TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION:

DOES SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BENEFIT THE TV INDUSTRY? A Study of Transgender Characters in Scripted Programming Then and Now

David Olsson Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis May 7th, 2016

Lawrence Herbert School of Communication HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY

Faculty Advisor - Nancy F. Kaplan, Ph.D David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis ! TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION… p. 2

KEY DEFINITIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS… p. 7

THEORIES AND LITERATURE REVIEW… p. 12

A HISTORY OF SCRIPTED TRANSGENDER APPEARANCES… p. 16

TRANSGENDER AMERICA: FACTS AND STATISTICS… p. 27

SOCIAL ANALYSIS… p. 30

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS… p. 38

CONCLUSIONS… p. 48

REFERENCES… p. 51

!1 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! INTRODUCTION

There is an oft-discussed concept in political media that is referred to as the “gay agenda.” It alleges that the cultural normalization of gay and lesbian citizens by LGBT advocates is part of an organized endeavor to indoctrinate youths into a so-called “gay lifestyle.” Phil

Burress (2012) of the anti-LGBT group Citizens for Community Values, like other proponents of this belief, supposed that “it’s going to continue to confuse children. This is the way the homosexual activists continue to build their numbers - is to get people confused about their gender identity and start acting out.”1 This concept, along with the terminology that was used to describe it, villainized the notion of supposed media advocacy. Media monitoring organization

GLAAD called the comments “rhetorical inventions of anti-gay extremists seeking to create a climate of fear by portraying the pursuit of equal opportunity for LGBT people as sinister.”2 By

2015, however, more than half the country had grown to support same-sex marriage,3 and on

June 26th, the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal in every state across the country.4 If there was a media agenda to normalize gay and lesbian people, it clearly worked.

In 2014, a similar, lesser understood civil rights movement emerged in the media, this time centralized around the representation of the transgender community. It was promptly

1 Ford, Zack (2012). Hate Group: ‘Homosexual Activists” Try to Confuse Children’ To ‘Build Their Numbers.’ Think Progress.

2 GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Terms To Avoid (n.d.). GLAAD.

3 Changing Attitudes on Gay Marriage (2015). Pew Research Center.

4 Chappell, Bill (2015). Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal in All 50 States. NPR.

!2 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis labeled “the trans-agenda” by those who were critical of the movement, and further subjected to the same defamation that plagued the gay rights movement. In her article, “How the Trans-

Agenda Seeks to Redefine Everyone,” author Stella Morabito (2014) claimed, and not in a positive light, that America was in the midst of a transgender revolution, citing media-based events such as ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK star and trans woman Laverne Cox’s appearance on the cover of Time Magazine, and the appearance of a cross-dressing Maleficent on the red carpet of the premiere of the eponymous movie.5 Like Burress, Morabito not only claimed that these were conscious tactics to manipulate audiences, but also that they would be effective in doing so.

This research first began with the intention of fact-checking Morabito’s claims, namely, asking whether or not television actually does have some form of trans-agenda, and whether or not it could work. Preliminary examination of the television landscape, particularly in 2014 and

2015, proved that regardless of partisan opinions on the subject, there was an indisputable growth of transgender representation on television. Noting this increase, the research question deepened: since there was a decidedly conscious effort to depict more positive transgender characters on television, was it that this effort truly was motivated by agendized social responsibility, or did television distributors and the industry as a whole have something to gain from it - perhaps something monetary?

Today, with the decades-old civil rights movement finally finding new footing in the media, public interest has been sparked. Transgender advocates and allies have been given a media platform through which to speak and raise awareness. Ultimately, though, television is an

5 Morabito, Stella (2014). How the Trans-Agenda Seeks to Redefine Everyone. The Federalist.

!3 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis industry, and industries are primarily driven by their profit margins. One must consider what underlying fiscal benefit distributors aim to reap from their advocacy. To use Morabito’s example, Laverne Cox’s Time Magazine cover photo and her Emmy win are demonstrations of her success not only as an actress but as a representative of the transgender community and its movement. However, they also serve other purposes aside from civil rights progression, such as promotion for ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, the expanded consumption of which is in the interest of the show’s distributor, Netflix. A spark of public interest is exactly what the television industry wants.

The assertion that the industry is monetizing social responsibility is dependent on the cynical assumption that it is incapable of forwarding civil rights progress for purely moral purposes; however, the point can also be made that, were that the case, it would not have taken until 2014 to reach this point, and that the industry’s machine-gun induction of the movement indicates that it may be looking to capitalize on a programming “trend.” Cameron Kadison

(2016), founder of Mortar Media and executive producer of reality show TRANSCENDENT, called transgender-centered reality shows “unfortunately a fad,” citing examples such as I AM

JAZZ, I AM CAIT, and BECOMING US as properties built off of the zeitgeist interest in the transgender community following Caitlyn Jenner’s media-enveloping transition. On the other hand, Kadison says that scripted content is a different story. “Thanks to TRANSPARENT and

Laverne Cox on ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, transgender characters are now being woven into several [scripted] series as media is finally accepting this community that had been fairly quiet and misunderstood for so many years.”6

6 Kadison, Cameron (2015). Interview.

!4 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis Following the first inklings of this “woven in” LGBT representation in 2005, GLAAD began its annual “Where We Are in TV” report, which serves to qualify and quantify all LGBT characters across all networks and distribution platforms. Their hope is not only that trans men and women will be able to see themselves and their experiences positively represented, but that non-transgender people will be able to be educated by these instances. “While the actual number of transgender characters on television remains small,” said GLAAD Entertainment Media

Director Damon Romine in the 2007-2008 study, “the introduction of these few characters is a move away from the stereotypical and marginalized roles transgender characters have occupied, and toward a more diverse and accurate range of representations. These characters play a role in making the unfamiliar familiar to television audiences.”7 Kadison, Morabito, and GLAAD all assert that trans representation fosters acceptance by viewers that are unfamiliar with the community, but the reports do not measure the number of viewers, nor whether or not acceptance is impacting ratings.

This paper examines what can be deemed “transnormative programming” (to be defined in detail in the next section) and the impact that it may or may not have on the television industry. To this end, research will delve into the historical quantity of positive transgender characters on scripted television, and the way those have evolved over time. Viewer ratings and distribution platforms will be used to determine who is watching these shows, and if the audience reach is actually tangible, and whether some distribution methods are more successful than others. Further, by analyzing the impact that society has had on the evolution of this programming, and in turn, the impact that this programming has had on viewers, this research

7 Where We Are On TV 2007-2008 (2008). GLAAD.

!5 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis will show that the TV industry does have some kind of trans-agenda, and how effective it is at aiding society in understanding the lives of and issues surrounding the transgender community.

In addition, research will show how the television industry benefits from being socially responsible.

!6 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! KEY DEFINITIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Despite the growth in awareness of the transgender community and the civil rights movement as a whole, there are still those who are unclear of the exact meaning of the associated terminology. Phil Burress wrongly associated gender identity with sexual orientation, and Stella

Morabito incorrectly cited a cross-dresser as an example of being transgender. Fortunately,

GLAAD8 has compiled a list of acceptable terminology to be used when addressing issues within the transgender community, the relevant examples of which are explained below.

The term “transgender” is used to describe those people who identify as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth; i.e. a trans man who was born anatomically female, yet identifies as male, and a trans woman was born anatomically male, yet identifies as female. A transgender person, then, may adjust his or her physical appearance to match his or her gender identity, as well as medically alter his or her body by way of surgery and/or hormone treatments, though not in all cases. Note that gender identity and sexual orientation are entirely unrelated characteristics; a transgender person may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and it will have no bearing on their identification as transgender.

Further, transgender people are also different from cross-dressers. Cross-dressing is an act of gender expression, that being the cultural standard of masculinity or femininity, and has no connection to gender identity. At certain points in this paper, characters who are cross-dressers may be likened to transgender characters due to the historical misunderstanding of the distinction

8 Previously an acronym for Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation before the organization widened its scope to include the additional factions of the LGBT.

!7 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis between the two; this is a reflection of the time period, and does not mean the two are one and the same.

The term cisgender is used to describe those people who identify as the gender that they were assigned at birth, namely, those who are not transgender.9 For the purposes of this paper, cisgender people are only described as such when contrasted with transgender people, ie. a cisgender actor playing a transgender character. Otherwise, cisgender people remain unqualified.

The scripted television programs that serve as the subjects of this paper are referred to as

“transnormative.” That is, it “normalizes” the transgender community for the general audiences.

In order to be categorized as transnormative programming, the television show in question must provide a positive depiction of a transgender character that creates awareness of and informs audiences about the community. For example, in the 2014-2015 television season, the ABC

Family drama, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, featured a trans woman named Charlotte, who is revealed to be the villain of the show, and depicted as murderous and mentally unstable, both of which are connected to her being transgender. This is neither a positive nor informative representation, so Charlotte will not be included in any subsequent charts or examinations.

