HOME > VIEWPOINT > ACTION! ALERT
By: MATTHEW A. HENNIE
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For television’s “very funny” network, it’s really not.
Turner Broadcasting System plunged into the reality TV season Tuesday with
the premiere of “He’s a Lady.”
Before the show even aired, it lost its main sponsor, raised the hackles of
religious conservatives and piqued the concern of a gay media watchdog. And
now that viewers have seen the newest addition to TV’s 20 weekly reality
hours, they’re likely to pan it as well.
To riff on the Atlanta-based network’s new tagline, the show’s
just not “very funny.”
The premise takes 11 men away from their wives and girlfriends to undergo an
extreme makeover and live as women for a chance to win $250,000. Each week,
the contestants learn something new about what it’s like to live as a
lady and are judged (and eliminated) by three celebrity judges: Morgan Fairchild,
John Salley and Debbie Matenopoulos.
Reaction to the show has been swift.
“Cross dressing, trying to fool people to think you are a woman, that’s
what transvestites do. We don’t need television celebrating it as entertainment,”
said Randy Sharp, special projects director for the American Family Association,
an anti-gay group that alerted users of two of its affiliated Web sites about
the show earlier this month.
“The basis of the program is to get people to degrade their own moral
character and do whatever it takes to win,” Sharp said.
The AFA’s alert proved effective: Complaints to Racine, Wis.-based S.C.
Johnson & Son prompted the company to drop its sponsorship — which
included product placement, on-air billboards, online exposure on the show’s
microsite and logo placement in print ads — before the show aired its
first episode.
“We’ve assessed the show, and we will not sponsor it,” S.C.
Johnson spokeswoman Margie Mandli said Oct. 19.
Mandli would not elaborate on the company’s decision. S.C. Johnson, a
maker of consumer products like Ziploc and Windex, received a perfect score
of 100 on the most recent Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign
for its gay- and transgender-friendly policies, training and employee group.
A TBS SPOKESPERSON would not comment on S.C. Johnson’s decision, but
said the network hasn’t yet received any other feedback on the show.
“In the spirit of ‘Tootsie,’ this is a show that takes a
light-hearted and comedic look at how gender roles in our society affect our
everyday lives and once it airs, viewers will see that for themselves,”
said Michelle Sisco, a TBS spokesperson.
“He’s a Lady” also put the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation, a media watchdog group, on notice. The organization learned of the
show earlier this year after filming ended, but met with its producers to express
concerns about its possible impact on transgendered people, according to Glennda
Testone, GLAAD media director.
“In reality, as opposed to reality shows, people who appear in public
in a way that is considered inappropriate often face harassment, discrimination
and violence,” Testone said.
GLAAD hopes future episodes of the series, which concludes Nov. 23, will explore
how the men handle public appearances dressed as women.
“Part of the show that is really encouraging is its educating people
about gender in general. It shows men what it is like to live as women. That
is not something we see very often,” she said.
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