This is relatively nitpicky compared to how problematic the rest of Lil Mama's comments were, but I hate it when people use "transgenders" as a noun. UGH, they are transgender PEOPLE!!!

"You were born a man and you are becoming a woman."
No, she was born a girl with a boy's body. She's not "becoming" a woman, she IS a woman.
"You're the face of transgenders..."
Are male contestants the face of all men? Are female contestants the face of all women? No?
Then why would she be the face of all "transgenders", a term which in and of itself is problematic as it strips her of any personhood.

Ugh.

Thanks for mentioning this show on your blog. As a non-USian this would have entirely passed me by otherwise. I've watched all the clips on youtube for Vogue Evolution on this show and they are wonderful. All five of them. (dancers that is, not clips)

And I have to agree with you all wrt the standard crap about ladylike behaviour.

I thought Lil Mama's comments were bizarre and surely hurtful (there were no smiles from Leiomy during the other comments). If she thought Leiomy was wrong for some of her behaviour, then that's one thing. But to use what Leiomy said in the clips about being the "face of transgender" (which along with her fans, is what's keeping her from leaving the competition and going home) and to turn it around and to say Leiomy's getting it wrong, that she's not "becoming" (*cough*) the right sort of woman. That makes me angry.

Why is Lil Mama even famous? No offense to anyone who make like her music, but I find her very untalented and her songs poorly written. But of course that is unrelated to her hateful comment here.

I agree that Lil Mama's comments are problematic. I think people miss another crucial element that is also problematic: the need for black people, particularly black women, to police "unacceptable" behavior of other black people, especially female identified black people.

So the comments were doubly problematic. Not a good look, Lil Mama :(

"And I agree with Shane Sparks: "I think at the end of the day it only matters what you all do on the stage."

Maybe they shouldn't show all this backstage drama on performance reality shows where people vote, AMERICAN IDOL I AM LOOKING AT YOU TOO!

"Lil Mama is creating a barrier for Leiomy's entry into the group "woman," saying there are requirements of behavior she must meet in order to qualify. This essentializes certain actions as female and then suggests trans women must perfectly conform in order to be accepted."
This fully on point, which makes me believe that Lil' Mama talks straight out of her ass.
In the first season, at the end of their performance, she told Fysh n Chicks that they (and I quote!) "did it like men." This was supposed to be a compliment, I guess. So, in Lil' Mama's opinion, women have to be sexy ladies that act like men...?

Shane, JZ, and Lil Mama are always coming up with these good ol' sexist comments, so when I heard that there was a transgender woman in the show, I knew one of them was bound to say something idiotic. I had my money on Lil Mama...

Wow, Lil Mama’s comments were shitty all round. I really felt for Leiomy having to stand there through it when any other person (not contractually obliged) could have walked away from being talked down to like that.

I get the feeling on these shows (the performance/judging panel type shows) that the judges and the contestants also talk after the show; giving the judges a chance to expand on their criticism in a more constructive (less TV-friendly) way, and to give a bit of encouragement. I can only home that Lil Mama takes that opportunity to apologise to Leiomy.

I can't imagine what a mind fuck it must be to go from killing it in their local dance scene, a supportive environment, to being judged as the "face" of transgender like its some horrible rare disease and not your fucking life.

Have any of these judges even watched pretty much any episode of nearly any reality competition show in the last nine years? The majority of reality competition series are edited to maximize "drama," in particular anger, discomfort and so-called "cattiness" among contestants (especially women).

Jos wrote: "The show's producers deserve a lot of the blame for this segment. I understand that it's their job to exploit drama for entertainment, but that clip package felt unnecessary and downright cruel."

Lil Mama deserves the blame for her comments insisting that Leiomy conform to compulsory gender roles in order to "act like a lady" (as if there's only one acceptable way to be female, or one acceptable way to be trans).

But aside from Lil Mama's comment itself, Jos is correct: the producers deserve *all* the blame for packaging a segment about Vogue Evolution to focus only on in-fighting among the group, and for implying in that package that this in-fighting was caused by the fact of Leiomy's transition process -- rather than by the fact that people on reality TV shows are intentionally kept in highly stressful conditions. They're nearly always sequestered from support systems not to mention news of the outside world, and are often even denied adequate sleep and food by producers hoping to keep contestants feeling shaky and off-balance. These conditions are intended by producers to break down contestants' normal reserve in the hope that their anxiety will lead to the kinds of "drama" reality viewers have become accustomed to seeing: accusations, jealousy, crying, screaming, even physical fights.

So to then frame a clip segment of Vogue Evolution's tense week as being the result of Leiomy being transgender and going through transition... that's not only exploitative (as reality TV usually is), it's also intensely hypocritical. Consider: how many of the other dance troupes likely had tense weeks? How many of the other dancers in the competition said (perhaps during a fleeting moment while overtired and at wit's end) that they were fed up, or that they wished they could just go home? Probably more than just Leiomy. We don't know what Leiomy's whole week was like, we just know that there were a few tough minutes. Similarly, we don't know if the other dance troupes were all smooth-sailing. But the others couldn't be exploited for their gender status, so the producers framed Leiomy's team's crisis as if it arose specifically because of her gender identity.

Just another reminder to keep those critical media literacy filters turned on when (if) you watch reality programming. Always ask yourself: could this conflict/comment/scene have been taken out of context? Why has this segment been framed this way? What bits of ideology related to gender, race, class, sexuality and other issues are producers reinforcing with this segment? And so on...

