However, it was one line in particular that successfully made me turn off the TV.
"I don't know man, you have to understand this kind of thing doesn't really fly in my culture."
You read correctly. During a conversation with his friend Lee Standish (played by Ben Koldyke) dressed in women’s clothes, Angel Ortiz (played by Amaury Nolasco) actually attributes his own transphobia to his culture.
This is problematic in two ways. First of all, it incorrectly implies that transphobia is somehow inherent to Puerto Rican culture and, secondly, it insinuates that gender non-conformity is somehow outside of Puerto Rican culture. Both of these factors contribute to continued marginalization of trans people (particularly women) on the island and in the diaspora.
Deconstructing the statement, one realizes how wrong Angel is. Gender non-conformity doesn’t just “fly in [his] culture,” it actually thrives. Last year, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago crowned Yara Sofía and Alexis Mateo as 2011′s Cacica Queens. The two contestants of the highly popular RuPaul’s Drag Race were even invited to the Puerto Rican Day Parade. In fact, every year the Puerto Rican Cultural Center hosts a beauty pageant for young trans women. This yearly event has even been documented in Josué Pellot and Henrique Cirne-Lima’s documentary “I am the Queen.”
However, what most dangerous of Angel’s seemingly benign line is that it dares associate and, therefore, normalize transphobia within Puerto Rican culture. Once we begin to think of anti-trans bigotry as something widespread and normal, we stop being outraged by visible acts of violence on the community.
It is, therefore, incredibly irresponsible of ABC and the writers of “Work It” to use transphobia as a cheap punch line, especially in light of the series of anti-trans murders that have occurred in Puerto Rico. Since 2010, more then two dozen LGBTQ people have been murdered, more than half of them have been trans women. Every one of them in a violent manner.
Some big producer may have though transphobia was funny, but ABC, we’re not laughing.
Wow. Every time I see anything about this show, it just frustrates and angers me more. People are ignorant enough already; we don’t need a show making it okay.
I completely agree with you Cameron. Any attempt at normalizing bigotry should be challenged.
I completely agree with this article. My concern is that the general public might interpret this as a social consensus to make fun of LGBT people. I wish the best and hope there impact to our community becomes minimal.
Thank Elex! I share those same concerns.
This show is extremely problematic. I’m sure by now you’ve heard the whole thing with the drugs. Ironically, someone in El Nuevo Dia wrote a column defending Nolasco and his problematic expressions because, according to the author, there is a pervasive drug problem on the island. However, what amuses me (and worries me) about this argument is that the proof is in his own pudding, he asks: “is it wrong to say that Puerto Ricans are good at selling drugs when 400 out of every 100,000 people are in jail for drug related problems?” Are you kidding me? Are you seriously saying that it’s okay to generalize to an entire population calling them drug pushers because 400 out of 100,000 are linked to drugs???? SERIOUSLY? Yes, there is a severe drug problem in Puerto Rico, AS THERE IS IN THE US AND IN MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. Does that automatically qualify everybody who lives in these places as a drug-lord or a drug pusher? Would it be okay to say “Hey, I’m an American so I must know how to sell drugs”? I guess seeing as the US is one of the prime destinations for drugs, under this guy’s twisted logic it must be.
And now this. Isn’t it enough that we’ve carried the whole “macho” stigma for centuries, and now we must continue to carry this burden? Again, yes, there is sexism in the Island. There are “machos”. But what bothers me about this whole discourse is the “essentialism”. It’s like people believe it’s part of our cultural dna. So, guess what? In the US women still become the property of men after they get married. They lose their own last names and take those of the men. In many parts of the developed world, gender roles are still very much enforced. So why are WE carrying all the burden? Fuck that.
This is so true. They would never say something along the lines of “Oh, I’m good at buying drugs, I’m white, remember?” despite the fact that white people purchase drugs at higher rates than people of color (whether they get prosecuted at the same rates as POCs is another story).
Just like you said, the construction of a Latin@ or Puerto Rican essence often makes it seem as if negative traits are inherently in our blood. I would bet that most of those “self-deprecating” jokes were not written by Latin@s at all, but by a (non-Latino) writer thinking he was being funny.
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