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I’m worried. This concerns me.

Jill

Like most Project Runway enthusiasts, I love and loathe Christian Siriano. A quick taste of Mr. Fierce himself, for those who are unfamiliar with the show:

Best part? “She’s really fierce. She’s like, one of the fiercest people I’ve ever met. And that’s a big deal, because I’ve met some fierce bitches up in my life.”

He’s entertaining, funny, obnoxious, and narcissistic as all hell. But, you know, entertaining. Except, as Margaret Price points out, what’s up with his use of the word “tranny”?

The first time he said it, it gave me pause. Then he started using it on repeat, and it rubbed me the wrong way too. So if Margaret is humorless, then I guess so am I — because Christian is indeed making a hot mess of the word “tranny.”

33 thoughts on I’m worried. This concerns me.

  2. Yeah, I loved Chris, but I really thought his final collection was ugly. I was sorely disappointed.

    I also hated Rami all season because I was so damned tired of his draped dresses, but I loved his final collection. Jillian was ok for a complete robot, but her stuff was lovely. Christian’s stuff was gorgeous and interesting, but totally unwearable unless you’re 5’10” and 105 pounds.

  3. I loved Christian too, though I didn’t watch the show regularly. But on the finale, he said something that really bothered me. When he was saying goodbye to his models, he said something like “Stay skinny! Don’t eat anything!” Nice, Christian. I don’t think it needs to be said that offhanded comments like this can be pretty triggering, and reinforce the positive value placed on disordered eating habits. So, his comment there was what really soured me on him.

  4. Lala: I have a feeling his clothes were a very tight fit, and that’s why he said that. Not that makes it right.

    I’m pretty certain he just says whatever pops into his little head.

  5. He’s 21 years old. I remember tons of stuff I said back then and I cringe. The whole tranny thing is horribly insensitive, but I doubt he even recognizes what he’s doing- not trying to justify such behavior (especially since I couldn’t stand the little brat), but taking his age into account, I’ll give him a pass for a bit.

  6. gay men, in my experience, have their own messed-up ideas about femininity – and sharing an acronym with transfolk is no guarantee that they “get it” about transphobia, etc.

    it’s probably even worse in christian’s case because he plays out the bitchy-little-flamer archetype so well that people are probably always fawning over his pithy phrases instead of calling him on his misogyny and transphobia.

    also, i’m sure people pull their criticisms of him for fear that they’ll get zinged themselves.

  7. Oh, gosh, please don’t give him a pass because of his age. I’m 22, and while I’m sure I say all kinds of silliness on a regular basis that I will wince over a year, five years, or decades from now, I have at least mastered the fine art of not throwing around gender- or race-based slurs. Next up is learning to tie my own shoelaces.

  8. I totally wanted Chris to at least make it to the finale. I thought his stuff was way more interesting.

    As for Christian, of course he won, because the majority of the fashion industry still enforces narrowness in size and gender. He’s a perfect fit. It’s very disappointing, because I actually love fashion, but hate all the unhealthy skinny ideals of high fashion.

    I’ll still watch it again next season, regardless.

  9. I’ve known a lot of gay guys who use the word ‘tranny’ similarly to how some use the words ‘bitch’ or ‘girlfriend’ to address other gay guys–as is ‘Tranny, please. Those jeans are way too small!’ Mostly I’ve heard this from guys who are (or are friends with) drag queens, but it’s not usually used to refer to people who are actually trans. For instance, a co-worker of mine once called me a ‘fucking tranny,’ paused, remembered that I’m actually trans, then apologized profusely. I’ve gotta say, I’m personally not too fond of people reclaiming and cutesifying a slur that’s never really been directed at them.

  10. Oh, gosh, please donā€™t give him a pass because of his age. Iā€™m 22, and while Iā€™m sure I say all kinds of silliness on a regular basis that I will wince over a year, five years, or decades from now, I have at least mastered the fine art of not throwing around gender- or race-based slurs.

    I misspoke when I said I’ll give him a pass, which means that I’d condone his behavior. I won’t do that, but neither will I condemn him. There’s a world of difference between what comes out of his mouth and what comes out of the tiny little brains employed by Vogue cover artists, for example.

    People tend to develop awareness at different rates. By reading this site, for example, it’s a good bet that you, at 22, have greater awareness of the world around you than I had at 32. Christian’s brain may still be developing its judgment centers (apparently, some people don’t fully develop their frontal lobe until 25), and he may never have had to confront a trans-gendered person or a transvestite. I still remember my opinions about all sorts of people and how they changed once I came in contact with said people and I actually grew a brain in college.