Contrast that example with Nomi, one of the stars of Netflix’s SENSE8, who is played by actress

Jamie Clayton, a trans woman. Nomi has been praised by GLAAD for being written with substance beyond the typical “transition narrative”10 and Clayton has said, “There’s so much

9 GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender Issues (n.d.). GLAAD.

10 Where We Are On TV 2014-2015 (2015). GLAAD.

!8 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis more to Nomi than her transition, her trans-ness.”11 Instances of characters like Nomi will be considered transnormative.

In addition to GLAAD’s terminology, certain titles from the TV industry will be frequently used, which will require specifically-drawn parameters. In most cases, “viewers” or

“consumers” will be used to refer to the audiences watching the programs. They are responsible for the reception of the show, measured in viewership ratings. On the industry side, there are three important factions: “distributors,” “advertisers,” and “show creators.” Show creators are the people with the original vision for the program, who then mastermind and generate it for distribution. They are a distinctly separate entity from both the viewers and distributors, as they do not directly deliver content, nor demand it. That is, there may be a creator interested in producing a transnormative show, but if there is no interest from the public nor potential distributors for that type of content, then that show is ultimately going nowhere. Instead, the delivery is the responsibility of the distributors, the organizations that disseminate the creator’s content.

Distributors include broadcast networks (e.g. ABC, CW), cable networks (e.g. AMC,

Showtime) and over-the-top (OTT) or streaming services (e.g. Netflix, Amazon). For the purposes of this paper, their primary roles are as liaisons between the creators and viewers, by means of releasing content. In order for programs to be seen, conventionally, they need to be picked up by distributors. Therefore, the values and stakes of the distributors can become obstacles for hopeful creators to have their material released. The distributors’ stake in the

11 Costa, Daniela (2015). “Sense8” star Jamie Clayton talks trans representation, Nomanita and LGBT leads.” Afterellen.

!9 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis process is the need to attract viewers in order to generate revenue. According to Cinedigm

Digital Media EVP Eric Opeka, selecting programming for distribution is a question of “Is this a property we can use to drive consumers to our paid services?” Similarly, John P. Roberts, SVP of

Digital Media for Endemol USA, emphasizes brand integration, stating that the content of the show needs to match the established tone of the network, and for most, that identity is to be as accessible to a general audience as possible.12

Enter advertisers, also known as the buyers of said ad space. Basing their buys primarily on the demographic information of viewers, particularly the invaluable 18-35 crowd, advertisers can be considered investors in the success of the televised content.13 When buyers look for programming in which to buy ad space, there are certain variables that they take into consideration. “A lot of the messaging [in television] is directed to as many people as possible within a broad target audience, and reach remains one key benefit of TV,” says Chris Geraci, the president of national broadcast at Omnicom Media Group.14 The interest of advertisers in broad audience appeal has been an occasional obstacle in the way of LGBT representation; the fear of losing buyer support can be said to have created a chilling effect for potential creators, thus dissuading them from producing LGBT content.

The final important organization is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the independent government agency that regulates television content in the United States.15 While

12 Robb, David (2014). Produced By: Norman Lear Goes Archie Bunker On TV Ageism. Deadline.

13 Lafayette, J. (2015). Another tough upfront for TV, buyers say: advertisers are more flexible, waiting for better prices, and data drives customized packages. Broadcasting & Cable.

14 Poggi, Jeanine (2014). Dear TV: We Love You. You're Perfect. Now Change. (But Not Too Much). Ad Age.

15 About the FCC (n.d.). Federal Communications Commission.

!10 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis the FCC has not directly limited the availability of transnormative programming, it established the guidelines that appear to have indirectly discouraged most networks from pushing the limits of their content: abidance to “contemporary community standards.” The term was first coined during the U.S. Supreme Court case Roth v. United States in 1957, as a precedent for declaring work to be obscene, mainly in regard to sexual content. The standard was meant to determine

“whether to the average person… the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest.”16 Given the controversial nature of LGBT topics in the 20th century, the lack of specificity in this definition could have lead distributors to avoid risky depictions. A well- known example of this action occurred with I LOVE LUCY’s 1952 episode, “Lucy is Enceinte,” which avoided the use of the word “pregnant” - not because there was any specific FCC law prohibiting it, but because distributor CBS itself believed the word was inappropriate for its audiences.17 To this end, one goal of this paper is to determine that “contemporary community standards” have changed in such a way that transnormative content is no longer stigmatized in the 2010s.

16 Contemporary Community Standards Law & Legal Definition (n.d.). US Legal.

17 ‘I Love Lucy,’ ‘Lucy Is Enceinte’ More Than 60 Years Later And More Talked About TV Pregnancies (2013). Huffington Post.

!11 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! THEORIES AND LITERATURE REVIEW

The television industry is its own ecosystem, with the varying expectations of viewers, creators, advertisers, and distributors determining the content. There are several media theories that demonstrate the construction of this ecosystem and the ways in which its fractionalization can either hinder or support the success of transnormative programming. For the most part, these theories involve the relationship between the distributor and the viewer, as there is a requisite synchronicity between what the viewer is willing to watch and what the distributor is willing to air, particularly when the content is not only niche but also socially subversive. These theories outline the ways in which distributors and viewers mutually inform each other of what and why programming goes on television and the stakes of such decisions.

The two theories that best inform the distributor-viewer dynamic are the grassroots theory and the money machine theory. The grassroots theory is a media concept that is generally associated with the press but also relates to the presentation of any opinionated topic. It supposes that media bias is the result of catering to audience appeal, such that the viewpoint of stories and subjects will always be slanted towards viewer preference, a la “contemporary community standards.” A partner theory, the money machine theory, builds on this notion of audience self- fulfillment by alleging that television content controllers are less in the business of political indoctrination than they are in the money-making business, thereby creating a media culture in which content is innately biased, trivialized, or sensationalized.18 Together, these theories form the full idea that distributors pander to audience interest in order to generate money. Resultantly,

18 Goode, Erich (2011). Drugs in American Society. pp. 59-60.

!12 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis what Morabito (2014) observes as “a virtual blitzkrieg of drag” to be an effort of activism on behalf of the transgender movement may be less about the political stance itself and more about the distributors generating their perspective based on public interest.

This concept is clearly depicted in the following Hollywood Reporter headline, which speaks for itself: “Gay couples? Gay kisses? Yawn. New sexual boundaries are being broken as

Amazon’s ‘TRANSPARENT’ is the latest to tackle a once-taboo topic.”19 This title suggests that shows such as TRANSPARENT, which not only confront but showcase “once-taboo topics,” generate increased viewer interest. Distributors depend on that. Therefore, if the “‘transgender revolution’ is going on offense” with its media representation, as Morabito (2014) claimed, then it is only because that is what the distributors have determined the public is interested in seeing.

Which is not to say, however, that programming does not influence the opinions of audiences in the process, by way of the familiarity-acceptance order and social learning theory.

The symbiotic relationship between television distributors and their viewers creates a self- fulfilling prophecy; as distributors push the boundaries of their content, viewers become more acclimated to those norms, and as viewers begin to push those norms themselves, distributors must respond by representing the change.

This is known as the familiarity-acceptance order. If the members of the audience understand the material to a certain degree, then they are more likely to be willingly led beyond that degree into unfamiliar territory.20 The social learning theory, posited by Albert Bandura, serves as a guide in that unfamiliar terrain. It argues that human behavior is informed through the

19 Jarvey, Natalie (2014). What’s Behind the Rise of Transgender TV? The Hollywood Reporter.

20 Andrewartha, Graham; Cameron, Kim; Carlopio, James; Whetten, David (2008). Develop Management Skills. p. 8.

!13 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis modeling of external sources, i.e. television. The four factors that compose an effective model - attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation - can all be provided by television programming, for better or worse.21 Therefore, while “political indoctrination” is not the bottom line of television distributors, it can be a throughline that impacts viewers.

In his work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire explores a similar theory of social learning, juxtaposing the difference between two models of education: “banking” and “problem posing.” In the former model, education is “deposited” into the learner as a stagnant truth. This,

Freire supposes, is how marginalized people remain confined by rigid social truths. “Problem posing education,” contrarily, is a two-way process between teacher and student, wherein the actual state of the world, and not just its suppositions, is examined.22 This is similar in theory to the feedback loop model, as the output of the model feeds directly back into the input, rather than functioning as a one-way street.23

In the modern television climate, feedback is illustrated more so than ever before by program selectivity. While viewership was always the deciding factor of a show’s success, the sheer scope of channels and content available to consumers today means a greater urgency to air material to which audiences are receptive. Whereas in the past, media distributors satisfied audience demand by appealing to as broad an audience as possible, the modern landscape has shifted such that now there is a prevalence of target programming, also known as

21 Bandura, Albert (1971). Social Learning Theory. General Learning Press.

22 Freire, Paulo (1968). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.

23 Golec, Piotr (2004). Feedback. Economics Web Institute.

!14 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis narrowcasting.24 This is surprisingly counterintuitive to the “readership effect,” which focuses on the desire of media to increase advertising sales by appealing, unbiasedly, to a wider audience.25

As a result of these conflicting concepts, distributors and advertisers are increasingly cognizant of audience feedback via program selectivity.

