Pam's Ponderings- I Want To Be A Model/Actress. So Do A Slew Of Others

TransGriot Note: Another post from author Pamela Hayes :

It has been raining relentlessly all day. I put on galoshes and a raincoat and went to the library. Some new books came out a few weeks ago and I wanted to see if the library had them.

They didn’t. I am fighting the urge to just buy the damn books. But I have so many books crammed in bookcases, in boxes in the utility closet and in my mother-in-law’s garage.

So, I’m going to try and reduce the book load by getting novels from the library. But I may have to resort to a Kindle. The library is too slow about getting books or if they do get them, they may have one or two copies of a title and if the work is by a popular author, the book is quickly rented and then there is a waiting list.

And impatient me does not want to be dealing with all that. So, perhaps a Kindle is the way to go, although I’m a little unwilling to read a book from an electronic device.

I ran my errands using my husband’s Jeep. I don’t like driving Jeeps.

Ugh! Too butch.

But my husband took my car in to be inspected.

God, I’m so bored. Of course, I’m bored, sitting here penning this. I was originally going to write about how many transsexuals, not all, think that they’re breathtaking beauties.

I hear so many girls talking about wanting to become a model or an actress. And of course, one doesn’t have to be a great beauty to enter those professions. I don’t think Naomi Campbell and a slew of others aren’t all that.

But I’d like to tell those trans women who have fantasies about becoming the next Heidi Klum or Kerry Washington that it isn‘t easy. And I’m not trying to douse their aspirations.

But I’d suggest you have a plan B or C because plan A may not happen.

I think I know what all this, ’I want to be a model/actress’ is about. You have low self-esteem. You’re not that crazy about yourself. You want people to adulate you. And you feel you can achieve that by becoming a celebrated icon. Your family members, society has knocked you and you want to accomplish something big, so you can show your critics. I get it.

I understand.

I would love to become a best selling novelist, so I can stick my tongue out at my critics and say, ‘Take this, bitches.’ So I understand where the model/actresses wannabes are coming from.

It is with reluctance that I say forget this model/actress shit. It is a long shot. Even if you were genetic, it would be a long shot.

But baby, your asses are trans and I have trouble seeing this bigoted world allowing a trans actress to play a genetic woman on a TV show or in a movie. I can’t see a trans woman on the cover of Essence or Glamour. I’d like to see it.

But when Isis King was on America’s Next Top Model , she should have been profiled in Essence, Ebony or Jet and I don’t recall seeing her there.

I know there is a trans woman that recently had surgery that was on the cover of a magazine and maybe she was on Oprah, but will she become as big as Naomi and Heidi and Cindy?

I doubt it.

And I’m not being negative. I’m being truthful. I’m offering my opinion. I think those t-girls with dreams about becoming models and actresses may become popular in the trans community or become celebrated on the Net or may achieve RuPaul‘s level of success.

And believe me, I’m not mocking Ru‘s popularity. I used to enjoy her talk show.

But for those trans girls who are dreaming about becoming a model/actress, go for it. But remember, it may not work, so have a plan B.

I’d suggest becoming a teacher, lawyer or a nurse who looks like a model.

Back in the day, I was told that I should be a model, that I look like something out of Hollywood. I never pursued any of that. But some girls hear it and judging from how they act, I think it goes to their heads.

Just don’t invest totally in something that may not happen.

Black And Latina

We all know Black women are beautiful in all their shades from vanilla creme to darkest ebony.

That also applies to Latinas as well.   Contrary to the conventional beauty stereotype, Latinas also come in a wide variety of skin tones, shades and body builds as well.  

There are sistahs in our midst who we are increasingly becoming aware of who proudly claim both their African and Latina heritages.  

Former MTV VJ Alani 'La La' Vazquez and CNN reporter Soledad O'Brien have been vocal about claiming both.   Vazquez even kicked it up another level by writing an essay for Latina magazine that pointed out that being Black and Latina are not exclusive identities.

“A lot of people don’t realize that I’m Latina, which is fine. One thing about being Latina is that there isn’t one look that comes with the territory. I don’t expect people to know my cultural background just by glancing at me.  I do, however, expect that when I tell people my family is from Puerto Rico, that I will be believed and not accused of trying to be something that I’m not. It usually goes something like this: a person having a conversation with me discovers one way or another that I’m Puerto Rican and fluent in Spanish. That person then expresses their shock over these realizations for any number of reasons–common responses are, “You don’t look Latina” and “I thought you were black!” I never said I wasn’t black. And since when does being black and being Latina have to be mutually exclusive? 
Choreographer and actress Rosie Perez didn't surprise me either.   She's been associated with African American culture ever since her initial stint as the choreographer for the Fly Girls dance troupe on In Living Color and her role in Spike Lee's movie Do The Right Thing.  

Actress Zoe Saldana, Gina Torres, Lauren Velez from the 90's TV series New York Undercover, Tatyana M. Ali, singer Christina Milian and the late Cuban born Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz are some of the names that also appeared on the Latina magazine list as well. 


But some of the ladies who are on this Latina magazine list who have Afro Latina heritage did surprise me like journalist Gwendolyn Ifill, who is from Panama, Oprah Winfrey Network president Christina Norman, and the singer Kelis.

But it's past time for us to acknowledge that some of our beautiful sistahs are just as proud of their Latina heritage as they are of their African roots and not trip about it..

And I'm just as proud to claim them as well.