    So nope, he can’t use age as a cop-out, but I won’t hold what he says against him if he changes his tune in the next few years.

  11. I’m so glad people are bringing this up and discussing how offensive it can be. I admit to never watching Project Runway, but every time I, as a trans person, would hear someone talk about this phrase I could feel my jaw clench. Maybe Christian missed the memo along the way, but just a refresher: word reappropriation is for an affected minority, not a smarmy privileged member of the majority who needs a new “hip” vocabulary, homeskillet.

  12. Ive never seen the program, but I’d seen him interviewed last week. This was interesting. What I want to know is where the *hell* a 21 year old gets the amount of self possession and self confidence he’s got…not only in his talent but in who he is. He’s really rather something.

  13. It’s been the thing to do for some time now — when you feel the need to break out and distinguish yourself from the “preppy, boater kind of style” of your surroundings (his own words to describe growing up in Annapolis) the best way to get more “fierce” is to adopt as many mannerisms and slang as you can from black women. This is what a lot of white boys consider “gay culture” to be, more or less. And yeah, some people have a perfectly valid reason, like having grown up with / been taken under the wing of drag queens. Fine.

    But no, “I have a trans friend” does not just give you a free license to call everyone a “tranny” especially when you’re using it as a derogatory slur for, as Siriano puts it himself “Being a tranny mess just means that you need to work on your style and your presence and your hair and makeup and your all around persona. So if you follow in my footsteps you will never be a hot tranny mess.”

    You know, if I caught someone I knew using me as an excuse that way, I’d slap them into next week.

  15. How can I put this …. I don’t think he’s unredeemable and should be thrown to the wolves. He is 21 and really full of himself, especially right now. I’ve met 21-year-olds who still refer to things as being “gay,” as in stupid and lame.

    I think what’s needed is more of a taking aside than full-on ostracism, at least at this point.

  16. I found his personality entirely too performative and affected. It was like he spent the whole season playing the (derivative) role of “fabulous gay man,” badly.

  17. I found his personality entirely too performative and affected. It was like he spent the whole season playing the (derivative) role of “fabulous gay man,” badly.

    this is a big stumbling block for me. as a fairly mainstream-ish masculine-presenting bisexual boy, i’m somewhat sensitive to accusations of being an “assimilationist queer” or etc – i can pass for straight (or i think i can, these might not be the same thing), i date girls, etc. so i wonder: is it a sign of internalized homophobia or something that people like christian annoy the fuck out of me? i’d like to think not, that it’s just that i’m a bit quiet and introverted – but what if i’m buying in to all that “straight-acting” stuff? is christian what it means to -not- be straight-acting?

    i mean, i’m mostly sure it’s because he’s acting like a fourteen year-old muppet, but it’s hard to say.

  18. I couldn’t stand Christian’s clothes or his attitude. I didn’t want him to win at all.

    But I am thinking of this in a different way, and feel free to disagree….

    Christian is clearly a highly gender-non conforming person. While he identifies as male, I suspect that his feminine appearence, mannerisms, speech patterns, interests, etc have probably given him plenty of grief in his life, and I predict he is read more often than not as a gender outsider of sorts.

    Knowing this, I would say Christian falls under the “transgender umbrella,” along with other androgynous folks, flamboyant femmey men, “sissies,” drag queens, genderqueer, masculine women, etc. After all, “trans” does not only refer to transsexuals.

    Obviously, I don’t know how Christian understands his gender. But I imagine that he isn’t always read as male by the dominant culture, and likely treated accordingly. Basically, I don’t see him as someone with a great deal of privilege when it comes to gender/sexuality.

  19. I find “hot tranny mess” to be pretty offensive. It sounds like he’s equating “tranny” with “ineptness.”

    I don’t really care about his age, I’d call him on it.

  20. I found his personality entirely too performative and affected. It was like he spent the whole season playing the (derivative) role of ā€œfabulous gay man,ā€ badly.

    this is a big stumbling block for me. as a fairly mainstream-ish masculine-presenting bisexual boy, iā€™m somewhat sensitive to accusations of being an ā€œassimilationist queerā€ or etc – i can pass for straight (or i think i can, these might not be the same thing), i date girls, etc. so i wonder: is it a sign of internalized homophobia or something that people like christian annoy the fuck out of me? iā€™d like to think not, that itā€™s just that iā€™m a bit quiet and introverted – but what if iā€™m buying in to all that ā€œstraight-actingā€ stuff? is christian what it means to -not- be straight-acting?

    i mean, iā€™m mostly sure itā€™s because heā€™s acting like a fourteen year-old muppet, but itā€™s hard to say.

