Playboy to Feature Its First Transgender Centerfold
October 20, 2017 12:20 PM Subscribe
From the article:
Some commenters on social media insisted that Hugh Hefner would never have allowed a transgender woman to appear in his magazine. But in addition to the fact that Ms. Rau was selected months before his death, her appearance is not the first time Playboy has featured a transgender woman in its pages — nor is it even Ms. Rau’s first appearance in the magazine.posted by hoyland at 12:42 PM on October 20, 2017 [23 favorites]
It is good. Although, also, who gives a fuck. I do wonder why this is celebrated as an achievement. All it means is that this woman's body is considered "to standard." A fucked up attitude toward sexuality we have in this country. Where do pleasure and love really enter into it?
posted by karmachameleon at 12:44 PM on October 20, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by karmachameleon at 12:44 PM on October 20, 2017 [9 favorites]
And this is not to say the model's achievement isn't incredible - it's just that Playboy isn't my favorite, and I think everyone loses out from this view of sexuality.
posted by karmachameleon at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by karmachameleon at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ten years ago or more I would have welcomed this as some kind of progress. Now it just feels gross.
posted by loquacious at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2017 [17 favorites]
Here's the thing. Acting like this is meaningful "progress" is trivializing the issues trans people deal with. Housing, employment, not getting murdered are all rather more pressing than being in Playboy. On there other hand, saying "who cares" acts like we're not marginalized all the damn time. It's a big fucking deal for trans bodies to be accepted as equally attractive as cis bodies, even if it's for purposes of objectification.
posted by hoyland at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2017 [31 favorites]
posted by hoyland at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2017 [31 favorites]
I wonder if Hef had to die for this to happen.
Probably not, seeing as Playboy featured Caroline Cossey twice.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 12:59 PM on October 20, 2017 [6 favorites]
Probably not, seeing as Playboy featured Caroline Cossey twice.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 12:59 PM on October 20, 2017 [6 favorites]
Playboy's social media post juxtaposing the offended reaction to Playboy's first Black Playmate in 1965 and the offended reaction to the first Transgender Playmate in 2017 is pretty dang striking.
posted by SansPoint at 1:03 PM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 1:03 PM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
Here's the thing. Acting like this is meaningful "progress" is trivializing the issues trans people deal with. Housing, employment, not getting murdered are all rather more pressing than being in Playboy.
Thank you for fucks sake. No I'm not saying it doesn't matter I'm just saying my heart would say squee to hearing a woman talk about her real experiences far more than seeing her naked body stamped as OK. That's my bias. I guess I'm just feeling a little sensitive right now.
posted by karmachameleon at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2017 [6 favorites]
Thank you for fucks sake. No I'm not saying it doesn't matter I'm just saying my heart would say squee to hearing a woman talk about her real experiences far more than seeing her naked body stamped as OK. That's my bias. I guess I'm just feeling a little sensitive right now.
posted by karmachameleon at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2017 [6 favorites]
Seems like whether you consider this a good thing will rest heavily on whether you believe Playboy is doing harm to women by its basic existence. At this point in history, Playboy is so tame that it's been normalized to mainstream respectability. It's no longer cool to be uptight about porn, sex work, etc. But if Playboy is still contributing to social structures and attitudes that cause women to be abused and exploited, then this shouldn't be cause for celebration.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 1:06 PM on October 20, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by overeducated_alligator at 1:06 PM on October 20, 2017 [8 favorites]
Yeah, my initial thoughtblarg was that it was great because of mainstreaming. But after a half-moment's reflection, the whole Playboy schtick is objectifying, so, not so great.
posted by darkstar at 1:18 PM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 1:18 PM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
Seems like whether you consider this a good thing will rest heavily on whether you believe Playboy is doing harm to women by its basic existence. At this point in history, Playboy is so tame that it's been normalized to mainstream respectability. It's no longer cool to be uptight about porn, sex work, etc. But if Playboy is still contributing to social structures and attitudes that cause women to be abused and exploited, then this shouldn't be cause for celebration.
