{"id":3645,"date":"2015-01-15T16:59:59","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T16:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3645"},"modified":"2015-05-03T19:36:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-03T19:36:02","slug":"a-identity-2-lehner-ace-nanuscript","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3645","title":{"rendered":"Ace Lehner: From Rayon to Original Plumbing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3542\">Return to author&#8217;s page<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3590\">Return to Theme Content<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><em>From Rayon to Original Plumbing:<br \/>A brief reflection on representations of trans* people in U.S. Culture today<\/p>\n<p>Ace Lehner\u00a0<br \/><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/116742580\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"webkitallowfullscreen\" mozallowfullscreen=\"mozallowfullscreen\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From Laverne Cox on the cover of <em>TIME<\/em> magazine to Jared Leto\u2019s portrayal of Rayon in <em>Dallas Buyers Club<\/em>, the United States saw an unprecedented number of trans* people in popular culture in 2014. <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-1' id='fnref-3645-1' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>1<\/a><\/sup> While many heralded this as a marker of progress, increased representation does not necessarily correlate to any positive change in peoples\u2019 lives. However, for my purposes here, rather than focus on how trans* representations in popular culture often reinforce stereotypes, undermine political struggles and endanger people, I will discuss depictions of trans* people that I find to be fecund and multidimensional. <em>Original Plumbing: Trans Male Quarterly <\/em>is a project that presents trans*men as diverse, self-assured and attractive and is a necessary counterpoint to the problematic depictions of trans* people in mainstream culture.<sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-2' id='fnref-3645-2' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_edn2\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3649\" style=\"width: 211px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pool-boys.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3649\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pool-boys-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"Pool Boys Jacsen Callahan and Nico Amador\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3649\" height=\"300\" width=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pool-boys-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pool-boys-101x150.jpg 101w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pool-boys.jpg 271w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3649\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pool Boys<br \/>Jacsen Callahan and Nico Amador<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Printed full bleed on the 5.5\u201d x 8\u201d full color, semi gloss page is a picture of two fair-skinned topless trans*men in front of a swimming pool. They stand close together, smile, engage the camera directly, each with a hand on a hip and appear genuinely happy. This is a picture that accompanies the story <em>Pool Boys,<\/em> in the \u201cJock Issue\u201d of <em>Original Plumbing. <\/em>The image is one of many full bleed spreads in the portrait-driven zine. Published quarterly, bound by two staples and ranging in thickness from around 60-70 pages per issue, <em>Original Plumbing<\/em> launched in 2009 by Rocco Kayiatos and Amos Mac, (both self-identified transmen) is a publication that predominantly depicts trans*men but often features trans*women and other members of the queer community.<\/p>\n<p>Jacsen Callahan and Nico Amador, as depicted here represent a moment post top surgery when their scars are still very visible and their bodies exist in a state that does not fit neatly within the typical masculine form. Rather than think through scars as a site of injury, pain or trauma what these top surgery scars mark is the longed for and now present chest supplanting the burden of breasts. Thinking of these scars as an embodiment of a welcome presence rather than an absence or injury reframes our relationship to viewing scars in a way that we understand them as a source of pride rather than the perhaps more typical way of encountering scars as an embodiment of pain.<\/p>\n<p>The article is a conversation between self-identified boyfriends Jacsen Callahan and Nico Amador. In the conversation Callahan refers to himself as being queeny and they both refer to themselves as queer. <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-3' id='fnref-3645-3' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>3<\/a><\/sup><span>\u00a0<\/span> In this depiction we see embodiments that visually propose a way of being in between binary notions of biological sex and binary representations of gender. In some ways this picture of Jacsen and Nico represents trans* embodiment in all their transgressive potential, disrupting the gender binary. <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-4' id='fnref-3645-4' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>4<\/a><\/sup><span>\u00a0<\/span> The narrative combined with the images also disrupts the assumption that transitioning necessarily implies heterosexuality. But the bodies remain those of pale, white, queeny jocks, embodiments that are met with a certain type of privilege.