Together, the aforementioned theories provide a clear image of the effect that normalizing programming can potentially have on viewers. They demonstrate that the innate nature of television is to appeal to an audience’s frame of reference, and in some cases, push steadily out of it. Audiences that are willing to adapt to the push stimulate a change in social order. This leaves the stakeholders of the TV industry with a choice: appeal to the broad, low-risk audience by “banking” on known precedents, or accumulate viewer interest by expanding content into once-taboo areas. For the distributors, it all comes down to which will generate the most revenue.

24 Molloy, Tim (2012). Fall TV: Forget Trying to Please All, Narrowcasting Thrives. The Wrap.

25 Gal-or, Esther; Geylani, Tansev; Yildirim, Tuba Pinar (2012). The Impact of Advertising on Media Bias. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(1).

!15 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! A HISTORY OF SCRIPTED TRANSGENDER APPEARANCES

The transgender community has a long history in America, dating back to 1952. That year, the first reported American trans person came out: Christine Jorgensen, a trans woman and former Army private. She became an early advocate for the then young community. The 1950s and 1960s sparked some of the first protests for transgender rights, which resulted in several accounts of police brutality in response to the riots. In particular, the Stonewall Riots of 1969 have been cited as a huge breakthrough in LGBT exposure. 1975 was a pivotal year, as

Minneapolis became the first city to prohibit discrimination against trans people, and transgender characters began to appear on scripted television.26

For most of the 20th century, the very idea of being transgender was widely mislabelled, misappropriated and misunderstood, and American television played an integral role. This is in part because trans people themselves were and still are an immeasurable part of audience - immeasurable in the sense that the population actually cannot be measured in the United States census (more on that in the next section). However, while public opinion in preceding decades was not nearly as accepting as today, it does not mean that transgender roles and issues were entirely absent on television. As ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK’s Laverne Cox stated, “There have been trans people represented on TV for a very long time. But [now] people are having empathy for these characters. That's part of this moment that shifts things a bit.”27

26 Milestones in the American Transgender Movement (n.d.). The New York Times.

27 Jarvey, Natalie (2014). What’s Behind the Rise of Transgender TV? The Hollywood Reporter.

!16 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis Trans people have made appearances on scripted television programming from as early as the mid-1970s, but not with the quality or quantity seen in recent years. More often than not, they would appear as guest stars in sitcoms, for plotlines in which their identity as a trans person is central to the plot, to create conflict for a leading cisgender character. Until 2007, trans characters were not even represented by trans people; in the occasional appearances that trans men and women did make, they were depicted by cisgender actors on programs written by cisgender creators, and were never the central characters of a show. Actress and producer Judith

Light, who appeared as Angela on WHO’S THE BOSS and now as Shelly Pfefferman on

TRANSPARENT, says that during the 1980s, “never would we have thought [programming such as TRANSPARENT] would have happened, ever. It was so far from anyone’s purview at that point in time… There were movies of the week at the time that were about some things like that, but it was very minimal.”28 The 2000s and beyond have seen a radical shift in the way trans characters were treated. Prior to that, transnormative programming on television was minimal at its best, and stereotypical at its worst. As America’s attitude towards transgender people continues to grow more positively, so, too, does trans representation on television.

Since 1975, there have been approximately 56 shows to feature transgender characters.

With the sheer quantity of channels and programs that have been available in those 40+ years, it becomes difficult to say for certain if that number is exact. However, even taking a margin of error into account, these 56 programs present a trend in the types of appearances these characters have had, on what networks, and on what genre of programming. The chart below presents the number of shows per decade.

28 Scott, Walter (2015). Transparent a Transformative Show, Says Series Star Judith Light. Parade.

!17 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

QUANTITIES OF TRANSGENDER CHARACTERS PER DECADE

YEAR NUMBER SHOWS

1970s ~ 3 MEDICAL CENTER (1975), ALL THAT GLITTERS (1977), THE JEFFERSONS (1977)

1980s ~ 4 WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1980), THE LOVE BOAT (1982), GIMME A BREAK (1983), NIGHT COURT (1985)

1990s ~ 6 TWIN PEAKS (1990), TALES OF THE CITY (1993), MARRIED… WITH CHILDREN (1994), DIAGNOSIS: MURDER (1995), ALLY MCBEAL (1997), MORE TALES OF THE CITY (1998)

2000s ~ 26 ALLY MCBEAL (2000), CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (2000), THE EDUCATION OF MAX BICKFORD (2001), DARK ANGEL (2001), FURTHER TALES OF THE CITY (2001), ER (2002), LAW AND ORDER: SVU (2003), JUST SHOOT ME (2003), NCIS (2003), QUEER AS FOLK (2003), TWO AND A HALF MEN (2004), NIP/TUCK (2004), COLD CASE (2004), NCIS (2004), SOUTH PARK (2005), IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (2005), UGLY BETTY (2006), ALL MY CHILDREN (2006), GREY’S ANATOMY (2006), THE L WORD (2006), DIRTY SEXY MONEY (2007), THE RICHES (2007), MY NAME IS EARL (2007), SUPERJAIL! (2008), BONES (2008), ELI STONE (2008), THE CLOSER (2009)

2010-15 ~ 17 FAMILY GUY (2010), SUPERJAIL! (2011), DEGRASSI (2010), GLEE (2012) SONS OF ANARCHY (2012), HOUSE OF LIES (2012), ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (2013), THE FOSTERS (2013), ELEMENTARY (2013), THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (2013), ORPHAN BLACK (2014), PENNY DREADFUL (2014), TRANSPARENT (2014), SENSE8 (2015), AMERICAN HORROR STORY (2015), PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (2015), MR. ROBOT (2015)

The most obvious extrapolation from this chart is the exponential increase of transgender characters from the 1990s to the 2000s. Unfortunately, quantity does not always equal quality, and while the 2000s did see a rise in transgender characters, many of them were not positively depicted. This is evident as the increase seen above does not signal a trend of transnormative programming, but instead a trend of procedural crime, law, or medical shows (see below). In

2012, GLAAD reviewed the preceding decade of programming for transnormative content, and determined that 54% of shows contained negative representations, including 21% of trans characters as villains or killers, 40% as victims, and 20% as sex workers. Further, 61% contained

!18 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis anti-transgender language.29 Also notable is the prevalence of transgender characters from

2010-2015, which trails the amount in the 2000s by only nine after just half the decade.

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Some brief notes on the change of represented genres over time: for several decades, the genres that featured transgender characters were limited primarily to dramas and sitcoms. As of the 2000s, that selection began to diversify, and as of the 2010s, sci-fi/horror/fantasy shows and teen dramas became the leading homes for transgender characters. Jono Jarrett (2014), the coordinator for non-profit LGBT media organization Geeks Out, notes the recent influx of LGBT characters in alternative genres like science fiction, and explains that “[these genres are] not a place to stifle expression of any kind, especially something so human as queerness.” He attributes the already-imaginative nature of the shows to this open-mindedness. 30 As for the rise in teen dramas, shows are now exploring the struggles of transgender people during those formative years, as opposed to previous decades in which their transitions were off-screen and

29 Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television (n.d.). GLAAD.

30 Willacy, Josh (2014). Is Science Fiction Having a Gay Moment, at Last? Vice.

!19 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis used for shock value. This shift demonstrates an understanding of which audiences can be immersed in transnormative content.

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Some brief notes on the distributors of these programs: CBS, ABC and NBC have the lead for highest total transgender characters, irreflective of character quality. However, they are

!20 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis also the oldest content distributors, so this is to be expected. Distributors such as Showtime,

Netflix, and Freeform have received more praise for the substance of their LGBT characters.

Of the above-listed appearances in scripted programming, GLAAD made special note of eight on a timeline that detailed significant moments in transnormative media before 2013. These eight signify the epitome of transnormativity, thereby setting the precedent for all other instances to follow. The chart below presents the eight shows alongside their average viewership rating, compared to the average viewership of the top shows that year. If exposure is the goal of these programs, then that percentage is indicative of the show’s ability to reach a large audience.