  22. He’s probably got a touch of the gender dysphoria, himself. No one but a tranny would focus so much on the necessity of not looking like a tranny.

  23. Hmm, thank you for posting on this. I adore Christian (great montage!), but I’m seeing a trend of straight and cis people who use the word “tranny” like that, and I think it’s partially because seeing gay people like Christian throw it around makes it seem more “okay” to them?

  24. Tiny twerp who lives nothing else but for himself.
    And his tranny crap? How about an effeminate gay male mess?

    The kid is offensive and I doubt I could have watched a show with him on it, I didn’t watch the show so all I know about it is the piece you have posted.
    I suspect I’d have to kill myself if I was forced to sit in a room with him for an extended time, unless of course I had duct tape to close that yap of his.

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  26. But I imagine that he isnā€™t always read as male by the dominant culture,

    I was watching the finale while my 10 year old son was nearby and he was casually glancing up now and then. At one point I said something about “i’m sure he’s (meaning Christian, who was onscreen) going to win” and he said “wait…. that’s a man?” I agree that his entire manner is extremely affected and silly and very very young, and that his use of “tranny” is not the most sensitive thing but to him it might feel like he’s almost trans anyway and just thinks everyone should be his brand of trans, and thus “fierce” rather than a “hot mess.”

    I hope he grows up a bit soon!

  27. Itā€™s been the thing to do for some time now ā€” when you feel the need to break out and distinguish yourself from the ā€œpreppy, boater kind of styleā€ of your surroundings (his own words to describe growing up in Annapolis) the best way to get more ā€œfierceā€ is to adopt as many mannerisms and slang as you can from black women. This is what a lot of white boys consider ā€œgay cultureā€ to be, more or less.

    I remember a similar discussion coming up wrt Chris Crocker.

  29. is it a sign of internalized homophobia or something that people like christian annoy the fuck out of me? iā€™d like to think not, that itā€™s just that iā€™m a bit quiet and introverted – but what if iā€™m buying in to all that ā€œstraight-actingā€ stuff? is christian what it means to -not- be straight-acting?
    I’ve entertained the same worry before – am I homophobic to find certain flamboyant mannerisms grating? I think not – first, because I reserve the right to feel irritation at just about anything that irrirates me, and second because it’s not that I’m so much annoyed by non-gender-normative behavior as by the obnoxious immaturity and loudness that seem to constitute “fabulousness” (or perhaps, in this case, “ferocity”) for a small sub-set of mostly young gay men like Christian. I actually find femmey behavior sort of endearing from some guys; my problem is when “femme” begins to mean “characteristic of a particularly silly twelve-year-old girl.”

    In Christian’s case, I actually think his persona has a lot to do with calling attention to himself and claiming “a stake” in queerness, as if membership in the gay community is partially contingent on acting like a gay caricature that he’s probably translating from Will and Grace. I suspect he’ll eventually realize that the social approbation he gets for being the most outrageous person in the room is a shitty kind of attention, and mellow a bit.

    By the way, to comment on the actual topic of this thread: I think that there are a depressing number of people who aren’t aware that “tranny” is a slur, or at least treat it as somewhere in the semantic range of “queen” or “dyke,” which tend to be anything from neutral to insulting to terms of endearment depending on the context.

  30. I found Christian to be annoying as hell. We called him ‘cockatoo-head’ at my house because of his goofy hair.

  31. I stopped watching ProjRun a few seasons ago, but I still like to catch it every so often. I would think that most gay men, or men who are NOT complete LGBTQ hating idiots, would know that tranny is a slur.

    It’s like being black and not knowing that a white person calling you a nigger is a slur. Ridic.

  32. Hi! This is Margaret who wrote the editorial for _Bitch_. I am SO IMPRESSED with this discussion. It makes me feel like you should have written the editorial!

    The only comment on the _Bitch_ blog right now is someone who apparently doesn’t think “tranny” is a slur, or at least Highly Questionable Language For Non-trans People To Use, Especially on National TV. šŸ˜›

    So, I’m grateful for y’all.

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