The Sky Is Jade, the Sea Is Pink

There is a well-known film from 1959 called Imitation of Life, starring Lana Turner as Lora Meredith, an aspiring actress with a young daughter, Susie, played as a teenager by Sandra Dee, who takes in a black housekeeper, Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) and her mixed-race daughter, Sarah-Jane, portrayed as a teenager by Susan Kohner.

The film is a colour remake of the 1934, Claudette Colbert starred of the same name. In both films, the story is of the housekeeper’s daughter choosing to pass herself off as a white person, because she realises it affords her certain advantages in life.

With the film world’s present obsession for authenticity, it is interesting that of the two film versions it is the 1934 version that used an African-American in the housekeeper’s daughter role. Susan Kohner, from the 1959, better-known version, is Mexican-Jewish.

This article is not about authenticity. It is about identity. More specifically, how one identifies. How one identifies oneself is entirely up to the individual. How the outside world identifies somebody, however, may not necessarily match up.

In this world of media saturation and with everyone able to venture an opinion—I see the irony of my statement—into the ether that is social media, and have it gain traction, not to mention the modern embrace of being offended by the smallest slight, even if it is on another’s behalf, common sense and critical thinking seems to have gone out of fashion.

There are certain subjects that I feel one should never argue over. Religion is one. Another is politics, though it is much more difficult to avoid political discourse. In essence, both subjects come down to intrinsic beliefs and arguing against a belief is always a losing proposition.

The subject of rights, however, is something entirely different. I am lucky, this I know. I live in a part of the world, in a generation and time that has never known war or true hardship. As a black man, person, even a lot of the ills that befall black people—racism, disproportionate incarceration, familial discord—is not something I have suffered overtly.

Living in the UK, though there are racial problems, the thought of getting shot is not really one of them. So, when I say ‘rights,’ I know that I speaking from a position of privilege. There are many who are far better off than I am and, like so many of us who have access to the ‘look-what-I-got-and-do’ sites of social media, I can be affected, believing that I am failing or not making enough of an effort to be a certain way. I too see certain headlines and, as is the way, feel offended on someone/things behalf, because it has, in modern times been deemed as wrong.

One of the most divisive things, still, is sexuality. As a man in his fifties, I am old enough to remember the sensational headlines surrounding the late Rock Hudson, leading man of the 50s and 60s, as a closeted gay. He died at the height of the AIDS, what can only be referred to in retrospect as, panic.

Thirty-four years on from his death the world is, supposedly, a different place. Though a revelation of homosexuality is not, as thought back then, likely to end a career, it does, regardless of what one wants to believe, still impact how an actor might be perceived.

Film and television even more so, have reflected societies acceptance of humanities sexual mores. Though, truthfully, even though it seems in reality there are far more homosexuals than lesbians, television would have you believing otherwise, with gay men tending to find more of a home in reality shows, whilst lesbianism is embraced frequently in story led television and film.

Lately, there has been a push for transgender acceptance and whilst this is not an issue in itself, after all, a person sexuality is entirely of their own choosing, it has thrown up an interesting and slightly ludicrous conundrum.

Underpinning the various pushes for being recognised and accepted, is humanities oldest war; equality. Whether it is racial, sexual or gender, what all of the above have in common, is a desire to be accepted as equal to the considered norm.

The thought of a level playing field, of equality, is a utopia. It is a dream for those who are either downtrodden or feel discontent, whether that is fair or not. To those in power, in contentment, there is no issue. Of course there isn't. Life is not fair.

Women have always had to fight, regardless of race or looks or social status, for that which we men take for granted. For generations, certain jobs have always been viewed as a male preserve and, though it is changing, it will never be fully realised.

It is a fact—a fact—of biology, that men and women are not the same. When it comes to physiology they are different, both in terms of physicality and hormonally. That is just a fact. The issue of sexuality and desire—want—is one that resides in the mind. No one can dictate how a person feels, that is something only the individual can decide.

When a person who is or identifies as transgender decides to embrace their female side, surgically speaking, does that mean they are a woman? They can, as their right, identify as a woman, live as a woman and even be embraced a woman. Unfortunately, that which ultimately separates men and women—the ability to give birth—will always be beyond them. I say this not to denigrate them, but simply to point out that some changes will only ever be on the outside.

This disparity is especially pronounced when it comes to sport. Recent cases, here in the UK at least, of previously male athletes competing in female events, after having the op, are a slap in the face to female athletes who have dedicated their lives to competing on a relatively level playing field.

Transgenders who go from female to male have not tried to enter male-dominated sports. Do you know why? Because they would have no chance of winning. It is all very well to say that they are allowed to compete if they wanted, but what would be the point?

What is even more disappointing, is that no transgender spokesperson has come forward to say how ridiculous the whole debacle is. I, for one, cannot believe that every transgender person thinks that a former man transitioning to a woman, even with hormone treatment and the obvious personal reduction in strength, does not benefit from having spent the majority of their life as a man.

Remember, this is the same society that came out in an uproar when one of the contestants on Dancing On Ice, Ashley Roberts, was deemed to have an unfair advantage, because of her dance and performance background. How is formally being a man not seen as an advantage?

The fear of being seen as prejudice, small-minded or intolerant, seems to override logic. This is not an issue of prejudice or oppression. It is not even an argument of beliefs, if one cannot see the inherent benefit a formally male athlete would have in a female sporting arena, that is just willful ignorance. Plain and simple.