Is it really love or just a game? American Apparel has apparently launched a new line of clothing for MTF trans people called Trans Am, or someone is making a very bad and very elaborate joke. There is a lot of conflicting news fluttering around the web about this at the moment, and a lot of it is commentary from other blogs (which isn’t necessarily reliable, critical or very trans-friendly) but so far not much from AA itself. I checked out AA’s website but no information is listed to either confirm or deny that this is an official AA campaign.
Is this just a rumour, a cruel joke, or really happening? The only “footage” we have is a video that could be the worst joke ever, or possibly empowering on some level – I really don’t know. Featuring a model who is maybe mtf trans and being set up to seem like just another dumb model and spends most of the time grabbing her pre-op “package”, and Terry Richardson lookalike making weird comments, I am completely undecided whether this is real or some sick joke to offend exactly those people who already get one of the biggest slices from the ridicule/exploitative oversexualization pie. Even if this is the real deal, I doubt if AA knows zip about the real issues trans women face – passing, getting work, relationships, healthcare, family relations.
The video itself seems to come from FunnyOrDie.com, which is an indicator that this might be a prank.
Here is the video, take a look for yourself. It’s NSFW and possibly quite hurtful if you are trans and think it is a joke.
We’ll keep you posted if we find out more news.
Watch the video here.
Once again, the interesting discussion is happening on Facebook. I’m still trying to get a plugin that will share comments but really, there’s incentive to just join our FB page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/QPDX/157056820611
And, as usual, remember to be respectful. Tact is hard in real life, let alone the internet…
Very lovely ….
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