There is time for shame: Netflix's latest hit mocks transvestites and transsexuals

Argentine designer Santiago Artemis displays transphobia in his reality show.

November 27, 2019

By Violeta Alegre

Last week, Netflix premiered "No Time for Shame," a reality show about Santiago Artemis, a gay Argentine designer, fashionista , and social media influencer. The trailer itself establishes the series' tone: elitism, classism, and the narrative of an individual queer . His seemingly progressive statement, "I don't believe in genders," resonates with the explosion of LGBT+ representation in mainstream media. But, as is often the case, behind this rainbow veneer, a deep-seated transphobia lurks (not so hidden).

In the first episode, while talking to a friend before going on stage, Artemis says, “If I fall in heels, I’m a fucking transvestite, a transvestite from Once .” Here, he not only disrespects feminized identities by saying “a” transvestite, but he also refers pejoratively to the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Once. This scene has already been condemned by transvestite and trans activists in Argentina on social media, and Artemis’s response—who has also been condemned by environmentalists for wearing real fur—was deplorable.

“A transvestite was found dead, ‘narco-transvestites’—these are common ways in which the mass media attacks our identities. To this we can add police persecution, which criminalizes our presence in public spaces, and a state that is absent when it comes to accessing education, healthcare, and housing, placing us in situations of extreme vulnerability.”

These portrayals in mainstream media and comments like Artemis's on Netflix are not gratuitous; they don't just vanish into thin air. They have concrete repercussions on our lives, devaluing them. They enable the continued masculinization of our gender identities, ensuring we remain the butt of jokes. Who are they laughing at? Disenfranchised gay men? Heterosexuals? It doesn't matter. Words have concrete consequences; they don't remain merely symbolic. Just look at how the majority of the trans community survives.

In any case, focusing solely on this seemingly controversial character for "daring" to wear clothing that is not socially assigned to his gender is a waste of energy.

[READ ALSO: When being trans "shows" ]

Netflix could have edited out Artemis's transphobic comments, but it didn't. The company is responsible for the content it communicates through its products. Let's not forget that this isn't fiction, but a show that purports to depict "reality."

What would have happened if a character in one of their shows had made hateful comments toward the Jewish or Black communities? How would those communities have responded? What would have happened if someone had justified rape or violence against women? Who is outraged about us transvestites and trans people? In any case, we are the ones who will continue to pay the price.

The hit series continues on the platform, but we haven't received the redress yet. We demand a public apology from Santiago Artemis, and especially from Netflix and the series' producers, to the trans community.

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