The concept of the "gaze," popularized by film theorist Laura Mulvey, is complicated here. The consumer gaze upon Black trans bodies is often shaped by "othering." The consumption of this content is frequently driven by a fascination with the "exotic" or the "taboo," rooted in colonial histories where non-Western and non-cisgender bodies were objectified as curiosities.
: Gender diversity is not a modern Western invention; cultures worldwide have recognized more than two genders for centuries, such as the