<\/p>\n<p>Since its inception the publication has solicited content from its readers and has now expanded into a website, both moves that allow for a great diversity of representations. As a project, <em>Original Plumbing<\/em> includes multiple perspectives, various formats of representations, and provides narratives other than that of the \u201ctrapped in the wrong body\u201d narrative of trans* experiences perpetuated by popular representation of trans* people. Many of the subjects are photographed by Amos Mac (a freelance photographer) and generally speaking, are depicted in a way that renders them sexually desirable \u2013something rarely seen by representations of trans* folks in mainstream media.\u00a0 The magazine has been organized thematically and issues have dealt with <em>Health &amp; Safer Sex, Workin\u2019 Stiff, Fashion, The Family Issue, The Jock Issue, The Hero Issue, and the Selfie Issue. <\/em>\u201cOriginal Plumbing\u201d as a title along with each issue\u2019s title does a lot of work to outline the publication\u2019s commitments.<a href=\"#_edn1\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-5' id='fnref-3645-5' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3650\" style=\"width: 253px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sanyu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3650\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sanyu.jpg\" alt=\"Tank Girl\" class=\" wp-image-3650\" height=\"368\" width=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sanyu.jpg 252w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sanyu-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sanyu-198x300.jpg 198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3650\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sanyu<br \/>Described as being &#8220;Tank Girl as a boi meets Mursi tribe of Ethiopia.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the <em>Fashion Issue <\/em>we are introduced to various trans*men through full bleed photo spreads shot by Mac and accompanied by interviews. Some of the men <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-6' id='fnref-3645-6' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>6<\/a><\/sup> pass<a href=\"#_edn1\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> and don styles that they self-describe as \u201cclassic,\u201d \u201crockabilly,\u201d and \u201cdandy\u201d and others like Sanyu describes their style as being \u201cTank Girl as boi meets Mursi tribe of Ethiopia.\u201d <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-7' id='fnref-3645-7' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>7<\/a><\/sup><a href=\"#_edn2\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> The issue suggests that there are many ways trans*men embody fashion. The profile of Sanyu raises questions about trans* masculinity connected to ability as well as a racialized body. What real life challenges come with being trans*masculine and African American? How might Sanyu\u2019s life as a trans* man differ from that of the passing white looking \u201crockabilly\u201d trans*man? Or how might they both differ from the gay orientated \u201cPool Boys\u201d? <em>Original Plumbing<\/em> seems to beg us to ask these and other questions about our own understandings of masculinity and gender and to consider building community across differences.<\/p>\n<p>Scholar and self-identified trans*man Kai M. Green writes, \u201cThe world is unkind to Black bois. The world is unkind to Black girls.\u00a0But the way our gendered bodies are policed is different.\u201d<sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-8' id='fnref-3645-8' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>8<\/a><\/sup><a href=\"#_edn3\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> While the policing of bodies is real and dangerous there are also many other ways in which the racial implications of being trans* can be insidious and dangerous.<sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-9' id='fnref-3645-9' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>9<\/a><\/sup><a href=\"#_edn4\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> The appearance of reductive representations of trans* bodies in popular visual culture masks the diversity of what trans* lives are like and often skirts around the networks of oppression at work in regulating trans folks and particularly those who exist at the intersection of multiple oppressions.<\/p>\n<p>Jos\u00e9 Esteban Mu\u00f1oz a scholar used the term autoethnographic to describe cultural performances that put marginalized personal histories into the public sphere.<sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-3645-10' id='fnref-3645-10' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(3645)'>10<\/a><\/sup><a href=\"#_edn5\" name=\"_ednref\"><span><\/span><\/a> Borrowing from Mu\u00f1oz, I propose that <em>Original Plumbing<\/em> expands the autoethnographic by including interviews between trans*men, self-portraits and first person narratives and that this is precisely why it is a necessary mode of cultural production. These hybrid-autoethnographic forms are present even when Amos Mac is photographing subjects for as a transman himself Mac has a level of understanding and kinship for the trans* subjects he photographs.