Mike Penner ‘or’ Christine Daniels: the US media and the fractured representation of a transgender sportswriter

Abstract

On 26 April 2007, US sportswriter Mike Penner told readers he was transsexual and that he would return to the paper as Christine Daniels. Journalists immediately analysed and assessed this column. Three months later, Daniels' first byline appeared as she assumed her former beats. Yet, after eight months in the spotlight, Daniels faded from view and, without explanation, Penner's name returned. Although the paper did not offer details on Penner's return, his re-emergence proved newsworthy. While the byline appeared consistently, Penner rarely appeared in public. On 27 November 2009, he committed suicide. By interrogating the fragmented coverage of Penner/Daniels in these three periods of his/her life – transition, (re/de)transition and suicide – this paper argues that the media selectively framed Penner/Daniels's gender identity and used gender pronouns purposefully to create specific meanings. Few described Penner/Daniels in entirety; as a result, the life was flattened into a one-dimensional category of gender advocacy.

Notes

^1. In the column, Penner described himself as ‘transsexual’. Most scholars use ‘transsexual’ to identify post-operative individuals and ‘transgender’ as an umbrella term to signify when a person's self-identification or gender expression differs from his/her biological sex. To support a holistic reading of Penner/Daniels, I utilize the terminology expressed in the article when labelling P.D.

^2. ‘Woman in Progress’ has been removed. Email inquiries to Los Angeles Times about the column proved futile.

^3. Bernstein described three dimensions of identity: ‘identity for empowerment’, ‘identity as goal’ and ‘identity as strategy. Identity for empowerment occurs when activists utilize a pre-existing identity, or construct a new collective identity, to mobilize a constituency. In this instance, the identity translates interests into actions. Identity as goal is implemented to challenge stigmatized identities or deconstruct existing social categories. Finally, identity as strategy encompasses identity deployment, identity for critique and identity for education.

^4. In the same vein, only certain gay athletes received phone calls. Greg Louganis, an out former Olympic diver, for example, was presumably not given the opportunity to comment. Because of Amechi's basketball background, he was ostensibly viewed as the more appropriately masculine figure.

^5. In 2007, former professional basketball player Tim Hardaway told radio host Dan Le Batard that he ‘hates gay people’ and noted that he would not want John Amechi as a teammate; ESPN (2007).

^6. According to Stombler et al. (2007), ‘coming out’ developed in the 1960s in reference to the gay liberation's slogan ‘out of the closet’. Importantly, as Wang (2007) articulates, the act of coming out formulates homosexuality subjectivity for both the individual and the gay/lesbian community.

^7. For example, John Brown's 1859 raid at Harper's Ferry and his subsequent execution generated two opposing uses of his quest and death. For abolitionists, Brown served as a martyr in the fight for freedom; for white slave owners, Brown represented a violent rebel and a traitor; Russo and Finkelman (2005).