I don't think it's that simple.
Like, I'm in no way anti-porn, and I'm not even as anti-mainstream-porn as a lot of people. But "cis people don't hypersexualize us enough" has never really been high on the list of problems that trans women have, you know?
It's not that "objectification" or whatever is always wrong for everyone, or that mainstream porn can't be empowering for anyone, just that... in the specific situation that I and the other trans women I know are in, this doesn't actually affect any of us much. Being treated as seedy Lou Reed eye candy versus being treated as bland tame Playboy eye candy is pretty much six-of-one half-dozen-of-the-other to me. Neither is terrible. Both are just kind of irrelevant.
As far as porn representation goes, the change that felt important to me (and that made a difference in my transition and my feeling of sexual agency) was when hardcore amateur trans porn stopped being 100% sh*male-stereotype tops with unrealistically hard dicks used purely as props for cis people's pleasure, and started showing realistically the really wide range of how people's bodies and sexual interests change on estrogen and antiandrogens. Like, Fucking Trans Women and the Crash Pad videos and an assortment of long-defunct AD Twitter accounts changed my life. But those were important for the actual information they conveyed about what was possible, and not as abstract markers of some kind of mainstream "acceptance" or "validity" or whatever.
And like again I'm saying this as someone who actually thinks mainstream porn can be good and valuable and important, and I'm not trying to do some kind of hipster "I'm over it" thing, I just... I dunno. Whose life is this actually going to improve?
Though I mean, honest answer to my own question, I bet there are trans-attracted straight guys who this will be a BIG FUCKING DEAL for, and if I was one of them or was dating one of them I'd probably be pretty excited.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:26 PM on October 20, 2017 [25 favorites]
I don't think it's that simple.
Like, I'm in no way anti-porn, and I'm not even as anti-mainstream-porn as a lot of people. But "cis people don't hypersexualize us enough" has never really been high on the list of problems that trans women have, you know?
It's not that "objectification" or whatever is always wrong for everyone, or that mainstream porn can't be empowering for anyone, just that... in the specific situation that I and the other trans women I know are in, this doesn't actually affect any of us much. Being treated as seedy Lou Reed eye candy versus being treated as bland tame Playboy eye candy is pretty much six-of-one half-dozen-of-the-other to me. Neither is terrible. Both are just kind of irrelevant.
As far as porn representation goes, the change that felt important to me (and that made a difference in my transition and my feeling of sexual agency) was when hardcore amateur trans porn stopped being 100% sh*male-stereotype tops with unrealistically hard dicks used purely as props for cis people's pleasure, and started showing realistically the really wide range of how people's bodies and sexual interests change on estrogen and antiandrogens. Like, Fucking Trans Women and the Crash Pad videos and an assortment of long-defunct AD Twitter accounts changed my life. But those were important for the actual information they conveyed about what was possible, and not as abstract markers of some kind of mainstream "acceptance" or "validity" or whatever.
And like again I'm saying this as someone who actually thinks mainstream porn can be good and valuable and important, and I'm not trying to do some kind of hipster "I'm over it" thing, I just... I dunno. Whose life is this actually going to improve?
Though I mean, honest answer to my own question, I bet there are trans-attracted straight guys who this will be a BIG FUCKING DEAL for, and if I was one of them or was dating one of them I'd probably be pretty excited.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:26 PM on October 20, 2017 [25 favorites]
There's no need to gaslight Rau's assessment that this is a desired, empowering experience.
