“She is as feminine as my mother, as my sister, as my biologically female friends”: On the promise and limits of transgender visibility in fashion media

Abstract

AbstractAs transgender media representation continues to gain traction, trans scholars and activists have contended with the double-edged sword of visibility: while trans visibility has the potential to familiarize cisgender audience with trans experiences, it also risks reinforcing normative ideas about gender expression. Taking fashion media as a case study, I look at trans representation between 2013 and 2020 in the print editions of U.S.-based fashion publications Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Women’s Wear Daily. I argue that trans representation in fashion magazines produces competing discourses about trans identity as simultaneously conforming to gender norms and subverting the gender binary. Further, fashion magazines employ a neoliberal logic of visibility and self-empowerment, positioning trans individuals—particularly trans women of color—as exceptional figures and role models. Finally, I find a recent shift towards a social justice framework as trans activists of color are given greater voice in the pages of fashion magazines.