Earlier this week Science Magazine used the neck down image of a group of transgender women walking in the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia to highlight HIV/AIDS research. There is one good reason this image was offensive, an offense which was compounded by the insensitive remarks of one editor of Science. Someone who felt that the objectification and misogyny directed at these women was OK because they were born as men. Which can be taken to say what he may really think about women on a deep level. This is what is termed trans-misogyny (a primer by Julia Serano). While he made ignorant public comments and was taken to the woodshed for them he was not the only one involved in this editorial decision. ("Science Magazine Puts Transgender Women on Cover, Without Their Heads" Newsweek, Zoë Schlanger )
To put out a publication like Science Magazine, which is actually a peer reviewed Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which takes on the appearance of a more popular magazine takes a small army of people. Someone had to either take the picture or gain the rights to use the image from whoever did. Someone had to select that image from a set of such images. Someone had to edit the picture, then many people had to design every aspect of that cover. Then a number of editors had to sign off on the cover. Last but not least the articles letters etc. in them had to go through both editorial review and peer review before publication. This whole process likely took 6 months or more from inception to publication. Therefore piling scorn on one man is wrong. Instead I shall heap scorn on the whole lot who let such a privileged misuse of that image.
This is not purely an emotional response. Sure some of the reasons given for being offended are not logical. i.e. much has been written about the images being headless and faceless. That is somewhat offensive, but as Indonesia is a relatively moderate Muslim country, and has some violently conservative elements, it would be a good idea to not use those women's images. Let me be frank, they are walking those streets likely for sex work. The most dangerous kind of sex work.
No the headlessness is not what is truly offensive about the cover itself.
The cover had NOTHING to do with the contents.
The articles addressed the successful HIV AIDS prevention efforts in Australia.