PROGRAM CHARACTER *AVERAGE AVERAGE TOP PERCENT OF VIEWERSHIP VIEWERSHIP AVERAGE

THE JEFFERSONS Edie ﹤ 14.1m 16.4m ﹤ 85% CBS (“Once a Friend”) (1977)

!21 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis TALES OF THE CITY Mrs. Madrigal 4.1m 14.2m 28% PBS (1994)

GREY’S ANATOMY Donna 20.65m 14.1m 146% ABC (“Where the Boys (2006) Are”)

THE L WORD Max ~ .67m 14.1m 4% Showtime (Regular) (2006)

DIRTY SEXY MONEY Carmelita 8.28m 13.5m 61% ABC (Recurring) (2007)

DEGRASSI Adam ~ .98m 12.6m 7% Teen Nick (Regular) (2010)

GLEE Unique 8.7m 12.1m 71% Fox (Regular) (2012)

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Sophia 5.5m - 12m 11.8m 46% - 102% Netflix (Recurring) (2013)

* For Regular and Recurring characters, the viewership ratings and reception reflect their respective season as a whole; for guest appearances, they reflect just the individual episode in question.

!

Aside from the concerning decline of average viewership over time, this chart also demonstrates the incongruity between average broadcast views (85%, 146%, 61%, 71%) and average cable views (4%, 6%). The topic of Netflix views will be discussed in further detail in

!22 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis the following section, but for the time being, it can be said that the range of streaming views offers a more competitive platform for transnormative exposure. All of that being said, not all transnormative content is created equal,

Perhaps the most influential show creator of the 1970s is Norman Lear. Lear spearheaded several sitcoms that confronted controversial political and social issues, including ALL IN THE

FAMILY, SANFORD & SON, MAUDE, ALL THAT GLITTERS, and THE JEFFERSONS. Lear was a vocal advocate for all citizens’ rights, deliberately crafting his shows to reflect his point of view.31 Lear has stated that no one on the industry side ever forbade him from pushing the boundaries of social norms,32 despite some controversy surrounding those episodes.33 ALL IN

THE FAMILY, ALL THAT GLITTERS, and THE JEFFERSONS all featured transgender characters, with ALL THAT GLITTERS featuring the first ever transgender series regular, played by cisgender Linda Gray, in 1977.34 ALL IN THE FAMILY’s character Beverly was written as a cross-dresser in her episode, but Norman Lear has since referred to her as transgender.35 GLAAD praises THE JEFFERSONS, though, as one of the earliest benchmarks of transnormative programming.36 In the third episode of its fourth season, “Once a Friend,” which aired on

October 1st, 1977, George Jefferson is expecting a visit from an old Navy friend, Eddie, and

31 Biography.com Editors (n.d.). Norman Lear Biography. The Biography.com website.

32 Robb, David (2014). Produced By: Norman Lear Goes Archie Bunker On TV Ageism. Deadline.

33 Von Hodenberg, Christina (2015). Television's Moment: Sitcom Audiences and the Sixties Cultural Revolution. p. 165. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

34 Nadel, Gerry (1977). All in His Family. New Times.

35 Raftery, Liz (2014). VIDEO: Which All in the Family Scene Still Makes Norman Lear Cry? TV Guide.

36 Transforming Images: Four Decades of Trans-Inclusive Entertainment (n.d.). GLAAD.

!23 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis discovers that she has since transitioned into a trans woman named Edie. The show was not among the top 30 that particular season, but in the immediate prior seasons, it cultivated an average audience of about 14.9 million people.37

1993’s TALES OF THE CITY miniseries, an adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s book series, and which was originally produced in the United Kingdom, was imported into the United

States and aired on PBS. The series featured a character who GLAAD calls “one of popular culture’s most beloved transgender characters,” Anna Madrigal, an eccentric landlady.38 She was played by cisgender actress Olympia Dukakis, who reprised the role in the 1998 and 2001

Showtime sequels, MORE TALES OF THE CITY and FURTHER TALES OF THE CITY.39 The series was highly controversial for its illicit content, which included the themes of sexuality; yet, at the same time, the original PBS miniseries was a ratings juggernaut.40 This is a notable and unconventional instance of “contemporary community standards” misaligning with the standards of scripted content, but having no impact on its viewership.

Dramas such as GREY’S ANATOMY, THE L WORD, and DIRTY SEXY MONEY became venues of transnormative content during the 2000s. On GREY’S ANATOMY, the 2006 episode “Where the Boys Are” featured a trans woman named Donna seeking gender reassignment surgery. Donna was played by transgender actress, Alexandra Billings. Showtime, a distributor that is no stranger to transnormative content, began featuring trans man Max on THE

37 Bibler, Frank (2002). Top Rated Programs - 1975-1980. FBibler.chez.com

38 Kane, Matt (2013). Transgender characters that changed film and television #TransWK. GLAAD.

39 Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City (n.d.). IMDB.

40 Maupin, Armistead (2007). Oft Asked Questions. Armistead Maupin.com Website.

!24 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis L WORD beginning in 2006. The views, however, were rather low, given the niche nature of the network and show. ABC’s 2007 drama series, DIRTY SEXY MONEY, however, garnered much more visibility, and became the first mainstream show to feature a transgender actress, Candis

Cayne, playing a prominent transgender character, Carmelita. Of these shows, GREY’S

ANATOMY had the most views, but the least screentime for Donna; contrarily, low-viewed THE

L WORD had Max as a series regular.

FOX’s GLEE and Teen Nick’s DEGRASSI, both teen dramas that ran during 2010-2013, demonstrate the recent inclusion of trans people in more sympathetic, realistic roles. The two shows are known for their depictions of LGBT characters and issues, and Adam and Unique are both regulars of their respective programs; however, as a broadcast show, GLEE saw a significantly larger audience than did DEGRASSI, with close to nine times the viewership ratings. It goes to show the difference that a distributor can make in spreading awareness of a similar concept. Even so, DEGRASSI was popular enough to cause the Florida Family

Association to petition Adam’s character when he started appearing on the show, and to threaten advertisers to pull their support. They claimed that “millions of young teens and children [will] witness this irresponsible affirmation of a transgender lifestyle and [be] directed to an organization that will encourage kids to embrace a sexual identity which is different from their birth sex."41 Embrace differing sexual identities, perhaps, but studies have yet to prove that anyone “turned transgender” after watching DEGRASSI.

Lastly, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK carries one of the strongest legacies of inclusive programming with its highly diverse cast of multi-dimensional characters and the

41 Tashman, Brian (2011). Religious Right Activists Slam Degrassi For Transgender Character. Right Wing Watch.

!25 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis popularity of its trans character Sophia Burset, played by Laverne Cox. Since its first batch release in 2013, OITNB proved that Netflix is capable of depicting a range of characters not commonly seen on broadcast television. BET founder Bob Johnson (2015) says of the distribution method, “Over-the-top streaming is a quintessential answer to diversity because it allows consumers to access exactly the kind of content they want to access targeted to their primary viewing interest, whether it’s based on ethnicity, cultural behavior, or social interests or gender issues. There is no limitation on access and no limitations posed by gatekeepers if the consumers are willing to access the programming on an advertiser mode or a pay-basis mode.”

!26 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! TRANSGENDER AMERICA: FACTS AND STATISTICS

The objective of media monitoring organizations such as GLAAD is to ensure that the

LGBT community is depicted fairly and accurately on television. When GLAAD creates a

Network Responsibility Index (NRI), they survey the landscape of the current season of scripted content using three primary categories: quality, quantity, and the diversity of LGBT representation.42 The purpose of these measures is to ensure that the programming that is distributed is a proper reflection of LGBT people in society. In this case, for the TV industry to be socially responsible, it must strive to achieve that standard in its programming. Consequently, it becomes necessary to determine how transgender depictions can be quantifiably and successfully accurate. This entails calculating the quantity of the transgender community in real life, which is a challenge for several reasons. The lack of discussion of LGBT issues in the past makes measuring a change in the population impossible, and the generalizing of transgender issues under the LGBT umbrella makes the results of some polls indistinguishable.

