Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask)

by Brynn Tannehill

Satire can be incredibly socially progressive when the audience is somehow wiser than the characters in the skit. They have to know why something is a dumb idea, or wrong, or enforcing a misguided stereotype in order for the satire to be effective. Whether it’s Saturday Night Live, Mel Brooks’ movies like Blazing Saddles, or In Living Color, great comedy and satire clearly illustrate biases and perceptions in a way that highlights their stupidity and shows how much damage that stupidity causes. Most people, though, know very little about GCS, and even less about trans masculine people. Instead of breaking down stereotypes, the video reinforces them. It takes existing confirmation bias and tells the audience, “Yeah, run with it.” Great satire doesn’t come at the expense of a group that’s already the butt of jokes and stigmatized to the point of poverty.