A double-take on reality television: Laverne Cox’s political and pedagogical gestural humor

Abstract

Although Laverne Cox has become best known as a serious actress, advocate, and activist, her career was propelled forward by an appearance on reality television. While her participation in the reality television show I Want to Work for Diddy is usually only addressed within the context of representational politics, this article contends that her performance on the show demands additional attention, specifically her use of politically charged gestural humor. Through close-analysis of Cox’s double-take, I argue that Cox uses gestural humor to resist reality television’s demand for emotional authenticity and stereotyped performances, particularly the stereotype of the angry black woman. Moreover, I demonstrate that Cox uses the double-take to position herself as an audience surrogate, using humor pedagogically to teach the audience how to respond to transphobia critically.

Keywords:

• Transgender
• Laverne Cox
• humor
• reality television
• race
• RTV