Jill Soloway Explores Her Own Identity in Her New Novel
*By Madison Alworth*
After four seasons (soon to be five) viewers are well-acquainted with the Pfefferman clan of "Transparent," but now, series creator Jill Soloway is inviting readers to meet her real-life family.
“I was writing this book about creating the TV show 'Transparent' and my parent coming out as trans and what it meant to find myself as a director at the same time that our family was finding ourselves," Soloway said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar.
Soloway has written an autobiography of her own story, which closely mirrors that of her characters, who are forced to reevaluate their lives when the family's patriarch ー played by Jeffrey Tambor, who was [fired](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jeffrey-tambor-officially-fired-transparent-wake-harassment-claims-1085236) after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced ー reveals himself to be transgender.
Not even Soloway, an Emmy award-winning director, could anticipate how timing and the larger political forces at work would shape her series and, eventually, her book.
"One of the things I’ve been thinking about for decades is this idea of gender and consent, to wondering why it's harder for women to be trusted around issues of consent. And then of course last year the reckoning happened, and our whole country became obsessed with these same questions, and I was able to synthesize some of what was happening in our lives on the set into the book.”
As the country changed, so did Soloway ー and that transformation is captured in her memoir.
“For me personally, I started off the book identifying as straight and maybe more feminine and heterosexual, and as I went through the process writing the book and working on the show, I then identified as non-binary and queer."
Much like the characters in the Amazon-produced ($AMZN) "Transparent," Soloway's self-discovery was part of a larger movement in the country.
“It was really more about my own family. When my own parent came out as trans, I think I realized I came from a legacy, a queer legacy where it was okay for me to explore different avenues for myself.”
Soloway, along with her cast, had a public-facing moment of reckoning when sexual harassment claims were leveled against Tambor last February.
“It took us a minute, it was such a shocking experience because we thought of ourselves as a feminist show," Soloway said. "We always felt like people were really aware of their environment and that people were really comfortable, and I think it really showed that it can happen anywhere."
But Soloway knew she wasn't alone, and in a way that made the experience less painful and more productive.
"I feel like I would have taken it really personally and freaked out a lot more if it had only happened on our show, but because it was happening in the whole country and even the whole world, where powerful men were having to look at their behavior to see whether or not it was being received the same way that it was happening in their mind."
Soloway's memoir, "She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy" is available in stores and online.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/transparent-creator-jill-soloway-out-with-new-memoir).
Over the years we have heard a number of ways people can invest. However, have you thought about how you could invest in sneakers? Well, one platform says you can do that and more.RARE is an investment platform for sneakers that allows users to easily invest in the sneaker culture by giving them the opportunity to buy and trade shares of rare shoes and letting users own some of the most sought-after kicks at a fractional level. Rare says the goal is to empower the communities who made sneakers what they are today and give everyone a piece of the pie. CEO of RARES, Gerome Sapp, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
In 2022, the FAA has received 323 reports of unruly passengers so far. Soon, flying could soon be limited to cooperative passengers only. Delta Airlines has asked the Department of Justice to put unruly travelers on a 'no-fly' list. Bryan Del Monte, president of the Aviation Agency, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
New York City’s tourism industry has seen a bumpy recovery from the pandemic, as the omicron surge delivers yet another blow to one of the world’s top tourist destinations. The arts and entertainment sector has been one of the hardest hit, with Broadway shows canceling performances once again after an industry-wide shutdown. Chris Heywood, executive vice president of global communications at NYC & Company, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about why he's confident the theater district - and the rest of the city - will eventually return to its pre-pandemic glory.
More than 70 religious leaders have come together to sign a letter to urge Mark Zuckerberg and Meta to halt plans for Instagram for Kids. The signers claim that this new platform, currently on pause, could cause spiritual harm to young people. Lucy Kidwell, the screen-free week coordinator for the nonprofit that organized the letter, Fairplay, joined Cheddar News to discuss the issue on Safer Internet Day. "It's not necessarily the content, even, that's on these platforms, but more the structure of the app itself," she said. "It's all focused on comparison, promoting yourself, putting forward this image of perfection and this beautiful life that's really harmful to kids who can't really separate what's real and what's fake and who may not be emotionally mature enough to handle something so complicated."
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
Neil Young urged Spotify employees to leave their jobs in his latest salvo against the platform and its CEO Daniel Ek for hosting "The Joe Rogan Experience." The call for resignations also came after a video compilation of Rogan using the n-word on his podcast was made public.
