Fox News won the cable news ratings race for the 69th consecutive quarter over MSNBC and CNN, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers released Tuesday. Overall for prime time, Fox News. For instance, we have Professor Jessie Daniels, a white sociology professor from the City University in New York who has declared herself to be some sort of “expert on race.” She believes that one of the ways to “dismantle whiteness” is to declare white families having white children as “racist.”.
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In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo, Bailey Coffman shows her photo as a man in the Snapchat app during an interview in New York. Snapchat's new photo filter that allows users to change into a man or woman with the tap of a finger isn’t necessarily fun and games for transgender people. But some others see the potential for such tools to lead to self-discovery among people struggling with their gender identity. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Hit a button, and you're 'transformed' into a woman. The beard disappears. The face and jaw smooth out. The hair floats jauntily around the shoulders.
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'Yo this is SPOT ON my mom.' 'Pretty.' 'Are you in a sorority?'
A swipe and another click. Suddenly you're a square-jawed man — heavy of brow, sporting five o' clock shadow.
'I look like my brother Jay.' 'Hahahaha Suzie I'm dyingggg.' 'My sisters were like, 'um... strange. You're kinda hot' haha.'
The gender-bending selfies accompanied by flip or sarcastic comments are flooding social feeds since Snapchat introduced a filter this month allowing users to swap gender appearances with the tap of a finger. But for many people who have longed for a button that would change them in real life, the portrait parade isn't a game.
'My gender's not a costume,' says Bailey Coffman, a 31-year-old transgender woman from New York. 'This story that I feel is very real. I lost a lot to be who I am, and I fought really hard for the body that I'm in.
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'And when certain people post it and write about how silly it is and how goofy they look with this filter,' she says, 'it makes light of the transgender experience.'
She and others, though, do see possibility in the pastime.
Some argue that the filter, which Snapchat calls a 'lens,' could be a therapeutic tool that leads to self-discovery and even helps ease the transition of people struggling with gender identity once they see who they could become.
'There are people who haven't found themselves yet, and this is a great way to say 'This is really affirming for me' and to take that next step,' says Savannah Daniels, 32, a military veteran living in Baltimore. She says she realized she identified as female after watching episodes of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' while serving in Afghanistan as a chaplain's assistant in the U.S. Navy.
Snapchat is not the first face-altering app with such a feature; FaceApp, for instance, has had one for years. But users of the Snapchat filter unveiled the second week of May have noted its high quality. And, of course, the very popularity of Snapchat amplifies the feature further.
Snapchat's maker, Snap Inc., which has drawn criticism for a Bob Marley filter some likened to blackface and another that overlaid stereotypically Asian features on users' photos, commented about its filter in an emailed statement.
'We understand that identity is deeply personal,' the company said. 'As we have and continue to explore the possibilities of this technology, our Lens design team is working ... to ensure that on the whole these Lenses are diverse and inclusive by providing a wide range of transformative effects.'
Jessie Daniels (no relation to Savannah Daniels), a City University of New York professor and an expert in digital sociology, says that for people unfamiliar with the concept of gender as fluid — not innate and not binary; that is, not strictly male or female — such filters can be both radical and transformative.
'They get a chance to play with gender in a way that many of us who are LGBTQ have played with gender our whole lifetimes and understand the social construct part of it,' she says.
That could be meaningful for youths reckoning with gender identity or, she says, just for putting the notion of gender fluidity on youngsters' radar. A survey last year by Common Sense Media found that 44% of teenagers use Snapchat as their primary social app.
'I do hope this does help some people better recognize their gender,' says Elliott 'Ellie' Wheeler, a 16-year-old sophomore at Michigan's East Lansing High School who, combining the words female and butch, identifies as a 'futch' lesbian.
Because most of her social media contact comes with trans people, she says, she hasn't seen much use of the Snapchat filter. But she also doesn't hold the company responsible for any controversy.
CUNY's Daniels, though, wonders whether the filter is an attempt by Snapchat, which has struggled against competition from Facebook and Instagram , to win back market share. Snap Inc. did not respond specifically to questions about its business strategy, saying in its email only that 'we regularly experiment with new technologies and features as part of our mission to empower self-expression.'
For people who are finding the fun in the game, Savannah Daniels urges them not to enjoy it and then simply dismiss 'actual living beings that are trans.' She reminded people of that Saturday with a tweet under her moniker, 'Miss Clean Legs,' that went viral.
'These new Snapchat filters got y'all out here having fun with gender roles, joking about sex with your homeboys, and sporting beards with lashes. All we ask is that you keep that same energy when you interact with actual transgender and non-binary ppl.'
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Find Jeff McMillan on Twitter: @JeffMcMillanPA
Lee Daniels’ Fox music drama “Empire” will be entering its sixth and final season later this year. The broadcast network announced in May the final season for one of its flagship series, but “Empire” was hardly the only Fox series featuring black leads that got the plug pulled. Nearly every Fox series with a black lead got canceled, including Daniels’ “Star,” the Damon Wayans-led “Lethal Weapon,” Lil’ Rel Howery’s “Rel,” the Russell Hornsby-starring drama “Proven Innocent,” and the David Alan Grier comedy “The Cool Kids.” Daniels recently told Vulture he’s troubled by what all the cancellations have in common.
“Clearly, there’s obvious stuff going on,” Daniels said when asked about Fox dropping the ax on its original series with black leads. “I think it’s very obvious. I was disturbed by it. But I don’t think ‘Empire’ had anything to do with [a possible whitewashing of the network]. ‘Empire’ sort of lives in its own space at Fox, but I do question the agenda. Any fool could sure see where that’s going.”
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The final season of “Empire” was announced following the months-long controversy involving Jussie Smollett. The actor has been accused of staging his own January hate crime attack in order to get a salary boost on the Fox music drama, although the case was dropped in March. Daniels instantly supported Smollett’s defense after the alleged attack, using Instagram to say Smollett didn’t deserve to be assaulted. Daniels said that it was embarrassing to later discover Smollett might have faked the incident.
“I’m beyond embarrassed,” Daniels said. “I think that when it happened, I had a flash of me running from bullies. I had a flash of my whole life, of my childhood, my youth, getting beaten.”
Daniels maintained there is still “some doubt” that Smollett is innocent. “I’m telling you that because I love him so much,” the director said. “That’s the torture that I’m in right now, because it’s literally if it were to happen to your son and your child, how would you feel? You would feel, Please, God, please let there be that glimmer of hope that there is some truth in this story. That’s why it’s been so painful. It was a flood of pain.”
“We weren’t there. I can’t judge him,” Daniels continued, “That’s only for the fucking lady or man with that black robe and God. I had to detach myself and stop calling him, because it was taking away the time I have for my kids, the time I have for my partner. It was affecting my spirit and other shows, everything.”
“Empire” will return for its sixth season in the fall.
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