Part Three: The Problem Statement: From My Masters Dissertation Project at Denver University (2018)
The Problem Statement
This solution to modeling exposure for transgender models may seem simple at the surface level but has become a struggle within the transgender community as the fashion world is slow to accept and include transgender fashion models to represent their brand. In the article “Fashion Industry Still Lacks Inclusivity, Transgender Models Says,” by author Carlsbad 2018, he interviews a male to female Transgender model Peche Di on her views about the topic and shares her first-hand experience and expertise on the subject. Carlsbad begins with “Di discussed the importance of representation of transgender people in the modeling industry and the ways activism on social media has fostered a strong community for transgender people” (Carlsbad, 2018 pg 1) According to the article by Carlsbad 2018 “Transgender model Di discussed the importance of representation of transgender people in the modeling industry and the ways activism on social media has fostered a strong community for transgender people” (Carlsbad, 2018 pg 1). Peche Di and the research author have both concluded that there is a lack of inclusion of Transgender models in the fashion industry and that this is an essential platform for Transgender people to represent the Transgender Community.
Transgender fashion model Peche Di gives her insight and experience as she reflects on her career as a fashion model, “A lot of modeling agencies in New York City are trying to tell you-you’re too feminine be like a man, act like a man, they try to change you to suit the type of model that the brand would like to represent. Transgender fashion model Peche Di said her industry still is not fully inclusive of all models, including different races, body types and gender identities” (Carlsbad, 2018 pg 2). Many modeling agencies fail to represent Transgender models as their chosen gender identity. For example, if a Transgender model was assigned male at birth but chose to transition to a woman, these agencies will try and represent them as a male model despite their gender transition or gender identity. Dismissing the model’s gender s can be a problem and will cause Transgender models to feel excluded as their gender presentations are ignored. Carlsbad and Di, 2018, continue, “There are still things that I will never do because I am trans. There are still certain jobs I won’t get. But I feel like the boundaries are starting to diminish. People are starting to realize that trans women and trans men are like everybody else. The doors are opening up more” (Carlsbad, 2018 pg 2). While there have been improvements, the industry still lacks inclusivity and opportunities to represent various gender identities as celebrated by the transgender community. Education about the Transgender community has helped move the career of Transgender models forward as more models from the Transgender population are represented in the fashion world. The Transgender community would like the opportunity to modeling jobs that are offered to cisgender individuals. Cisgender people are women who are assigned women at birth and men assigned men at birth who showcase their gender identity in compliance with gender normative culture. Cisgender models are given more opportunities than Transgender individuals who stray from their assigned at birth gender.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bauch, Anita De. 2016. “How to Model Without an Agency.” New Haven Publishing Ltd.
Bendoni, Wendy. 2007. “Social Media for Fashion Marketing: Storytelling in a Digital World.” London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Bornstein, Kate. 2013. My New Gender Workbook: a Step-by-step Guide to Achieving World Peace through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
Campos, Maria Consuelo Cunha. 1999. “Roberta Close and M. Butterfly: Transgender, Testimony and Fiction.“ Estudos Feministas 7: 37-52, Accsessed April 21,2018, https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/60367113?accountid=14608.
Carroll, Henry. 2017. “Read This If You Want to Be Instagram Famous.” Read This. London: Laurence King Publishing, Ltd.
Carlsbad. 2018. “Fashion Industry Still Lacks Inclusivity, Transgender Model Says”. (2018, Mar 13). University Wire Accessed April 20, 2018, https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/2013197109?accountid=14608
Charlesworth, Alan. 2014. “Digital Marketing: a Practical Approach.” second ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Cope, Jon, and Dennis Maloney. 2016. “Fashion Promotion in Practice.” Required Reading Range. London: Fairchild Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, PLC.
Council of Fashion Designers of America. 2015. “Designers on Instagram: #fashion.” New York: Abrams.
Entwistle, Joanne, and Ashley Mears. 2012. “Gender on Display: Performativity in Fashion Modelling.” Sage Journal. http://journals.sagepub.com.du.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.1177/1749975512457139 (accessed May 4, 2018).
Harris, Clare. 2017. “The Fundamentals of Digital Fashion Marketing.” Fundamentals. London: Bloomsbury.
Holland, Gwyneth, and Rae Jones. 2017. “Fashion Trend Forecasting.” London: Laurence King Publishing.
Keegan, Cael M. 2016. “Revisitation: a Trans Phenomenology of the Media Image.” MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research 32, no. 61.
Krueger, Alyson. 2017. Transgender Models Find A Home. New York Times, March 3.
MacPherson, Marko, Shawn Dahl, and Nicole Phelps. 2017. Digit@l Girls : Fashion’s New Tribe : Risk Takers, Rule Breakers, and Disrupters.” New York: Rizzoli.
Peoples, Landon. 2018. For The Modeling Industry, The Future Is Transgender. Refinery 29, February 7. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/modeling-industry-future-transgender-140000971.html.
PR Newswire. 2013. “Suddenly fem(TM) features new local rising M2F transgender model, mercedes demarko, in 2013 spring fashion launch catalog.” PR Newswire Accessed April 20, 2018, https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/1339471074?accountid=14608
Press, Debbie. 2004. “Your Modeling Career: You Don’t Have to Be a Superstar to Succeed.” 2nd ed. New York: Allworth Press.
Sayej, Nadja. 2017. These Trans Modeling Agencies Pave the Runway for Transgender Acceptance They’re creating a more inclusive fashion industry. Vice Impact, July 18. https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/qvpnnq/these-trans-modeling-agencies-pave-the-runway-for-transgender-acceptance.
Siemen, Thora. 2017. How Did An Entire Group Of People Become A Fashion Trend?. Refinery 29, November 16. https://www.refinery29.com/2017/11/180669/transgender-fashion-models-rights(accessed May 5, 2018).
Sherman, Gerald J., and Sar Perlman. 2010. “Fashion Public Relations.” New York: Fairchild Books.
Sinha, Chinki. 2017, “How a Nepalese transgender model fought her way to Lakme India Fashion Week.“India Today, Accessed April 20,2018, https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/1863316059?accountid=14608
Song, Aimee. 2016. “Capture Your Style: Transform Your Instagram Images, Showcase Your Life, and Build the Ultimate Platform.” New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Strashko, Stav. 2016 “Born Identity.” Teen Vogue, 06, 94-n/a. Accessed April 18,2018, https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/1795970682?accountid=14608.
Swami, Viren, and Emilia Szmigielska. 2012. “Body image concerns in professional fashion models: Are they really an at-risk group?” Elsevier. http://www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres.
Teich, Nicholas M. 2012. “Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue.” New York: Columbia University Press.
Tuten, Tracy L., and Michael R. Solomon. 2015. “Social Media Marketing.” 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
Volmers, Eric. March 9, 2018. “Aiming High in The World of Fashion; ‘An Incredible Story’: Trans Model’s Journey from Instagram to Paris.” Edmonton Journal, Accessed April 20, 2018 https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/2012383240?accountid=14608.
Wolstencroft, Dauphin. 2017. “Transgender: Anjali Lama: The World’s First Transgender Runway Supermodel.” New York: Independently published.
http://www.mediakix.com. 2018. “Top Instagram Models: Infographic of New IG Models.” Accessed May 19, 2018. http://mediakix.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Top-Instagram-Models-Infographic-New-IG-Model.jpg.
CAMILLE HANSEN 