In an interview with Vogue last year, she highlighted how she feels that America is ahead of France on trans visibility. That's interesting to hear, and it puts this news in perspective. She also mentions wanting to act in a sitcom like The Nanny. "I would love to do a show like that! Something lighthearted, where you have a transgender character but the story is upbeat and funny. Comedy brings people together, and I think that might help to take the drama out of these situations; everyone can laugh and have a good time. Every story matters, but it doesn’t always have to be about sadness. I would love to be the one who presents a story that adds levity, and lets people see that their differences aren’t such a big deal." Ah, there's the French character shining through.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:32 PM on October 20, 2017 [5 favorites]
In an interview with Vogue last year, she highlighted how she feels that America is ahead of France on trans visibility. That's interesting to hear, and it puts this news in perspective. She also mentions wanting to act in a sitcom like The Nanny. "I would love to do a show like that! Something lighthearted, where you have a transgender character but the story is upbeat and funny. Comedy brings people together, and I think that might help to take the drama out of these situations; everyone can laugh and have a good time. Every story matters, but it doesn’t always have to be about sadness. I would love to be the one who presents a story that adds levity, and lets people see that their differences aren’t such a big deal." Ah, there's the French character shining through.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:32 PM on October 20, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oh, no I see now - nebulawindphone thanks a lot, and I see how my comments could be taken as invalidating. I do think porn is important in giving people a platform for their desires and that including trans people in the biggest mainstream porn outlet is important in that way, sorry for downplaying that.
On the other hand I think Playboy's model of sexuality is inherently violent. What is gaslighting about that? I didn't criticize Rau and to be frank, does any of us know if she LOVES Playboy at a personal level? Probably not!
posted by karmachameleon at 1:38 PM on October 20, 2017 [3 favorites]
On the other hand I think Playboy's model of sexuality is inherently violent. What is gaslighting about that? I didn't criticize Rau and to be frank, does any of us know if she LOVES Playboy at a personal level? Probably not!
posted by karmachameleon at 1:38 PM on October 20, 2017 [3 favorites]
There's no need to gaslight Rau's assessment that this is a desired, empowering experience.
Whoa whoa whoa, how is it gaslighting her to say I don't feel like this is any kind of watershed moment for trans rights in general? I'm happy she's happy, I see no problem with her being over the fucking moon about this, I would be too if I got myself on the cover of a magazine. I just think as far as general political implications go, there needs to be a choice besides "THIS IS TERRIBLE OBJECTIFICATION " and "THIS IS WONDERFUL TRANS LIBERATION" that just goes like "Eh, someone got her picture published. I bet she got a kick out of it."
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:42 PM on October 20, 2017 [8 favorites]
Whoa whoa whoa, how is it gaslighting her to say I don't feel like this is any kind of watershed moment for trans rights in general? I'm happy she's happy, I see no problem with her being over the fucking moon about this, I would be too if I got myself on the cover of a magazine. I just think as far as general political implications go, there needs to be a choice besides "THIS IS TERRIBLE OBJECTIFICATION " and "THIS IS WONDERFUL TRANS LIBERATION" that just goes like "Eh, someone got her picture published. I bet she got a kick out of it."
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:42 PM on October 20, 2017 [8 favorites]
This is a difficult discussion. The Trans people I know generally don't want to be identified as such, because "Trans" is not specifically an identity; it is a state of being. They are women. Or they are men. THAT is their identity. Ms Rau posseses at least three identities: woman, model, Trans advocate. The state of her genitals are objectively irrelevant when defining her identities.
