Jackass star Steve-O decided against getting breast augmentation surgery at the last minute as part of a joke after having an enlightening discussion with a trans person.
He spoke to New York-based news website Consequence and recalled an interaction he had with a supermarket cashier who was trans that changed his mind about the surgery.
“On the day the scheduled surgery was supposed to happen, I was checking out at the supermarket, and the person ringing up my groceries was evidently transgender, and it struck me as a sign from the universe,” he said.
The comedian and podcast host continued:
“So I asked the transgender person if I could run something by them, and I had a conversation with this person that had a profound impact on me.”
Back in July, Steve-O shared with X5 Podcast his idea for a wild stunt that involved altering his body.
He explained:
“I came up with the idea a few years ago to get a boob job and just film a bunch of legitimately funny hidden camera pranks with me in disguise.”
"And then revealing who I actually am," he said at the time.
You can watch the segment here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Steve-O described what the transformation stunt would entail, which included removing all his body hair, “airbrushing” off his tattoos, and losing “literally 20 pounds to get really slender and petite.”
The 50-year-old also planned to obscure his face by wearing a “pink bikini top and Daisy Duke shorts and a motorcycle helmet,” as he planned to ride around in a pink Vespa.
He continued:
“And the plan I had was to film with hidden cameras as I rode up to big gangs of motorcycle riders, who would presumably be checking me out."
"And I would walk up to pull off my helmet and say, ‘Yeah, dude,’ and get this crazy reaction, which, predictably, would be contentious."
Steve-O recalled that the trans cashier person with whom he shared details of his plans thought that “my feeling that it was the ultimate statement of body autonomy, me saying my body, my choice. … That part was okay,” Steve-O said.
“But the part where I deliberately went out to trick people into thinking that I was a woman and then fooling them, and then kind of celebrating the idea of hate towards [trans people] — that was a thing.”
Steve-O said that the cashier person was compelled to educate him with a reality check on how their lives are different from his.
He said the cashier “described how they weren’t allowed to use the bathroom at their place of work, that there were like maybe 28 states in the country that would arrest them for having an ID that said female on it."
"That there were politicians making concerted efforts to lock them up in internment camps. It was really pretty heartbreaking, the level of oppression that was described.”
He continued:
“I thought about it in a way that I hadn’t before, where you know, wow, maybe it’s not all fun and games."
“Especially the pranks. Like, I would’ve considered it to be better footage if I was to be beaten up at the motorcycle rally. And just having that mentality was very flawed, because ultimately it would be an exercise in celebrating violence against trans people."
"At least, it would be interpreted that way by some, and when it was put to me that way, I thought, wow, maybe I missed the mark on that one.”
Steve-O added:
“I just feel like the universe put this encounter before me, and ultimately, I decided that the universe had intervened."
Some thought that expecting people from a marginalized group to "educate" others was not necessarily the best way to approach things, and offered alternatives.
When the Huffington Post asked Ashley McGirt, a Black licensed mental health therapist, about their thoughts on having a member outside of their community asking them to educate them, McGirt said:
“This work takes a lot of energy. It’s exhausting and it takes a toll on your body, mentally and physically."
“I feel like too often in the workplace, individuals feel like they have to take that on. We feel like, well, it’s my duty to show up in that space."
"But honestly, your duty is to show up and do your job and be productive in that space.”
McGirt added:
“YouTube is free. ... If we could teach ourselves our own history, you can take a little bit of time to do the work.”
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