Queer Eye Season 6, Episode 2: Trans power lifter 'Angel'

[MrsGhastlyCrumb]

Has anyone else seen this? I know it's trash TV, please don't judge me..! Usually it's reasonably 'feelgood' viewing. This episode gave me the absolute rage within the first 5 minutes. Angel is introduced as a power lifter- driven, competitive, loveable etc. She opened her mouth and it was immediately clear she was male. Eventually this was mentioned, after they had given it lots of fluff about how she had recently started to compete in power lifting. Plenty of placement of items saying 'Let Trans Kids Compete'.

As my OH said, if Angel can compete against biological women, then are we now ok with women athletes dosing with Testosterone?

Oh, and also, I thought that the American Powerlifting Association had taken a stand on this issue and stated that their competitions would be sex based, so now I'm going to have to go Googling.

Grrrr.

I’m having similar difficulties with this series - and more so now Tan and his husband have just gone down the surrogate route to have a little boy. The power of the male is strong, as always.

Damn, I really liked this show but that stunt from Tan (my fav) sounds so off.

Ugh, I didn't know that about Tan. That's in extremely poor taste.

Looks like USA Powerlifting have not, in fact, lost their marbles. So I'm not sure where Angel could have competed...

www.usapowerlifting.com/transgender-participation-policy/

@Lottapianos

I used to love Queer Eye, but gave up after Jonathan Van Ness went down the non binary route, and then Tan France posed with an ultrasound superimposed on his abdomen as a way of announcing that he and his husband had paid a woman to give them a baby. Ugh. It's a shame, it used to be a great show, but I'm done

I feel the same way. During the last season, I started to see Van Ness and France as obnoxious males that saw no issue with their innate misogyny because somehow their queerness and gender LARPing absolved them.

I also began to notice the dynamics among the five seemed strained as well, as though there were some personality clashes behind the scenes.

Then I started to really notice the slogans on the t-shirts they wore sometimes, and it started to feel as though they were trying to hitch ideological proselytising onto what was, on the surface, a show supposedly about self improvement and bringing disparate people together.

It left me uncomfortable. I've stopped watching.

I loved Angel. I thought she was great. Her conversation with her father brought me to tears. She's just a person trying to be happy, I don't know how she could give you 'the rage' when she's just existing and living her life in the truest way it feels to her. I thought her partner and her family were all lovely too. She could pee next to me any day.

She could pee next to me any day.

Um, okay.

@theqentity

I loved Angel. I thought she was great. Her conversation with her father brought me to tears. She's just a person trying to be happy, I don't know how she could give you 'the rage' when she's just existing and living her life in the truest way it feels to her. I thought her partner and her family were all lovely too. She could pee next to me any day.

You have utterly misunderstood my point- perhaps I wasn't clear enough for you?

I didn't object to her as a person at all. certainly not on the basis of the first 5 minutes. My issue is with the competing in women's sports categories, and it being represented as an uplifting story. Cheating in sports pisses me off. This is sanctioned cheating, no matter how lovely a person she may be.

@lovelyweathertoday

She could pee next to me any day.

Um, okay.

Tan has become quite unpleasant over the last 2 series. I loved the show initially and will watch the new series but having seen his repeated shaming of the lovely older woman in the first episode - calling her clothes 'hoochie' and shaming her for dressing in a very practical way that suited her fantastic figure, whilst Jonathon wore a series of very unflattering outfits inappropriate for the work he was doing and yet is celebrated because he is non binary. It's just irritating.

She could pee next to me any day.

??? Can she compete against your daughter on the runway, if she were to take that fancy?

@theqentity

I loved Angel. I thought she was great. Her conversation with her father brought me to tears. She's just a person trying to be happy, I don't know how she could give you 'the rage' when she's just existing and living her life in the truest way it feels to her. I thought her partner and her family were all lovely too. She could pee next to me any day.

Even the most horrible people still shouldn’t compete as a male in female sports. Just because this person seemed ‘nice’ on the TV, doesn’t change their sex. And doesn’t change their male pubertal advantages.

Whether lovely or not, it has no impact on their physical advantages.

I think Tan also wears some awful outfits. He looked awful in the hat and outfit he wore in the prom ep.

USA Powerlifting have not, in fact, lost their marbles.

IIRC there are two big PL authorities in the US and the other one is completely self ID.

This was the basis on which some bloke called Zuby claimed (mockingly) that he'd broken the world PL women's record.

@Articus

She could pee next to me any day.

??? Can she compete against your daughter on the runway, if she were to take that fancy?

Wouldn't bother me, or my daughter.

@whachatalkinaboutwillis

Tan has become quite unpleasant over the last 2 series. I loved the show initially and will watch the new series but having seen his repeated shaming of the lovely older woman in the first episode - calling her clothes 'hoochie' and shaming her for dressing in a very practical way that suited her fantastic figure, whilst Jonathon wore a series of very unflattering outfits inappropriate for the work he was doing and yet is celebrated because he is non binary. It's just irritating.

First episode of this series I should have said - Terri White was the woman - I thought she was such a brave strong woman, clearly had a lot of issues but addressed them and was so full of positive energy and love. I think both Tan and Jonathon have let the fame go to their heads and lost the plot tbh.

I tried to google it, seems angel is in a "mx" category but wasnt sure what that meant. It didn't say womens category

Oh I just read the link OP posted. MX is a transgender category

@Lottapianos

I used to love Queer Eye, but gave up after Jonathan Van Ness went down the non binary route, and then Tan France posed with an ultrasound superimposed on his abdomen as a way of announcing that he and his husband had paid a woman to give them a baby. Ugh. It's a shame, it used to be a great show, but I'm done

That's the point I lost interest - 'non-binary'. It's a phrase that makes me glaze over.

Jonathan and Tan are so far up their own arse. The show would be better without them.

I'd rather watch paint dry than watch an episode of Queer Eye.

Then I started to really notice the slogans on the t-shirts they wore sometimes, and it started to feel as though they were trying to hitch ideological proselytising onto what was, on the surface, a show supposedly about self improvement and bringing disparate people together.

Wasn't the show always about this?

If Angel is competing in a mixed sex or trans category, fair play!

If not, not OK.

There were some lovely things in the episode, especially with Angel's parents, and also her acknowledgment that her partner had needed some time to adjust.

The lifting competition was infuriating. As Angel didn't start transitioning until she was 21, and had only been on hormone treatment for 10 months (I think) at the time of filming, there are some pretty obvious advantages to having spent her teens with the full whack of testosterone as she developed. That gives her an incredible advantage over competitors who have only ever had female hormones. She also played football in college which would have involved strength training.

I also hated Tan's use of the words "feminine" and "sexy" and what clothes he used to represent that.

@bkyyy

Oh I just read the link OP posted. MX is a transgender category

Well, that would be fine, then- it did come across as though Angel was competing 'as a woman' for the first time, so possibly down to the editing of the show. A category for trans athletes so they could still compete (fairly) would make sense, especially in a large country like the US where the numbers make it feasible.

Wouldn't bother me, or my daughter.

@theqentity

May I ask why you think women's sports exist in the first place then? Presumably you would be in favour of scrapping them altogether?