Trans Identity in Italian TV Shows: A Prisma Study Case

Abstract

In response to the gradual appearance of streaming services and the consequent extension of the consumer base, LGBTQIA+ visibility has dramatically increased. In order to extend the legitimacy of the trans person’s identity, this paper intends to examine representations of trans people in mainstream Italian media. To this end, a first selection of Italian television shows is discussed to contextualize the Italian panorama. Subsequently, a specific case study will be addressed by analyzing the Amazon Original television show Prisma. The TV program is then discussed using Critical Discourse Analysis regarding its intersectionality and (apparent)inclusiveness. This study concludes that mainstream media coverage of trans* individuals is limited and reductive. These conclusions seem to be correct because, despite the more recent studies defining contemporary trans representation as its “golden age”, the representation is primarily focused on trans women, excluding other identities. Therefore, such representation proposes a stereotypical perspective and risks erasing a unique individual perspective of transness by creating a tokenized representation.