by Jasmyne Cannick

 

At 27, Jasmyne Cannick is a board member of the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation's only Black gay civil rights group and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Cannick a Los Angeles native is a communications strategist who is pursuing her long-term interest in public policy and journalism. She can be reached via her website by clicking here. Jasmyne was chosen by ESSENCE Magazine as one of 25 Women Shaping the World,

LOS ANGELES--Images of black men dressed as women have become a popular part of black American entertainment culture. But does the success of the black actor who plays a drag role depend on that actor's real-life heterosexism?

True story: I was in a theatre in a predominately black part of town and there was a poster for "Madea's Family Reunion" in the lobby. Several black women who looked to be in their 40s and 50s had gathered around the poster and were remarking about how they were going to see the film when it came out. Just then a black transgendered female walked through the lobby and one of the women remarked to her girlfriends, "Look girl, a he-she." They all started giggling like teenagers.

On more than one occasion black America has rushed to the box office to see black men dressed in drag. With the national release of Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion," which was the No. 1 film on the weekend of Feb. 25-26, black audiences have again embraced the idea of a man playing a female role on-screen.

When Tyler Perry debuted his character Madea Simmons, a 68-year-old witty, gun toting grandmother from the hood, his biggest audience was black Christian evangelicals. In fact, it was black Christians who brought him to where he is today, filling up theatre after theatre as he toured around the nation with his plays. With a spiritual message included in all of his productions, Perry allowed black Christians to feel good after seeing him prance around the stage dressed as a woman..

But before Madea, there was Andre Charles, better known as RuPaul. In the early 1990s, RuPaul gained fame and success with his hit song "Supermodel (You Better Work)," a tribute to the divas of fashion. The single placed in the top 30 on the Billboard Pop Charts and the music video was nominated for best dance video at the 1994 MTV video music awards. Through the years, RuPaul has appeared in various movies and music specials. He was honored as in 1999 with the Vito Russo Entertainer of the Year Award at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media awards, for breaking boundaries in becoming an openly gay individual who has achieved excellence in the entertainment field. Still, RuPaul's fame and acceptance has come from mostly white audiences, even though he is a black entertainer.

So why is it that black audiences can embrace a man playing a female role on the silver screen, but still have problems with real-life Madeas in their own communities and families?

Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity, expression or behavior is different from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth, including but not limited to transsexuals and cross dressers.

In the black community, very little attention is focused on the transgender community. Common practice is to group transgenders with gay men, even though they are their own community within an already marginalized group.

Even in the gay rights movement, transgender issues have been pushed to the bottom of the list for fear that Americans, who are barely able to deal with the idea of marriage between gay and lesbian couples, could even begin to understand the issues plaguing the transgender community.

Madea is a man dressed as a female, plain and simple. No matter how many feel-good religious messages Tyler Perry feeds his audiences, black Christians are embracing cross dressing as a form of entertainment. Which is not problematic, except for the fact that black Christians are known for their homophobic views toward anything remotely gay.

But what if Tyler Perry were gay? Would Madea continue to be as popular among black churchgoers? Probably not. At least with his assumed heterosexuality, Christians can rest at ease that they are not supporting anything gay because it is, after all, just a role.

RuPaul, while a great performer, was openly gay and therefore never found the widespread acceptance and fame that Madea has. On the other hand, through his character Geraldine, Flip Wilson created a name for himself while portraying one of a few decent television images for black woman during an era when black women were marginalized by both the civil rights and women's movements. Famed actor Wesley Snipes gave us Noxeema Jackson in the 1995 film "To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar." While heterosexual himself, Snipes' character was flamboyantly gay. Martin Lawrence first introduced us to Big Momma in 2000 and was so successful that's he's back with a sequel. He too is heterosexual. And who could forget "Men on Film" on "In Living Color," featuring Damon Wayans and David Allen Grier, who played the very gay film critics Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather. Again, both Wayans and Grier are heterosexual and continued their entertainment success after series' end.

Blacks have no problem with cross dressing and transgenderism as a form of entertainment. It's only after the camera stops rolling and the lights come up that it becomes an issue, if the dress and heels are still on.