<\/p>\n<p>When trans* people appear in visual culture it is crucial to be critically engaged in how these depictions may impact lived experiences. <em>Original Plumbing<\/em> remains an important site of cultural production and also reflects a moment and space within queer communities where through hybrid-autoethnographic production complex representations are created and potential for coalition building across differences is proposed.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3542\">Return to author&#8217;s page<\/a><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3590\">Return to Theme Content<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>notes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class='footnotes' id='footnotes-3645'>\n<div class='footnotedivider'><\/div>\n<ol>\n<li id='fn-3645-1'> The June 9, 2014 cover of TIME magazine featured Lavern Cox as the cover image and was accompanied by the feature story \u201cThe Transgender Tipping Point: America\u2019s next Civil Rights Frontier.\u201d 2014 was also the year when Barney\u2019s New York\u2019s 2014 Spring Add campaign was lauded for featuring seventeen trans* models, also this year Netflix launched the original series Transparent and earlier this year Jared Leto appeared in Dallas Buyers Club as Rayon an ambiguously gendered \/ potentially trans* woman.\u00a0 The role garnered him high acclaim and awards for his portrayal. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-1'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-2'> Green, B. (2013). Literacy, rurality, education: A partial mapping. In B. Green &amp; M. Corbett (Eds.), Rethinking Rural Literacies: Transnational Perspectives (pp. 17\u201334). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-2'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-3'> Jacsen Callahan and Nico Amador, \u201cPool Boys,\u201d <em>Original Plumbing: Trans Male Quarterly,<\/em> #10 The Jock Issue, 23-25. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-3'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-4'> Within trans* scholarship and discourse there has been debate about the notion of beyond the binary but this politics may also prove problematic if it does not allow for those trans folks who are interested in presenting as within the gender binary to embody gender binary identities. This picture allows for a complex embodiment that complicates theory by being present in a state of transition that is visually read as such by some and not by other viewers. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-4'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-5'> \u201cOriginal plumbing\u201d as a term is an euphemism made popular by the personal adds on craigslist to describe a trans* person who has the genitals they was born with. This points to a trend in culture where in cis (or non trans people) and those not familiar with trans* people often immediately ask questions of trans* people regarding the state of their genitalia. Giving a nod to the culture of craigslist personals where people talk openly about their sexual desire for men with vaginas, and using a term that also references a working class profession. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-5'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-6'> By \u201cpass\u201d I mean fully engender and embody aspects of masculinity that render the subject as biologically male or cis gendered to everyone around them. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-6'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-7'> \u201cStyle Profiles,&#8221; <em>Original Plumbing: Trans Male Quarterly<\/em>, #5 Fashion Issue, 14-24. The profile of Sanyu is on page 16. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-7'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-8'> Kai M. Green, \u201cNavigating Masculinity as a Black Transman: \u201cI will never straighten out my wrist,\u201d <em>Everday Feminism, <\/em>December 5, 2014 (thttp:\/\/everydayfeminism.com\/2013\/04\/i-will-never-straighten-out-my-wrist\/). <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-8'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-9'>\u00a0Here I\u2019m thinking about the countless people who have been profiled, attacked, injured and murdered because their embodiments engender visually recognizable aspects that mark hem as targets for various forms of oppression. Certainly folks like CeC McDonald and others who also don\u2019t neatly fit into predetermined categories and\/or stereotypes. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-9'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li id='fn-3645-10'> Mu\u00f1oz, Jos\u00e9 Esteban. <em>Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics<\/em>. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999, 81-82. <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-3645-10'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to author&#8217;s page Return to Theme Content From Rayon to Original Plumbing:A brief reflection on representations of trans* people in U.S. Culture today Ace Lehner\u00a0 \u00a0 From Laverne Cox on the cover of TIME magazine to Jared Leto\u2019s portrayal &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3645\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88910,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3645","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2KsSU-WN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/88910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3645"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4079,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3645\/revisions\/4079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}