When Caitlyn Jenner made her debut as a woman on the cover of Vanity Fair this month, pioneering transgender actress Laverne Cox spoke about America’s preoccupation with the physical appearance of transgender people as opposed to their more important lived experiences. Now in a new interview, Cox talks about her own looks and explains why she doesn’t want a more feminine face.
In a Tumblr post, about Jenner’s famous cover, Cox wrote:
“A year ago when my Time magazine cover came out I saw posts from many trans folks saying that I am “drop dead gorgeous” and that that doesn’t represent most trans people. (It was news to me that I am drop dead gorgeous but I’ll certainly take it). But what I think they meant is that in certain lighting, at certain angles I am able to embody certain cisnormative beauty standards. Now, there are many trans folks because of genetics and/or lack of material access who will never be able to embody these standards. More importantly many trans folks don’t want to embody them and we shouldn’t have to be seen as ourselves and respected as ourselves . It is important to note that these standards are also informed by race, class and ability among other intersections,” wrote Cox.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Cox, who recently received both flack and praise for posting a makeup-free selfie of herself, spoke about the pressures she once felt to look as feminine as possible and why she now doesn’t care so much what people have to say about her face.
“I have been picking myself apart my whole life,” she says. “I have never talked about the medical details of my transition, and a lot of people assume I’ve had all this surgery. Years ago, I wanted really highly invasive surgical procedures to feminize my face. All these years later, I have the money to do it, but I don’t want it. I don’t want it! I’m happy that this is the face that God gave me, and it’s imperfect.” She says, with horror, that she was recently told by a commenter on Instagram that she should get her nose done. She didn’t reply. “No, girl! My fans were like, that’s the nose African Americans have, and what’s wrong with that? My fans had my back. In those moments I have to look in the mirror and say, this is my Black nose, and it’s gorgeous,” she said.
Kudos to Cox for finding beauty within herself. The rest of the world surely sees her as beautiful as well, inside and out.
