As many of us may know, Shakespeare’s women in the 1600s were played by men. Gender was a binary concept in Shakespeare’s work, meaning you were only seen as a male or a female. There was nothing in between, and the gender was very specifically written this way for a reason. With an ever-changing world in mind, there are many roles that are now given to men, women and nonbinary actors that are not within their gender identity.
Though theatre spaces are typically known for being an accepting community for those with an LGTBQ+ background, when it comes to scripts for stage or film this is not always the case. For transgender and nonbinary actors, there is little to no ‘real’ representation or stories that we receive on behalf of these people.
Acting as we know it is a very gender-specific profession. When these communities do get representation, it never feels that it is in a way that isn’t just a story with who these characters are. The stories we get always deal with coming out as transgender, finding yourself or have something to do with identity. Why can’t we get stories that just have these kinds of people in them? I’m tired of the same story.
Gender itself is a social construct. There is distinction between sex and gender, being that sex is biologically related traits and gender is not always dependable on biology. Gender is how you perceive yourself: it is not always just ‘masculinity’ or ‘femininity.’
I remember specifically watching season three of “Sex Education” last fall and being very shocked to finally see a mainstream show with transgender and nonbinary representation within it. Played by Dua Saleh, Cal was a new student who was faced with discrimination from the head of the school and who was told to “wear a dress.” Saleh is nonbinary themself, but again to my point, the “representation” we get from these characters usually deals with their character being discriminated against or bullied.
In the world of theatre you are unfortunately casted how the director perceives you. If you are feminine presenting, you will most likely be asked to play a woman onstage and vice-versa. For some, it can be very detrimental to be casted as a woman as a nonbinary actor who is feminine presenting.
Of course, there are different ways you can stereotypically fall into the category of presenting a specific gender. This can be in how much space is being taken up: women are taught to take up less space than their male counterparts, to stay ‘quiet,’ while men are encouraged to take up space and speak when a thought occurs to them.
Gender representation, whether that be in its characters or actors, needs to be delivered equally onstage or on screen. The industry itself is dominated by cisgender white men. There is an issue with women in film being treated unfairly and discriminated against in the workplace. We need more representation in the media as a unit. Putting women, transgender, nonbinary and people of color’s voices at the front of the playing field is becoming more crucial day by day.
Gender identity and its perception in the world of the arts needs to be equally dispersed in the media. This year in the film industry I want to see more representation in gendered parts or for gender to potentially not matter in casting.