Historically speaking, information regarding the transgender population and cisgender acceptance have been scarce, due to the lack of discourse on the topic or the exclusion of such factors in polling. Older polls would recognize sexual orientation rather than gender identity, thereby making it terminologically impossible to account for transgender individuals. With the establishment of LGBT organizations in the 1990s, surveys took to asking questions about

42 GLAAD 2015 Network Responsibility Index (2015). GLAAD.

!27 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in single questions, which prevented the “T” from receiving individualized recognition.43

This is particularly problematic, as there are some prominent differences between transgender people and the rest of the members of the LGBT community. For one, gay, lesbian, and bisexual refer to sexual orientation rather than gender identity, so they face distinctly different issues. There is also a difference in public attitudes: as of summer 2015, only 14% of

Americans surveyed in a YouGov polled found it “morally acceptable” to identify as transgender;

39% found that it was not an issue of morality. However, 31% considered it to be morally wrong.44 In comparison, 54% find it acceptable to be gay or lesbian.45

It is equally difficult to evaluate the transgender population as a result of factors imposed by the people themselves. According to a study by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 71% of individuals who personally identify as transgender conceal this fact publically out of fear of discrimination. This makes it impossible to quantify the precise amount. One study by the Williams Institute combined the results of two separate surveys to estimate the transgender population in the United States as 700,000 adults, but they have also acknowledged that this number is not fully accurate.46

For lack of a better option then, the Williams Institute’s conclusion can be considered the

“most” accurate. By its account, trans people compose 0.3% of the population. The population of

43 Kreider; Kyle L.; Baldino; Thomas J. (2015). Minority Voting in the United States. Westport: Praeger.

44 Moore, Peter (2015). One third think it is morally wrong to be transgender. YouGov.

45 Saad, Lydia (2012). U.S. Acceptance of Gay/Lesbian Relations Is the New Normal. Gallup.

46 Miller, Claire Cain (2015). The Search for the Best Estimate of the Transgender Population. The New York Times.

!28 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis television characters is difficult to determine, though GLAAD’s 2015 “Where We Are on TV

Report” did find 881 series regulars on broadcast; they lacked totals for cable and streaming. The

2015 transgender population of TV, however, is quantifiable, with only seven characters across the three platforms.47 If that seven is applied to the 881 - just a fraction of the total TV population - it only amounts to 0.007%. This disparity proves that even with such a small quantity of people to represent, and with just a small portion of the TV population, television still does not accurately reflect society and trans people’s role within it.

47 Where We Are On TV 2014-2015 (2015). GLAAD.

!29 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! SOCIAL ANALYSIS

For transnormative programming to occur, the social discourse surrounding the transgender community needs to be conducive to viewership. The call-and-response nature of the viewer/distributor dynamic is such that programming that fails to appeal to audiences is dead on arrival, so as a result, the still-polarized attitudes about transgender people in society make the reliable reception of transnormative shows seem like a gamble to advertisers and distributors. For these shows to gain headway in the competitive business of television, they must be distributed into a society that is already primed for that type of content, harkening back to the FCC’s definition of “contemporary community standards” It is a social, rather than legal, precedent that controls content output. Particularly with recent years being what former head of the Transgender

Law Center, Masen Davis, calls “Dickensian time, where it’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times at once,”48 the presence of positive media depictions is more telling and more impactful than ever.

Even though television is often framed as an entertainment industry, its character representations can actually serve as reference points for different demographics. Approximately

84% of Americans learn about the transgender community by way of media, meaning that depicting it properly matters, and is going to have an influence on the way they interact with real-life transgender people.49 Edward Schiappa, a communication studies professor at the

University of Minnesota, and his colleagues have conducted several studies that indicate that

48 Steinmetz, Katy (2015). Why Transgender People Are Being Murdered at a Historic Rate. Time.

49 Where We Are On TV 2014-2015 (2015). GLAAD.

!30 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis people who watched programs with gay characters actually became less prejudice towards gay people. Schiappa says that while the effects of television “don’t change bigots into saints… they can snowball.”50 The same principle of “snowballing” tolerance can be applied to transgender characters.

The concept of snowballing is also known as the Familiarity-Acceptance order, the theory behind the phrase “familiarity breeds acceptance.” Goodman (1982) identified television’s uncanny ability to absorb and reissue subject matter to the public of viewers, making an example of the afro hairstyle. He said, “[Television] picks up fast on trends and makes them familiar and ever more acceptable to the untrendy public... when the Afro made its first appearance on the tube a decade or so ago, sported by angry young men, the hair style must have seemed menacing to many, but in a wink it was adopted by performers, made smart. Soon, actors who played cops as well as those who played revolutionaries were affecting Afros.”51

One could say that television has the ability to make transgender acceptance “trendy.”

This “trend” seems to have taken full effect in 2014 and 2015. Concurrently to television’s advancing equalization of representation were changes in legal policies, the shattering of antiquated social barriers, and an increase in the general understanding and tolerance of the transgender movement. This symbiotic osmosis between the “fictional” and “nonfictional” worlds helped foster a zeitgeist of transnormativity that enriched the capabilities of transgender programming.

50 Stelter, Brian (2012). Gay on TV: It’s All in the Family. The New York Times.

51 Goodman, Walter (1982). TV VIEW; DOES FAMILIARITY BREED ACCEPTANCE? The New York Times.

!31 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis 2014 was a marked year in the transgender timeline, due to the groundbreaking developments in the community, both politically and socially. President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to discuss transgender issues - and use the word “transgender” - in his

State of the Union address.52 Further, legislative strides were made, with the National Center for

Transgender Equality (NCTE) working in tandem with the White House to further anti- discrimination measures. These are reflected in the Affordable Care Act, which notedly prevents gender identity-based discrimination. Similar actions were taken by the Department of Labor and the Justice Department, both of which authorized orders to protect transgender employees from wrongful prejudice.53 In the category of social liberties, 2014 brought digital and academic inclusion: Facebook expanded its users’ gender options to over 50,54 and three women’s colleges laid out specific guarantees that all women, including trans women, would be permitted to attend. As a whole, 2014 became a year of inclusion for the transgender community, making tangible measures to secure the equal rights of trans people.

In television, 2014 was the “Transgender Tipping Point,” or so said the headline on

Laverne Cox’s Time magazine cover. Cox led the movement that year, not only becoming the first transgender person to be featured on the cover, but also appearing in the John Legend music video “You and I” and continuing her role as Sophia on ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK’s second season. Another significant moment in programming was the debut of TRANSPARENT,

Jill Soloway’s critically acclaimed Amazon comedy. The series follows the late-life transition of

52 Steinmetz, Katy (2015). Why It’s a Big Deal That Obama Said ‘Transgender.’ Time.

53 Allen, Samantha; Lang, Nico (2014). 11 Ways 2014 Was the Biggest Year in Transgender History. Rolling Stone.

54 Facebook Diversity (2014). In Facebook [Community page].

!32 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis trans woman Maura and its complex effect on her family. It was awarded a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy, and its leading actor, Jeffrey Tambor, was nominated for Best

Actor in a Comedy. On the non-scripted side, Cox created THE T-WORD, an MTV reality show about seven transgender youths.55 Through television, the community was given a voice that was interpretable to the general American population. Legally, nothing was altered or mandated to permit this content - instead, it was the communal awareness that allowed it to thrive. This “Pre-

Caitlyn” television exposure paved the way for the movement’s mainstream growth the following year.

Following the triumphs of the previous year, 2015 catalyzed significant process in transnormative programming, a change that was figureheaded, for better or for worse, by Caitlyn

Jenner. On April 24, Jenner famously came out as transgender during an extended 2-hour interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News’ 20/20, with the now-iconic statement: “For all intents and purposes, I’m a woman.”56 The interview was viewed by an audience of 16.9 million.57 In terms of increasing the visibility, and subsequently the awareness, of the transgender community, those ratings are unparalleled. “The interview with then-Bruce Jenner, and now

Caitlyn Jenner, really helped people to be clear in understanding, especially about gender versus sexuality,” said Billie Jean King, a former tennis star and long-time associate of Jenner’s.58

55 Allen, Samantha; Lang, Nico (2014). 11 Ways 2014 Was the Biggest Year in Transgender History. Rolling Stone.

56 Keneally, Meghan; Dooley, Sean; Dawson, Margaret; Zak, Lana; Ng, Christina; Effron, Lauren (2015). Bruce Jenner: 'I'm a Woman.’ ABC News.

57 Kenneally, Tim (2015). Bruce Jenner Interview Pushes ’20/20’ to 15-Year Ratings High. The Wrap.

58 Associated Press (2015). Billie Jean King says Caitlyn Jenner helps transgender tolerance. ESPN.

!33 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis Contrarily, others worried that Jenner would only divert attention away from those transgender people who were in less fortunate situation. The national director of the Trans

Women of Color Collective, Lourdes Ashley Hunter, stated, “[Jenner’s] celebrity status is great for visibility, but it can and will be used as a distraction from the lived experience of trans folk who continue to battle discrimination when accessing basic needs.”59 Regardless of the feedback she has received, Jenner’s transition has proven to be a major benchmark at the cross-section of real life and transnormative programming.

