MKR promos use “trans” as “unforgiveable word.”
Viewers accuse sensationalist promos of insulting transgender community, as Seven forgets it has signed a Diversity Charter.
- Published by David Knox
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Seven’s My Kitchen Rules yesterday revealed the word “trans” was at the centre of its on-air promotion as an “unforgiveable word.”
It followed controversy around the ‘C word’ being censored by Married at First Sight.
The moment happened when Group 2 contestants were reflecting on their first impressions of one another:
“I thought you were trans,” Lyn said to Karolina.
“You thought I was a transvestite?” Karolina asked.
“Only because you’re so tall,” Lyn replied.
“Oh my god, you really are saying it!” Karolina retorted.
An upset Lyn apologised before leaving the table.
While the misunderstanding may have been awkward between contestants, it was Seven’s promo department that turned it into a firestorm, teasing “one word” was uttered that was “so unforgiveable.” That’s despite Karolina accepting Lyn’s apology.
On social media Seven came under fire for ignorant language and sensationalist promos.
Being mistaken for trans is not an insult. By taking it as an insult is in itself an insult to the trans community 🦄🏳️🌈. #mkr
— Dr Jos 🇦🇺🇫🇷🇱🇧 (@redruby17) February 17, 2019
All the woman had to say was "no I'm not" and moved on. Is it that degrading to be called trans? I don't think so #MKR
— ☆♡ (@___k2908) February 17, 2019
Oh Lyn, it’s OK. We’ve all said something and didn’t mean it or think it through. We see your pain and know you didn’t mean it ❤️ AND shame on channel 7 for marketing this, nothing is wrong with being trans. #MKR
— Drewww. (@Justdr3wit) February 17, 2019
#mkr Whyyyy does everyone assume trans means tr*nsv*st*te?
— I am Evil Homer (@JacqOfSomeTrade) February 17, 2019
I think it's awful to think trans in an insult #mkr
— Richo Sandrat (@matthewrichard9) February 17, 2019
obviously @Channel7 don’t care that the word trans******e is considered a slur among some of the trans community and shouldn’t have been said upwards of a dozen times in a few minutes without warning or censoring. would you have left the f slur in if used the same way? #mkr
— erin (@becachlloe) February 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/AshDeeAnn/status/1097061947042742272
there are such transphobic undertones to this, being trans should not be treated as though it’s the most terrible insult #mkr
— erin (@becachlloe) February 17, 2019
I'm livid. I HATE that it's used as an insult (despite people trying to convince you otherwise – nope) & it reeks of Transphobia.
It needs to be called out, while also acknowledging that Trans women are real women. Often the #transphobia can intensify in the apology.#MKR— reroy (@okreroy) February 17, 2019
Seven associating “trans” with a network promo as an “unforgiveable word” was a new low for the show this year as it desperately tries to knock off Nine’s Married at First Sight. Neither Pete Evans nor Manu Fieldel, presumably absent from the table, weighed into the debate as the voice of authority.
“Trans” was quickly hijacked into “transvestite” by Karolina, with no attempt to distinguish between ‘transgender, transsexual’ or the very dated ‘transvestite’. Neither were there any community links provided for those seeking further information.
While shows like All Together Now have done much work for inclusivity in an early evening timeslot, it didn’t take long for MKR to overlook it for the sake of a reality controversy.
Seven has also previously signed an industry Diversity Charter:
We aim to actively reflect the diversity of Australian society at every level of our workforce, by gender, age, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion and disability or geographic location, both in our employees and the stories we tell.
Seven has been contacted for comment.
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- Tagged with All Together Now, Married at First Sight, My Kitchen Rules
19 Responses
“A new low” indeed. An ugly show now sinks to an absolutely repulsive level. I switched off at season 2 and haven’t looked back since. Roll on Masterchef. It actually has cooking in it, too.
Disgusting move by Channel 7. Low blow!
Apparently this is a cooking show. Who knew.
Lyn said (out loud) that they thought she was trans, either way you interpret that she thought she was a man dressed as a woman. This is long after the fact Lyn knew she was a woman, so what purpose did that statement serve? I think we can give Karolina just a bit of leeway to take a little bit of offence to that. The promos shouldn’t have blown it up as it did, but i had no issue with how Karolina reacted to that. It was an insensitive remark essentially saying “i thought you were a man.”
Issue is with Seven promos not the cast dealing with a misunderstanding.
There has also been backlash on social media at Karolina for taking offence to it.
Word of the starting with C now T .What will the word of the week be this week What a load trash these shows are
It’s a fact that MAFS has grabbed all the viewers, the demos, and the watercooler chat. Seven is desperate to generate any media it can, and this is it. It’s got everything to do with getting more viewers and nothing to do with the content of the promos.
Perhaps the real message that needs to get through is to stop judging people based on their appearance.
Everybody judges people by their appearance at least on first impression whether we like it or not. I think it’s more a case of if you have nothing nice to say…
“Trans” was quickly hijacked into “transvestite” by Karolina, with no attempt to distinguish between ‘transgender, transsexual’ or the very dated ‘transvestite’. Oh come on, really. Do we have to define everything so as to not upset people. This is such a non-story that I wonder if there is something else behind it.
It’s not a matter of defining things to not upset people, but to educate others. Although this might just be a reality cooking competition, for the producers and Seven to decide to exploit this scene for publicity and promotion, they have the responsibility to fairly represent and respect the (unrepresented) population they’re exploiting.
The bottom line is that Seven management, are causing ‘themselves’ real credibility problems.
Big changes need to happen, so it stops treating its viewers like dills, but nothing ever changes.
Careful – someone is about to say the word “bottom”!
And that’s all?
Seriously?
Isn’t this meant to be a cooking show. What an absolute joke!!
It really is a race to the bottom for channel 7 & 9 now isn’t it.
I definitely don’t use terms like he/she when talking about or referring to people who identify as LGBT or anything similar unless I know it’s okay. I’ll use words, like “they” or something else non-gender specific. I’ve heard stories from people, many who identify as straight who have either long or short hair being referred to mistakenly as the wrong gender in public. Some are able to laugh off or don’t mind when this happens, where as some can be offended by it. I think the term “trans” or other gender terms used mistakenly are not insulting, it’s just some people can be insulted being referred to by the gender they don’t identify as, regardless of which gender.
Maybe they were jealous of MAFS’s ‘c’word & wanted their own controversial word.