My current beef with the "normies", even those with the best intentions, is privacy. They all tend to suffer a social disconnect when it comes to the privacy of Transgender people. They must be specifically taught to respect it and to ultimately not "out" them so goddamn casually. If I had the funds, I would wage war against parents who continue to out their adolescent children in the media. Privacy, safety, and health are paramount, and all are balanced precariously above a pit of vipers. It is absolutely possible to advocate for your child without outing them. I am a cynic so my natural inclination is to question the motives of these parents (they've been trained and read the books, haven't they?!). In the schools, it is much easier for administrators to train staff and students and support LGBTQ students in the abstract. When it comes to addressing a specific individual student's requirements, things suddenly become much more difficult, and dangerously important concerns can be too easily pushed aside in favor of "more training" or "more legislation". We need those things of course, but we haven't quite figured out how to keep the individual at the top of the checklist.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:10 PM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
My current beef with the "normies", even those with the best intentions, is privacy. They all tend to suffer a social disconnect when it comes to the privacy of Transgender people. They must be specifically taught to respect it and to ultimately not "out" them so goddamn casually. If I had the funds, I would wage war against parents who continue to out their adolescent children in the media. Privacy, safety, and health are paramount, and all are balanced precariously above a pit of vipers. It is absolutely possible to advocate for your child without outing them. I am a cynic so my natural inclination is to question the motives of these parents (they've been trained and read the books, haven't they?!). In the schools, it is much easier for administrators to train staff and students and support LGBTQ students in the abstract. When it comes to addressing a specific individual student's requirements, things suddenly become much more difficult, and dangerously important concerns can be too easily pushed aside in favor of "more training" or "more legislation". We need those things of course, but we haven't quite figured out how to keep the individual at the top of the checklist.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:10 PM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm happy she's happy, and I'm happy for whatever work this will do to help trans women in the world (which I think is not nothing), but yeah I'm not so happy about a concept of womanhood in which being deemed highly fuckable by straight men is an achievement.
posted by schadenfrau at 2:56 PM on October 20, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 2:56 PM on October 20, 2017 [13 favorites]
It's a big fucking deal for trans bodies to be accepted as equally attractive as cis bodies, even if it's for purposes of objectification.
Some very cisnormative trans bodies, anyway.
I'm sure this is very empowering for Rau personally, but I do rather feel like it's at the cost of a lot of the rest of us. Like it or not, mainstream porn culture is fucking problematic, and a participation therein is not really for the greater good. It's just yet another standard to fall short of.
posted by Dysk at 3:55 PM on October 20, 2017 [11 favorites]
Some very cisnormative trans bodies, anyway.
I'm sure this is very empowering for Rau personally, but I do rather feel like it's at the cost of a lot of the rest of us. Like it or not, mainstream porn culture is fucking problematic, and a participation therein is not really for the greater good. It's just yet another standard to fall short of.
posted by Dysk at 3:55 PM on October 20, 2017 [11 favorites]
So it's a good thing but there are better things? It's not the best thing? It's not your kind of thing?
It's a good thing. For the brand, community, and the world. Small step. Small news. Progress. I think it's cool.
posted by forgettable at 11:13 PM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's a good thing. For the brand, community, and the world. Small step. Small news. Progress. I think it's cool.
posted by forgettable at 11:13 PM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought Playboy stopped having centerfolds of any kind a couple of years ago. Or did they only stop having nude pictorials?
posted by rokusan at 11:34 PM on October 20, 2017
posted by rokusan at 11:34 PM on October 20, 2017
They stopped publishing nudes for awhile. Then they realized that most people weren't just buying it for the articles and brought the nudes back.
posted by ryanrs at 11:39 PM on October 20, 2017
posted by ryanrs at 11:39 PM on October 20, 2017
The Trans people I know generally don't want to be identified as such, because "Trans" is not specifically an identity; it is a state of being. They are women. Or they are men.
For the record, I do identify as trans, quite strongly. I'm a man, but I sure as hell am trans and will always be. There wasn't some point magical point where I stopped being trans.
I don't think your comment meant to feed into it, but trans people experience a lot of pressure to not identify as trans, both from within and outside the trans community. Our acceptance by cis people is often contingent on pretending our trans-ness doesn't exist, that it doesn't matter. No, I don't want you to treat me differently because I am trans, but I want you to respect and acknowledge that my experience is different to yours, and that that difference is important and runs through many aspects of my life.
posted by hoyland at 5:06 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
For the record, I do identify as trans, quite strongly. I'm a man, but I sure as hell am trans and will always be. There wasn't some point magical point where I stopped being trans.