In 2015, YouGov surveyed 1000 adults, examining their attitudes toward and awareness of the transgender community in conjunction with knowledge of Caitlyn Jenner. 42% of those surveyed said that they understood what it means to be transgender “extremely” or “very well,” while 36% said they understood “moderately well” and 23% reported “not too well” or “not well at all.” When asked how much they had learned about the transgender community that year, only

15% said they had learned “a great deal” while a leading 40% said “some” and a combined 40% said “not very much” or “nothing at all.” The survey went on to ask how closely the participants had been following Jenner, to which 9% said “very closely,” 34% said “somewhat closely,” and a combined 57% said “not very closely” or “not all all closely.”60

What this poll helps to reveal is there is at least some connection, if not a correlation, between those who are closely familiar with the transgender community (42%), those who gained some amount of education on it in 2015 (55%), and those who follow Caitlyn Jenner to a dedicated or close degree (43%). The percentages are in a consistent enough range to suggest

59 Grinberg, Emanuella (2015). Why Caitlyn Jenner's transgender experience is far from the norm. CNN.

60 Moore, Peter (2015). Poll Results: Transgender. YouGov.

!34 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis that those who consider themselves familiar with the community are also those who are being reached by mass media.

The influence of mass media may be so widely spread, in fact, that it could have already played a role in preparing Caitlyn Jenner to come out with her transition. The creator of

TRANSPARENT, Jill Soloway, learned that the Kardashians, relatives of the Jenners, were fans of her show, and that seeing a family that was fully functional in spite of a parent’s later-in-life transition helped Caitlyn Jenner gain the confidence to pursue it herself.61 This invokes the

“motivation” condition of the social learning theory, wherein the learner is given a positive incentive to replicate the model behavior.62 Then, lo and behold, the feedback loop comes full circle as the industry end re-reacts to the social end: namely, Jenner inspires Soloway. The

TRANSPARENT creator has said, “Maura [the protagonist of TRANSPARENT] doesn’t have to be perfect anymore because of people like Caitlyn Jenner. We’re not doing ‘Trans 101’ anymore, we’re not having to introduce the world to the concept of a trans woman. Now Maura can be a little bit more human.”63 This instance demonstrates the television feedback loop in motion, as art imitates life imitating art.

Fortune Entertainment’s Erin Carlson has said that “the summer of 2015 [shaped] up as the moment when transgender went mainstream.”64 CNN echoed the sentiment.65 It was the

61 Weiss, Matthew Cole (2015). Transparent Creator: Bruce Jenner and Family Watched the Show and 'Loved It.’ People.

62 Bandura, Albert (1971). Social Learning Theory. General Learning Press.

63 Raya, Anna Lisa; Blyth, Antonia (2015). The Caitlyn Effect: 'Transparent' Creator Jill Soloway On Jenner's Positive Influence – Emmys. Deadline.

64 Carlson, Erin (2015). It's not just Caitlyn: Transgender people are having their TV moment. Fortune.

65 Griggs, Brandon (2015). America's transgender moment. CNN.

!35 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis summer that Caitlin Jenner received her own reality show, I AM CAIT; ABC launched a new reality show, BECOMING US, about a teenager whose father comes out as transgender;

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK aired its third season, and the summer that TRANSPARENT won a Golden Globe for its first season. These instances represent a movement not only in society, but in televised content. Laverne Cox stressed the importance of what both quantity and quality in trans representation brings, saying, “If the character is written like the way Sophia is written, as a multi-dimensional character who the audience can really empathize with, all of the sudden they’re empathizing with a real Trans person. And for Trans folks out there, who need to see representations of people who are like them and of their experiences, that’s when it becomes really important. I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve gotten from Trans folks on social media and through my website saying how validating it is for them to see themselves on television represented in ways that they can really relate to.”66 Indeed, 2015 became a landmark year for the transgender community in media.

Unfortunately, while it is true that the past few years have seen significant improvement in acceptance, awareness, and representation for the transgender community, there are still stigmas associated with being transgender that can be said to have prevented the group’s mainstream integration. The programming itself has yet to be embraced by the whole country;

Morabito’s fear of the upswing as a “trans-agenda” makes that clear enough. As the previous statistics have shown, a large percentage of Americans are still uncomfortable with or hateful of transgender individuals. Hate speech and hate crimes still pervade the media, often in response to the increased visibility of the movement. For some, the snowball effect on transgender rights that

66 Michelle, Douvris; Chaffee, Sara (2013). Sitting Down With Orange is the New Black Star Laverne Cox. Emertainment Monthly.

!36 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis television is able to achieve is more of a threat than a catalyst for tolerance. In October 2015,

Stella Morabito was interviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding her perspective on the use of mass media as a tool of manipulation. In contrast to the praise that Caitlyn Jenner received during that time period, Morabito instead criticized Jenner for what she thinks is a false and artificial depiction of womanhood.67

While Morabito’s discriminatory speech may not immediately endanger the community, there are those who express their bigotry with violence rather than words. That same year, 21 transgender people were reported victims of fatal hate crimes in America. In the first six months of 2015, more transgender individuals were killed than in the whole of 2014.68 Most were trans women of color. Hate crimes against trans people are often misidentified or mislabeled, due to third parties incorrectly gendering the victim.69 “Gendering,” as the name may imply, refers to the act of assigning a person a gender. As of January 22nd, 2016, the first reported murder of a transgender person the year took place in Austin, Texas; in the days following the killing, victim

Monica Loera was misgendered by the media outlets that were reporting her death.70 The spread of misinformation following the deaths of trans men and women is not uncommon; a similar incident arose in 2014, when a trans woman, Tiffany Edwards, was murdered in Cincinnati and

67 Thomas, Ginni (2015). Former Intelligence Analyst: Political Correctness Is A Manipulative Tool For Centralizing Power. Daily Caller.

68 Addressing Anti-Transgender Violence: Exploring Realities, Challenges and Solutions (2015). Human Rights Campaign.

69 Michaels, Samantha (2015). More Transgender People Have Been Killed in 2015 Than Any Other Year on Record. Mother Jones.

70 Adams, Nick (2016). Trans woman Monica Loera murdered in Austin, Texas and misgendered by the media. GLAAD.

!37 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis subsequently labelled by the media as male.71 This trend of violence towards the community and subsequently incorrect reporting shows that, despite a growth in society’s acceptance of trans people, there is still progress to be made.

However, these murders may not be indicative of a rise in violence, but rather a rise in coverage. Education about and acceptance toward the transgender community is better than ever, and while it looks like things are getting worse, the opposite could if fact be true. Hate crimes and misgendering are tragic, but the cultural awareness that informs those reports show that conditions are changing. Given this, the representation of the transgender community and the way it reflects conditions back to society are now under a critical lens. If television can afford to be socially responsible in its depictions of transgender characters as in the examples above, then the world will be better off for it.

! INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

As per the nature of the feedback loop, transnormative programming not only perpetuates discourse that normalizes transgender people, but is generated as a result of that discourse. On the industry side, decisions are based on the numbers, but the numbers are based on the people watching. Viewers at home translate into viewer ratings, which are quite literally the currency of

TV distribution; the advertisers that buy the ad space, which funds the distributors, are looking to those numbers for justification of their purchase. At least, this is the case as far as broadcast and

71 Heffernan, Dani (2014). TakePart speaks to GLAAD about respectful reporting on transgender victims of violence. GLAAD.

!38 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis cable networks are concerned; OTT services, instead, measure their subscriber counts. In all cases, though, the show must be conceived, greenlit, and produced before it can be distributed.

Before there is even a show to distribute, there is an idea, which comes from a show creator. Creators, just like viewers, are informed by their environments, and it is often their personal backgrounds that inform the concepts they bring to their programs - particularly when they are transnormative. In fact, transgender representation is often stimulated not by viewers or distributors, but instead by creators. Cameron Kadison, the executive producer of reality show

TRANSCENDENT, notes that “in the scripted world, there never was a demand for transgender- centered programming. Jill Soloway [the creator of TRANSPARENT] had a unique story to tell in a world that nobody had uncovered for a platform [Amazon] that needed buzz-worthy shows.”72 Soloway’s story is that her elderly father had come out as a trans woman.73 Meanwhile, the creators of SENSE8, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, are both trans women.74 Sophia from ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK is inspired by Vanessa Robinson, a transgender inmate from the memoir that inspired the show.75 John Fawcett, the co-creator of

ORPHAN BLACK, previously directed a handful of episodes of the show QUEER AS FOLK, which also happened to star Peter Paige, a gay man who would go on to create THE

FOSTERS.76 From all of these origins, we can see that the ideas behind transnormative shows

72 Kadison, Cameron (2015). Interview.

73 Grow, Kory (2014). 'Transparent' Creator Jill Soloway on Making the World Safer for Trans People. Rolling Stone.

74 Stedman, Alex (2016). Second Wachowski Sibling Comes Out as Transgender. Variety.

75 Kerman, Piper (2010). Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. New York: Spiegel & Grau.

76 John Fawcett (n.d.). IMDB.

!39 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis did not come out of a vacuum, and that each creator had some prior LGBT influence or interaction.

