversations particularly diversity conversations take work, work which is indicative of genuine investment and a commitment to understanding.
Marginalized people often bear the burden of educating the larger population, a reality that I am sure Hoffman is aware of. So maybe when she committed to appearing on the show she knew she would have to do some explaining and lots of redirecting the conversation. She definitely knew this if she saw the episode which featured a young gay male posted a few months ago.
I cannot say whether Alexa felt offended or should have but the banter felt as if it was nonetheless at the expense of the entire community. In writing this, I wondered am I allowed to be offended for her, she sat there and told her story and deftly redirected and gave evidence of her agency even in moments of “othering”, she did well. Her mastery though should not silence the rest of us not similarly situated but sufficiently and justifiably alarmed.
These young men are not journalists and have not committed to political correctness, but yet and still, their job should be to do more than facilitate kicks and giggles. My fear is that viewers take this not as an entry point into a conversation, but rather, accept it as the conversation. With no inclination to go deeper or learn more. This becomes dangerous in a society where many of us do not know trans people and where they do not benefit from any social recognition or protection.
Trans women’s experiences are not jokes, and their lives and bodies are not spectacles, when they are brave to let us in on their experience we should commit to kindness, to listening, and to deep understanding. It is only then that we could dream of creating safe spaces and societies for and with them.
(Andwele A. O. Boyce is a writer and an advocate for persons with disabilities. He holds degrees in Communications, Politics and International Trade and is currently a student of the Hugh Wooding Law School).
