GI Joe and Trans Identity

In 1964, Hasbro introduced the now-classic line of poseable action figures known as G.I. Joe, the name a play on the generic term for soldiers in the US military. G.I. Joe was the brainchild of Manhattan licensing agent Stan Weston who presented them to Hasbro executive Donald Levine in 1963. The original 12" toys were marketed as ‘action figures’ with Hasbro explicitly forbidding sales reps and retail venues from using the term ‘dolls’ to refer to them. Anyone caught referring to them as dolls faced a fine. As GI Joe became increasingly popular, retail venues were more than happy to comply. The ‘action figure’ moniker stuck through subsequent iterations where GI Joe was rebranded to meet changing times.

Social Pressure and Identity

So what does GI Joe have to do with transgender identity? Allow me to give you an example. When I began coming out to people as transgender a common reaction I got was confusion, with the respondent wanting to be supportive, but lacking a framework

“How can you be transgender? You never did… <insert stereotypical feminine behavior>?”

I was rough and tumble, a daredevil, loved GI Joe action figures (the smaller, more modern version), and would never play with dolls, not even close. Of course, these people only saw me from the outside and hadn’t spent the amount of time I had thinking about transgender issues and identity, so it’s understandable if they had some misconceptions.