It is significant that each creator has chosen to channel his or her LGBT experiences into sharable content, as it evokes Freire’s theory of problem-posing education, and thereby demonstrates social responsibility. This model emphasizes the importance of not only listening, but of dialogue and action. Creators choose to be more than passive receptors of information, and instead take affirmative action - or, as Jill Soloway calls it, “trans affirmative” action. She says,

“We did take great pains to be sure that there were other trans actors playing the rest of the trans characters, and we’re doing a sort of trans affirmative action program on our show. We’re getting a lot of trans folk on the crew as extras.”77 Social responsibility, Soloway shows, is something that must be constructed consciously and deliberately, particularly for an industry that has been historically poor at being representative.

As per the money machine and grassroots theories, though, distributors are in the business of making money, and will only respond to problem-posing gestures if they ultimately cater to audience appeal. The next question to ask is: Does socially responsible diversity in television, be it gender or race, actually contribute to that money machine? The answer, according to UCLA’s Center for African American Studies, is yes. Their research shows that of the one thousand shows that aired from 2011-2012, it was the ones with more diverse casts and crews that drew in more viewers. The director of the Center, Darnell Hunt, said, “It’s clear that people are watching shows that reflect and relate to their own experiences.”78 The research did

77 Poniewozik, James (2014). Q&A: Transparent Creator Jill Soloway on Transgender Stories and Indie TV. Time.

78 Lee, Cynthia (2013). Study finds TV shows with ethnically diverse casts, writers have higher ratings. UCLA Newsroom.

!40 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis not make any mention of LGBT representation, nor specifically transgender representation, which brings to the foreground another point. According to the most recent census numbers, there are 162 million women in the United States;79 there are 45.7 million African Americans;80 there are, roughly over .7 million transgender people. As far as reflecting people’s experiences goes, that is not a high margin of shared experience. To echo Kadison’s sentiment: there is very likely no demand from distributors to represent that demographic.

GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine tells a different story. He claims that similar effects have been seen in the success of transnormative shows like UGLY BETTY, which demonstrate “that creating inclusive television comedy isn’t merely the responsible road to take, but it can greatly help a program’s commercial success. There is an audience out there waiting for the networks to give them smart comedies with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters.”81 Despite these statements, transgender representation on cable and broadcast television remains poor to non-existent. In fact, of the shows surveyed thus far, there are only four feature transgender characters in leading roles: SENSE8, DEGRASSI, TRANSPARENT, and GLEE. Half of these shows are distributed by OTT services: Netflix and Amazon.

Aside from the obvious change in viewing format, the other significant difference between these services and conventional networks is the lack of involvement by advertisers.

Kadison explains the effect that reluctant advertisers had on the development of his show, stating, “Everyone was intrigued by TRANSCENDENT and knew it could work, but they did

79 FACTS FOR FEATURES: Women’s History Month (2016). United States Census Bureau.

80 FACTS FOR FEATURES: Black (African-American) History Month (2016). United States Census Bureau.

81 Where We Are On TV 2007-2008 (2008). GLAAD.

!41 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis not think brands would get behind it.”82 Losing the support of advertisers is a very real fear in the television industry; when news broke that Ellen DeGeneres’ character on her show, ELLEN, would be coming out as a lesbian in the 1997’s “The Puppy Episode,” major corporations

Wendy’s, Chrysler, and J.C. Penney all refused to buy ad space.83 The necessity of advertisers to fund network programming can become a major hindrance, though it is one not faced by streaming services, which instead generate income from subscribers. Resultantly, these services are less concerned with the viewership per program and more concerned with offering a breadth of programming for viewer retention - breadth not in one singular show, but across the platform.

The other factor is Netflix’s age demographic. As of 2015, 65% of Netflix users were between the ages of 16 and 24.84 According to a 2015 YouGov survey of people age 18-29, a majority, 59%, said that they either viewed being transgender as morally acceptable or as not a moral issue.85 Due to this intersection of Netflix’s largest viewer base and the largest group of people familiar with the transgender community, the OTT distributor is able to release such content without any concern about advertisers. Their model allows them to give the viewer choices, and they have tapped into niche programming that they know their viewers are prone to choose. However, it begs the question of how many viewers are actually watching?

When it comes to determining the ratings of OTT original series compared to their broadcast or cable counterpart, that is where it becomes unclear. Neither Netflix nor Amazon

82 Kadison, Cameron (2015). Interview.

83 Tracy, Kathleen (2005). Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres. New York: Kensington.

84 Mander, Jason (2015). Netflix has twice as many American users as subscribers. Global Web Index.

85 Moore, Peter (2015). One third think it is morally wrong to be transgender. YouGov.

!42 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis release their viewership figures, only their subscriber counts. However, not every subscriber watches every show, so those numbers are not accurate enough to determine actual viewership.

Moreover, Netflix shows are released in batches, unlike broadcast and cable, so there are no benchpoint “same day” or “next day” viewing calculations, since all the content is available all at once, then all the time. Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, has even called the typical

“advertising-driven” system “so insignificant to us that I can’t even tell you how many 18- to 49- year-old members we have.”86

The surveys and estimations of viewership per show that do exist vary; for example, one study by the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) asserts that about 80% of the 500

U.S. Netflix subscribers surveyed have seen at least one episode of ORANGE IS THE NEW

BLACK, while about 30% have seen all of them.87 The number of U.S. subscribers in 2015 was

40 million,88 so if these numbers are applied on a macro level, this would mean approximately 30 million people have seen one episode, and 12 million have seen every episode. However, a separate survey of 453 U.S. Netflix subscribers by RBC analyst Mark Mahaney indicates that up to 57% of people had watched OITNB, indicating the possibility of 22.8 million viewers on a macro level.89 As these numbers indicate, there is no reliable, consistent way to determine viewership based only on viewer surveys.

86 Lynch, Jason (2016). Broadcast TV Is Still Outpacing Netflix's Top Shows by Millions of Viewers Per Episode. Ad Week.

87 Lowitz, Joshua N.; Levin, Michael R. (2015). Amazon Golden Globe Winner Seen by Few Viewers. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC.

88 Smith, Craig (2016). By the Numbers: 70 Amazing Netflix Statistics and Facts. DMR.

89 Kafka, Peter (2015). Here Are the Original Shows Netflix Viewers Say They're Watching. Recode.

!43 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis Another approach that can be taken to approximate regular viewership is to use the number of Facebook “likes” a TV show has to establish a range. As of April 2016, for instance,

GAME OF THRONES had 17.2m page likes,90 and its previous season garnered about 18.6m viewers per episode;91 ORPHAN BLACK had .71m likes, and its ratings have ranged between approximately .7m92 and .4m.93 Seemingly, this approach proved accurate; however, one survey by Symphony Advanced Media placed Netflix’s JESSICA JONES at around 4.81m viewers,94 but the show only has .91m Facebook likes.95 Likewise, OITNB only has 5.5m likes, while the previous surveys indicate viewership much higher than that.96 It is indeterminable whether it is the likes or the survey that are more inaccurate. While this approach seemed promising, it proved to be Netflix-proof.

There is enough information to formulate an entirely separate thesis paper on this matter, but for the purposes of this paper, the approximate range indicated by the various studies and

Facebook likes will be sufficiently accurate; after all, the purpose of examining ratings in this paper is to establish (A) where transnormative programming is being viewed the most and (B) how those ratings compare to the viewership of other shows. Neither necessarily requires precise

90 Game of Thrones (2016). In Facebook [Official page].

91 Sinha-Roy, Piya (2014). 'Game of Thrones' draws 7.1 million viewers for blood-filled finale. Reuters.

92 Saturday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: NASCAR, NBA Playoffs Top Charts (2014). The Futon Critic.

93 Cantor, Brian (2015). RATINGS: BBC AMERICA’S “ORPHAN BLACK” FALLS TO A SEASON LOW. Headline Planet.

94 Lynch, Jason (2016). Broadcast TV Is Still Outpacing Netflix's Top Shows by Millions of Viewers Per Episode. Ad Week.

95 Marvel’s Jessica Jones (2016). In Facebook [Official page].

96 Orange Is the New Black (2016). In Facebook [Official page].

!44 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis numbers and can be determined based on impressions. The following table calculates the average viewership of each transnormative program and compares them to the average viewership of the top 50 programs of 201497 and 2015.98 The intent of this comparison is to determine whether or not the transnormative program is actually being seen by a wide audience, or just its own “niche” audience.