I talk about some of these sorts of issues in the book I'm working on ("Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV"). I haven't written it yet, but I'll be including a section on fun media literacy games people can play while watching reality TV, so that you can remember to keep those filters on (while still enjoying the shows, if you do enjoy them).

BTW, if you're on Twitter and have questions/comments about reality TV, I'd love to hear them. I'm at @jennpozner and @RealityTVBook.

I am going to quisi-defend Lil Mama just a little. Not much though.

I think her comment, that Leiomy should act like a lady and not like a bird, has been misconstrued a bit. I don't think she meant that Leiomy should be dainty...I think she meant that Leiomy shouldn't act like a stereotype who gets overly emotional and diva-like. I think Lil Mama was trying to make a sort of twisted feminist statement. "Be a strong woman, not a 'girly' girl." It is the sort of statement I have heard a number of my feminist female pals of a certain stripe make numerous times. I have often heard an persistent attack on heteronormative stereotypical femininity done in the name of feminism from women who were not so inclined to embody that sort of femininity in the first place.

"Women who pretend to be stupid are bad for women's liberation."
"Women who wear make-up are bad for women's liberation."
"Women who wear high heels are bad for women's liberation."
"Women who aren't assertive are bad for women's liberation."
"Women who get pregnant in order to avoid deployment are bad for women's liberation."
"Housewives are bad for women's liberation."

the problem, of course...is that quite a few of those pals of mine will slip into anti-heterosexual statements "Women who have sex with men are bad for women's liberation."

But more often than not, they end up moving right on into transphobia hard core:
"Transwomen are bad for women's liberation."
Of course...they don't say that...rather they say things like...
"I don't have a problem with transwomen in general...but not the ones who wear makeup and act like a patriarchal version of what women are...you know, high heels, dresses, emotional, etc..."

So I think Lil Mama was transphobic and totally out of line. And gross. But she also sounded like a bunch of my feminist pals at the exact same time.

Anyway, here is a link to a transwoman who lays the smack down on Lil Mama for reals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUylpGbZvY

Her comments are problematic not only on a personal level for Leiomy, being insensitive, hurtful, and a generally unwarranted attack on her character. The comment is misogynistic as well as transphobic - it holds women to a higher standard by singling out the woman of the group and saying that "ladies" shouldn't act a certain way, without expecting the same "proper" behavior from men. What if any of the other men in the competition had acted in such a manner? What would her comments have been then?

Thank you -- I was hoping that there would be a follow-up post on feministing about Vogue Evolution calling out Lil Mama's comments to Leiomy.

I felt sick to my stomach when I watched this week (I know I shouldn't have been surprised, considering the types of critique Lil Mama usually gives, but still). When Lil Mama spouted "I just feel that you always have to remember your truth. You were born a man and you are becoming a woman." it just reeked of condescension and just...ugh. I would say that Lil Mama should just restrict her comments to the dancing, but from what I've seen, she works words like "masculine" and "feminine" to describe movements like no tomorrow anyway.

Man, seeing Leiomy's face as Lil Mama said what she did broke my heart. I wanted to hug Leiomy and tell her she's ALL woman, woman to the core, that she was born woman, will die a woman, regardless of bad days and bad tempers and bad times. All women are imperfect. All women have our moments. She is one of us, she is our sister. To have your womanhood stripped from you and dangled in front of you as a reward for "good behaviour" on national TV like that - how gutting. Poor, poor woman.

I watched the episode, as I do every week now, and I was taken aback by what Lil Mama said. When crews have had disagreements in the past, which has happened on the show, they tell the person who's been pinned as "responsible" (if there is one) to buck up in some way.

I think Lil Mama tried to do this but failed, making the behaviors about gender and not about the behaviors themselves. While the clip was edited to blame Leiomy, I'm sure there was all sorts of thing going on in the group to facilitate this behavior. All we know is drama went down and Leiomy walked out of dress rehearsal the night of the Martial Arts Challenge (previous week).

Lil Mama's comments were tansphobic and misogynistic, but with the misfired intention of trying to say what JC said. Essentially, you're in a team, you suck it up and work through it, it's not all about you and you should use your team for support.

Lil Mama should say something about insensitivity in her words this week on next week's show, for sure.

I agree with everyone here that what Lil' Mama said was unnecessary and problematic. I don't watch the show, but from what I've seen and was told, Lil' Mama often says stupid things on that show in an attempt to look smart.

And no Toni she's that famous at all. The only song from her that's most known is about lipgloss (I think).

Lil' Mama, come on. Your behavior...it's unacceptable. I just feel that you always have to remember your truth. You were born barely notable musical artist and you are becoming reality television superstar. If you're going to become a reality television personality, try not to act like an asshole. Don't be a bigot, like 'Oh my god, I need to say stupid inappropriate shit because I'm on TV!' You know what I'm saying? It gets too crazy and it gets irritating. You're doing this for Conspicuous Consumption. Even though you're the face for transphobia, you're the face of America right now with this show and it's not about anybody else. It's about y'all. You know what I'm saying? So do it for the money. Don't do it for the drama.

One good thing about LM: she strikes me as the type who will listen to the criticism, own up to her mistakes, and apologize and actually mean it (as opposed to "I'm sorry you were offended"). Okay, so she's a C-rate MC Lyte wannabe, but I've always liked her, and I have faith that she'll do the right thing. I hope so, anyway. :(