Jared Leto’s Newfound Appreciation For Women Is So Charming, But So Misguided
Let’s all join together and raise a toast to Jared Leto for not following through with his horrible plan to attend the Oscars in drag.
Leto has received a lot of criticism from members of the transgender community, and it doesn’t help that he recently told the Evening Standard that he considered “dragging up” for the Academy Awards. Some are disappointed that he took the time to discuss HIV in his Oscars speech but didn’t mention transgender people at all. Some are upset that he’s used outdated or insensitive terminology while discussing his character. I’m not a transgender person and I can’t speak for anyone who is, but I cringed reading this quote from Leto:
I became a detective. I met with transgendered people, I asked questions: ‘What was it like to tell your parents?’ ‘What was it like to be judged?’ You don’t have to desire the surgery to have your penis cut off, but you do have to understand it. We all have issues with our identity, or know what it’s like to not belong.
It’s apparent that he means well, but it does rub me the wrong way that he seems so proud of himself for doing the bare minimum and meeting with people whose stories he was trying to tell. Also, it seems pretty odd that Leto would have talked with so many trans people and not learned that many members of the community take issue with the term “transgendered.” And, obviously, “the surgery to have your penis cut off” is a pretty crude and dismissive (and potentially triggering) way to talk about a deeply personal journey that real people deal with every day of their lives, emotionally and physically.
Again, it’s absolutely not my place to comment on what is or isn’t offensive to transgender people, and I’m no better than Leto if I act like I can speak for this community that I’m not a part of, but I hope the attention Leto is receiving for these quotes will give transgender people the platform they deserve to educate cisgender people on how to properly show respect for their fellow humans.
Problematic shit aside, Leto did go on to say some pretty charming things about his newfound respect for women’s endurance of cultural beauty standards. He told the Standard,
It’s so much work for girls to get ready. I was brought up by my mom, so I always had an appreciation of women. But now I have more respect for the process. It’s a lot, what women have to do to themselves. But in the end, when you put that final dash of lipstick on and your look comes together, it really is a glorious reward.
Well, I definitely appreciate being appreciated. While women obviously don’t “have to” adhere to societal expectations, it’s nice to hear a man give us credit for putting up with so much BS on a daily basis. Cheers.
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