PROGRAM CHARACTER *AVERAGE VIEWERSHIP AVERAGE 2014 / 2015 TOP VIEWERSHIP % OF AVERAGE

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Sophia (2014 / 2015) (2014 / 2015) 43% - 94% Netflix (Recurring) 5.5m - 12m 12.7m / 12.9m (2014, 2015)

TRANSPARENT Maura .25m - 3m114 (2014 / 2015) 1% - 24% Amazon (Recurring) 12.7m / 12.9m (2014, 2015)

THE FOSTERS Cole (2014 / 2015) (2014 / 2015) 13% / 11% Freeform (Recurring) 1.68 / 1.39 12.7m / 12.9m (2014, 2015)

ORPHAN BLACK Tony .58m 12.7m 5% BBC America (“Variable and Full (2014) of Perturbation”)

PENNY DREADFUL Angelique .61m 12.9m 5% Showtime (Recurring) (2015)

SENSE8 Nomi .8m-4.4m 12.9m 6% - 34% Netflix (Regular) (2015)

DROP DEAD DIVA Sam 1.2m 12.7m 9% Lifetime (“Identity Crisis”) (2014)

GLEE Unique (2014 /2015) (2014 / 2015) 36% / 24% Fox (Regular) 4.57m / 3.14m 12.7m / 12.9m (2014, 2015)

AMERICAN HORROR STORY Liz Taylor 2.89m 12.9m 22% FX (Regular) (2015)

* For Regular and Recurring characters, the viewership ratings and reception reflect the 2014-2015 season as a whole; for guest appearances, they reflect just the individual episode in question. ** The least viewed show on the top 50 lists received 9.1 / 9.2 viewers; anything exceeding 71% in the % OF AVERAGE column would have made the list.

97 Schneider, Michael (2014). America's Most Watched: The Top 50 Shows of the 2013-2014 TV Season. TV Guide.

98 Schneider, Michael (2015). These Are the 50 Most-Watched TV Shows of the 2014-15 Season. TV Insider.

!45 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

!

The table above shows that only a fraction of an average viewing audience is watching transnormative programs, with few qualifying for Top 50 lists, and some not even reaching double digit percentages of those viewers. Only OITNB, which is not on any Top 50 lists due to being a Netflix series, could have made it onto one and gained mainstream exposure. Looking on the higher end of the percentages, it should be noted that the shows with the most viewers

(OITNB, SENSE8, TRANSPARENT) had transgender characters in more prominent roles and were on streaming platforms; the least viewed shows (ORPHAN BLACK, PENNY

DREADFUL, DROP DEAD DIVA) had only guest or infrequently recurring transgender characters and were on cable. However, without exact measurements from Netflix and Amazon, these results should not be taken as 100% accurate, just a rough guide.

Another important factor to consider in the industry is critical reception; however, the views of critics can vary greatly, and not every show is reviewed by the same people, or the same amount of people. To that point, there is no honor more prestigious and more demonstrative of pinnacle quality than being nominated for an Emmy. Transgender representation has long been coveted by the Academy, even in times when it was less coveted by distributors. Vanessa

!46 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis Redgrave was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie in 1986 for her role in SECOND SERVE,99 and, likewise, so were Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange for their roles in NORMAL in 2003.100 Robert Reed was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor for a

Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy in 1976 for his part in MEDICAL CENTER,101

Laverne Cox was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014 for

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK,102 and Jeffrey Tambor won Outstanding Lead Actor in a

Comedy Series in 2015 for TRANSPARENT.103 If there is one place that acknowledgement of transnormative content has not been lost, it is the Emmys. They have consistently proven to be one of the best platforms for legitimizing transnormative programming and the transgender movement.

The presence of these programs at the Emmys can and have indirectly contributed to the movement itself. In the past, winning shows have seen an increase in audiences, and winning actors have seen an increase in exposure and pay.104 For a show like TRANSPARENT, which received 11 nominations and five wins, this can lead to much-needed awareness of those transnormative shows or causes.105 The award show itself carries a hefty audience too, with the

2015 Emmys bringing in 11.9 million viewers, more than TRANSPARENT can generate on its

99 Second Serve Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

100 Normal Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

101 Robert Reed Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

102 Laverne Cox Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

103 Jeffrey Tambor Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

104 Bukszpan, Daniel (2015). How much is an Emmy really worth? Fortune.

105 Transparent Awards & Nominations (n.d.). Television Academy.

!47 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis parent platform.106 However, those 11.9 million viewers all heard Jeffrey Tambor thank and share his victory with the transgender community, thereby further spreading that cause.107 Billie Gold, the Vice President and Director of TV Programming Research at Carat, notes that “when you look at the Emmys, they’re no longer about what the popular masses like. It’s more about if you have top actors doing these really interesting roles, with multi-dimensional characters. … [In] mainstream television, you’re trying to appeal to the masses.”108

106 Pallotta, Frank (2015). Emmys ratings were lowest ever. CNN Money.

107 Thomas, June (2015). Jeffrey Tambor Shows How a Cisgender Actor Should Accept an Award for Playing a Trans Character. Slate.

108 Collins, Scott (2015). ‘Transparent’ vs. ‘Modern Family’ and what Sunday’s Emmys say about TV’s cultural shake-ups. Los Angeles Times.

!48 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

! CONCLUSIONS

Social responsibility and transnormativity are good for television, but not necessarily in the ways that some might think. With all the evidence laid out on the table, it can be clearly and unquestionably said of Morabito’s claim that there is absolutely no malintended media trans- agenda meant to indoctrinate or manipulate viewers. In fact, there is not even a clear agenda to benignly expose viewers to the transgender community. The inclusion of each transgender characters have come from the show’s creator, rather than the distributor, and those creators are often acting independently or in spite of the needs of the networks. While no formalized agenda exists, however, television has become a better place for trans characters, while also benefitting from their existence.

Between the success of transnormative programming at the Emmys and on streaming platforms, there has been a clear line drawn between “mainstream” audience appeal and “critical appeal.” Transgender characters are not permeating mainstream television, but at this time, that appears to less of an issue of moral statute or “contemporary community standards” and more a result of broadcast and cable networks attempting to keep their target audiences vague and general. It is unclear why the mainstream distributors have resisted further inclusive, though, as it has only rewarded them in the past, even in cases where there was controversy. Recall the “The

Puppy Episode” of ELLEN that advertisers were so concerned about. It brought in 42 million viewers despite the controversy.109 Likewise, TALES FROM THE CITY was a catalyst for

109 Tracy, Kathleen (2005). Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres. New York: Kensington.

!49 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis controversy, yet generated high audience appeal as well. Instances like these prove that judgments of advertisers are not always aligned with the opinions of viewers, and that the caution that prevented some advertisers from engaging with TRANSCENDENT is not necessarily found in audience reception. The demand for more transnormative content is not necessarily one that the industry will hear, but its one to which audiences will react.

While both society’s perceptions of the transgender community and the depictions of transgender characters on television have improved in the past few years, the most marked change in representation has come with the introduction of original content on streaming services. Across the different providers, we have seen deeper and better characters in more prominent roles than on other platforms. As per the readership effect, the subscription model of

OTT services allows them to generate content that appeals to specific subscriber perspectives, rather than remain generalized to cater to advertisers. Advertisers prefer to appeal to a wide audience - which does not mean more inclusiveness, but, in fact, less, as it entails vagueness rather than specificity. Streaming services’ disenchantment with the typical constructs of advertising demography allows them to focus not on who the viewer is, but that the viewer is, and what the viewer likes. To put it in different terms: advertising-centric models are like ice cream shops that serve chocolate and vanilla only, while subscription-centric models have two dozen different flavors; those two dozen flavors may individually sell less, but they accommodate the depth of each consumer’s taste, whereas the chocolate/vanilla model accommodates a breadth of customers without exploring specific interests.

There has also been a shift away from the conventional roles of transgender characters.

Transnormative depictions have been thriving in alternative genres like sci-fi, horror, and fantasy,

!50 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis as well as in teen dramas. In these roles, transgender characters are explored more multi- dimensionally. However, as many of them are based on cable, they tend to receive fewer viewers.

For the future of transnormative programming, it seems that the formula for success both in the industry and in society is for there to be more regular or recurring characters on OTT original programs, perhaps with one of the above-listed genres.

While these conclusions can be broadly drawn from the information within this paper, there are a handful of areas that, for the purposes of focus, could not be researched with such specificity. For example, this paper mainly focused on transgender development during 2014 and

2015, with the historical context of the previous years serving primarily as background information. Further research could be performed on these formative years to determine a more detailed correlation between social movements and televised content. There is room, too, to analyze which specific advertisers promote on which specific networks, their internal social perspectives, and whether those brands have an actual bearing on the content of said networks; this paper, however, is not a study of LGBT advocate industries. It is also not a study of transnormativity in film, which has an equally long and complex life cycle that could be researched in part or whole. Lastly, the margin of error of Netflix viewership could call for a full analysis of viewership ratings, when they can be determined, if they are still relevant, and what influence social media has on them. These topics and more can build off of the research in this paper, and further reveal further details of the effect of social responsibility on the television industry.

!51 David Olsson | TRANSNORMATIVE TELEVISION: Does Social Responsibility Benefit the TV Industry? Hofstra University Department of Radio, Television, Film Honors Thesis

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