In a world that frequently expresses the expectations of conforming to a standard, it becomes increasingly difficult to engage in self-acceptance, as well as authenticity. People’s identities shape who they are in terms of their experiences and their perceptions about themselves. Through experiencing discovery of identity, Chella Man figures out the power within himself while enduring a world that often overlooks the focus on self-exploration.
Oftentimes, people that observe celebrities wonder, “Who are they?” While others see a well put-together person, behind them exists someone that has their own individual values and experiences. Similar to how not every hero wears a cape, not every person that has impacted marginalized communities is well known. Someone who affected a community in a positive way is Chella Man. He is an actor, model, filmmaker, artist, youtuber, and LGBTQ+ activist. Chella is known for sharing his experiences as a Chinese, Jewish, deaf, transmasc, and genderqueer individual and has impacted others in a positive way through his multiple careers.
He grew up in a conservative town, Central Pennsylvania in the state of Pennsylvania to a Jewish mother and Chinese father on November 26, 1998. Around the age of four, he began to lose his hearing. During his teenage years, he became profoundly deaf and received two cochlear implants. Throughout his childhood, he experienced gender dysphoria, which affected him in subsequent years of his life.
Towards the start of his life, his grandparents originally tried integrating more into Western culture and disregarding its heritage. Although he experienced parts of his culture through his grandmother’s cooking, he primarily grew up around Christian values. He questions the choices his grandparents made to assimilate with Western culture and the reason for that was the expectation of his family to remove that part of their identity. Growing up, he experienced microaggressions, similar to his father, that made him feel that he truly did not hold a place in the world, where he was always the “Asian best friend,” rather than simply being a best friend. When at gatherings with his Chinese and Jewish sides of the family, Chella realized that he needed to learn how to be comfortable with being himself. His mother encouraged him to wear an androgynous Chinese outfit to avoid feeling pressured to present himself as a girl.
In 2017, Chella created his YouTube channel that focuses on his experiences with gender dysphoria and his identity. In the same year, he began transitioning using masculinizing hormone therapy (testosterone) and top surgery led to him developing his identity further, increasing his self-esteem, and helping him improve his perception of his body image. During May 2018, he presented his TedX Talk Becoming Him to speak about his transition journey and issues that LGBTQ+ youth and ppl with disabilities may experience with gender. He recounts that to “become him,” he had to realize that he was trans, begin to understand proper terminology, and learn the differences between presentation and identification. He realizes that gender identity does not dictate the terminology used, which reiterates the concept of presentation vs identification.In an interview with Teen Vogue, Chella mentioned that he has had to be his own representation due to underrepresentation of marginalized groups. In 2019, he played the role of Jericho, a mute crime fighter, in DC Universe’s Titans. The impact this role has is the reflection of growth from the past, re-emphasize that marginalized communities need to be seen in media, and represents a step forward to the future. Approximately two years ago, he published his book, Continuum, which recounts his experiences with his gender identity, as well as his experiences as a child. That reflects the impact of self-discovery.
By sharing his experiences in that way and demonstrating his story through paintings, film, photography, sketches, and murals, he created a concrete, yet creative method to show who he is to the world.