I truly commend Laverne Cox, a new personality on the new show, "Orange is the New Black". She is very unique (first and foremost) being the first transsexual to star on a reality TV show.
But where she is leaving an interesting mark is deeper than her decision to change her gender. She made a conscious decision back when she starred on Vh1's 2008 show, "I Want to Work for P. Diddy", to NOT participate in continuous fighting on the show. She was informed of members on the show that allegedly said something about/against her - even to the point of her own mother questioning her about why she didn't defend herself. She simply stands by the fact that she won't be reduced to a stereotype.
Regardless of anyone's judgment of her chosen lifestyle, I admire the fact that (1) someone that was in the position of a career come-up has set a standard for themselves and (2) that she can actually see and acknowledge the pattern of "niggadom" (yeah, I said NIGGADOM") that is the extremely non-creative formula that reality TV has for women (especially women of color).
There is NOTHING wrong with having a standard and questioning the things you don't feel right about doing or being a part of. Even if you do have to stand up to "Poppa Diddy Pop".
