ABC comedy Work It criticised by GLAAD

{jcomments off}ABC‘s new cross-dressing comedy Work It has been criticised by GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.

The forthcoming comedy revolves around two men who decided to dress up as women to get themselves jobs. Work It has found itself in hot water though with two organisations over its cross-dressing premise and surprisingly – at the moment – one of them isn’t the notorious Parents Television Council. GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has taken offence at the comedy feeling it could potentially be offence to the transgender community.

“During a period in which the transgender community now routinely finds itself in the cultural crosshairs, the timing couldn’t be worse for a show based on the notion that men dressed as women is inherently funny,” – Matt Kane, GLAAD’s the associate director of entertainment media, as quoted on Entertainment Weekly

“Transphobia is still all too prevalent in our society and this show will only contribute to it,” wrote “It will reinforce the mistaken belief that transgender women are simply ‘men pretending to be women,’ and that their efforts to live their lives authentically as women are a form of lying or deception.” – Mike Thompson, GLAAD acting president as quoted on Entertainment Weekly

The Human Rights Campaign has also taken against the comedy and has set-up a campaign urging supporters to send messages to ABC. The messages read ‘Hundreds of thousands of transgender Americans face very real challenges in the workplace … We have a shared responsibility to ensure the messages about gender identity we send to the public, and particularly youth, are positive ones. It is never appropriate to belittle or mock those who do not adhere to society’s gender norms or the struggles they face.’

ABC has been notable in its past for its range of LGBT characters in shows such as Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Transgender advocate Chaz Bono appeared in the most recent series of Dancing with the Stars.

In Britain there is a fine tradition, in comedy, of men dressing up as women with pantomime being the most obvious and popular example. Christmas is the traditional time for panto with thousands of people, of all ages, flocking to watch them in Theatre’s across the country. Panto’s usually feature a ‘Dame’ (a man dressed as a woman) and a ‘Charming Prince’ (a woman dressed as a man). On television perhaps the most recent and successful example of cross-dressing comedy is the BBC/RTE comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys written and starring Brendan O’Carroll as the foul-mouthed Irish matriarch Agnes Brown.