I don't think your comment meant to feed into it, but trans people experience a lot of pressure to not identify as trans, both from within and outside the trans community. Our acceptance by cis people is often contingent on pretending our trans-ness doesn't exist, that it doesn't matter. No, I don't want you to treat me differently because I am trans, but I want you to respect and acknowledge that my experience is different to yours, and that that difference is important and runs through many aspects of my life.
posted by hoyland at 5:06 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
Some very cisnormative trans bodies, anyway.
Fair. I think cis people here don't understand their "why should this matter" is ignoring ways in which all trans bodies are devalued and so I don't think that a discussion of which and under what conditions trans bodies are allowed to be visible is actually possible on Metafilter.
I think appearing in Playboy does little to nothing for trans people as a whole. I am nonetheless still pretty annoyed by many of the comments here.
posted by hoyland at 5:19 AM on October 21, 2017
Fair. I think cis people here don't understand their "why should this matter" is ignoring ways in which all trans bodies are devalued and so I don't think that a discussion of which and under what conditions trans bodies are allowed to be visible is actually possible on Metafilter.
I think appearing in Playboy does little to nothing for trans people as a whole. I am nonetheless still pretty annoyed by many of the comments here.
posted by hoyland at 5:19 AM on October 21, 2017
For the record, I do identify as trans, quite strongly. I'm a man, but I sure as hell am trans and will always be. There wasn't some point magical point where I stopped being trans.
Quoted for truth. Completely agree (except that I'm a woman).
I raised a lot of eyebrows at the GIC by loudly and unequivocally identifying as a trans woman. I was literally told, in a warning tone, that most people they got through identified as just women/men. These were the people who were gatekeeping my access to medical transition, to hormones, to surgery. There was absolutely a sense that my identity was less valid to them because of it.
But you know what else creates a sense of my being less valid? Am increasing and increasingly cisnormative standard for trans people. It's the way that awareness is always the easy cases, the pretty ones, the comparatively unchallenging ones. People thought I was weird, but fine, you're trans, you're weird, that's how it is. Now, increasingly, people think I'm weird, not valid, not trying hard enough because I'm not pretty, I don't match cisnormative standards, and I'm not even fucking trying to, and that's increasingly the visible and accepted norm for how trans people 'should' be. Every case like this reinforces that restrictiveness by reconfirming it, makes the 'valid' transness a smaller and smaller space. Look, trans women can be pretty! So why aren't you?
posted by Dysk at 5:59 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
Quoted for truth. Completely agree (except that I'm a woman).
I raised a lot of eyebrows at the GIC by loudly and unequivocally identifying as a trans woman. I was literally told, in a warning tone, that most people they got through identified as just women/men. These were the people who were gatekeeping my access to medical transition, to hormones, to surgery. There was absolutely a sense that my identity was less valid to them because of it.
But you know what else creates a sense of my being less valid? Am increasing and increasingly cisnormative standard for trans people. It's the way that awareness is always the easy cases, the pretty ones, the comparatively unchallenging ones. People thought I was weird, but fine, you're trans, you're weird, that's how it is. Now, increasingly, people think I'm weird, not valid, not trying hard enough because I'm not pretty, I don't match cisnormative standards, and I'm not even fucking trying to, and that's increasingly the visible and accepted norm for how trans people 'should' be. Every case like this reinforces that restrictiveness by reconfirming it, makes the 'valid' transness a smaller and smaller space. Look, trans women can be pretty! So why aren't you?
posted by Dysk at 5:59 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
Like, "trans women look like men" is not a wonderful perception, but it allowed me to be seen as a trans women, and trans women who passed to hide or be accepted as women. "Trans women look like cis women" gives no space for those of us who don't pass to be seen as women.
posted by Dysk at 6:03 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 6:03 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
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I wonder if Hef had to die for this to happen.
posted by darkstar at 12:32 PM on October 20, 2017 [1 favorite]