Chella Man

Chella Man (born November 26, 1998)[2] is an American YouTuber, actor, model, artist, and LGBTQ activist. He is known for sharing his experiences as a transgender, deaf, genderqueer, and Jewish person of color. Man rose to wider prominence in 2019 for portraying mute superhero Jericho in the second season of the DC Universe series Titans.[3]

Chella Man
Chella Man in January 2019
Born (1998-11-26) November 26, 1998[1]
Central Pennsylvania
NationalityChinese American
Occupation
  • YouTuber
  • actor
  • artist
  • activist
Years active2017-present
Websitewww.youtube.com/channel/UCa1vUXV2WMRobPo-ZfEeRhg

Early life and education

Chella Man was born November 26, 1998, and is of Jewish and Chinese descent.[4] He was raised in a small town in Central Pennsylvania in a conservative community, where he "did not consider [himself] beautiful".[4] He was assigned female at birth and experienced gender dysphoria during childhood.

Man began to lose his hearing at four years old. By age thirteen, he was profoundly deaf, and the next year he received his first cochlear implant. At sixteen he had a second implant placed on his other ear.[5]

In 2017, after experiencing gender dysphoria throughout his childhood, Man began gender transitioning using testosterone.[6] His use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT),[7] along with top surgery, helped with his identity, self-esteem, and body image.[8]

Man is currently a student at The New School in Manhattan where he studies virtual reality programming.[4][9]

Career

In March 2017, he created his YouTube channel where he posted videos about his personal experiences with gender dysphoria, his identity, his love life, and American sign language translation videos to popular songs.[8][10] Man stated in an interview with Teen Vogue, "There is an extreme lack of representation for young, Deaf, queer, Jewish, Asian, transgender artists...So, I decided to be my own representation."[4] Man also posts videos that attempt to mobilize young voters and discuss the political effects of the Trump administration, whom he does not support.[4] Man began doing so after president Donald Trump visited his high school during his presidential campaign.[11]

In May 2018, Man presented his TedX Talk entitled "Becoming Him" in which he talks about his transition journey and gender issues for LGBTQ youth and people with disabilities.[12]

Man signed to IMG as their first deaf Jewish-Asian model in September 2018.[3][4][13] He has modeled for magazines including The Advocate, Bad Hombre, Time Out, and Mission,[14] and for brands including Calvin Klein, Gap, and American Eagle.[15][16][17]

In March 2019, it was announced that Man would make his acting debut as Jericho, a mute crime fighter, for the DC Universe’s digital series Titans in its second season.[3][18][10] Man stated that he connected to the character, who uses sign language to communicate. He discusses the importance of disabled actors playing disabled characters to support proper representation, stating, "Casting disabled actors/actresses for disabled roles will aid to authentically represent and deconstruct stereotypes built around our identities".[3][2]

Art

Man paints, designs tattoos, and has interest in fashion design.[4] [19] Man described how he finds inspiration as "pulled from anything I stumble upon that I find aesthetically pleasing. This could be a Picasso in the MoMA or a polka-dotted hat on the NY subway." [20]

Personal life

Man communicates in English and American sign language and most closely identifies with the bicultural identity for deaf people.[21]

He is in a relationship with MaryV Benoit, an artist and photographer.[22]

Honors and awards

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2019 Titans Jericho

See also

References
  1. "Chella Man on Instagram: "MaryV had me come home blindfolded last night. So, this morning when I woke up, the first thing I saw was these golden balloons above our…"". Instagram. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. "Trans, Deaf Artist Chella Man Cast as Superhero in DC's 'Titans'". www.out.com. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  3. Yam, Kimberly (2019-03-22). "Deaf Transgender Actor Chella Man Talks Being Cast In 'Titans' As Jericho". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  4. Nast, Condé. "Chella Man Is the First Deaf Transgender Model to Sign to IMG". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  5. Nast, Condé. "Why I'm Proud to Be Deaf (And Queer) AF". them. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  6. Nast, Condé. "I Documented My First Year on Testosterone, And It Changed My Life". them. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  7. Newfield, Emily; Hart, Stacey; Dibble, Suzanne; Kohler, Lori (2006-06-07). "Female-to-male transgender quality of life". Quality of Life Research. 15 (9): 1447–1457. doi:10.1007/s11136-006-0002-3. ISSN 0962-9343. PMID 16758113.
  8. Weinstock, Tish; Pressigny, Clementine de (2018-03-06). "this deaf, genderqueer artist documented his entire transition on youtube". I-D. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  9. Azoulay, Bonnie. "This Deaf Jewish-Asian Transgender Model Just Made History". The Forward. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  10. "18 Things to Know About Chella Man". Alma. 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  11. "20-Year-Old Artist Chella Man Is the Face of A Movement". www.lofficielusa.com. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  12. Becoming Him | Chella Man | TEDxRanneySchool, retrieved 2019-10-25
  13. Azoulay, Bonnie. "This Deaf Jewish-Asian Transgender Model Just Made History". The Forward. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  14. "Portfolio". IMG Models. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  15. Nast, Condé. "4 Queer Heroes Share Why Personal Style Matters". them. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  16. THIS IS CHELLA MAN IRL IN #MYCALVINS | CALVIN KLEIN, retrieved 2019-12-03
  17. "Chella Man and Kimberly Drew Front GAP's Colorful Campaign". PAPER. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  18. Ellis, Philip (2019-03-20). "Deaf, Transgender Artist Chella Man Will Play Superhero Jericho in DC's 'Titans'". Men's Health. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  19. Cadogan, Dominic (2019-03-20). "Trans model and activist Chella Man cast to make acting debut". Dazed. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  20. Fisher, Remy (2017-07-31). "Meet Non-Conforming Artist Chella Man". Arts + Culture. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  21. Chapman, Madeleine; Dammeyer, Jesper (2017). "The Relationship Between Cochlear Implants and Deaf Identity". American Annals of the Deaf. 162 (4): 319–332. doi:10.1353/aad.2017.0030. ISSN 1543-0375. PMID 29129834.
  22. Ferber, Lawrence (2019-10-25). "Trans, Deaf "Titans" Star Chella Man Is the Craziest, Sexiest Superhero on TV". NewNowNext.com. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  23. "Prologue: The Death of Shorty", Why Don't American Cities Burn?, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, pp. 1–18, doi:10.9783/9780812205206.1, ISBN 978-0-8122-0520-6
  24. "Queerty". Queerty. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  25. Wallin, Zoë (2019-03-07), "The Girl Reporter Pictures", Classical Hollywood Film Cycles, Routledge, pp. 34–80, doi:10.4324/9780429244339-3, ISBN 978-0-429-24433-9
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