The Cissy

"The Cissy"

"The Cissy" is the third episode of the eighteenth season of the animated television series South Park. The episode premiered on October 8, 2014 on Comedy Central.

Plot

After planning for some time, Eric Cartman finally loses his patience waiting to use the toilet at school. He puts a bow on his head so he can use the girls' toilet as a "transginger" kid, calling himself "Erica". Mr. Garrison, himself a transgender person, advises the school to accommodate Cartman to keep him separate from the cisgender students. To the girls' annoyance Cartman continues to use their toilet, so the school compromises by installing a transgender toilet in the janitor's room, complete with a portable water feature, Christmas lights, and a clapper that plays "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

While doing laundry, Sharon Marsh discovers fishnet stockings in Randy's jeans and questions him about it. Randy later calls a music executive about the incident, saying he told Sharon he likes the way fishnets feel. Concerned about Randy's behavior, the executive reveals to a colleague that Lorde is actually a 45-year-old man living in Colorado whose songs are repackaged as a 17-year-old girl from New Zealand. They want to make sure that Lorde's identity is kept secret.

Meanwhile, a Spin magazine reporter, Brandon Carlile, begins asking questions about Lorde's performance at the kids' party last week. Gerald Broflovski directs the reporter to the man who is said to be Lorde's uncle, but the man reveals it's just a cover, claiming he works with Lorde at the US Geological Survey. He says she lives a double life as a singer and fluvial geomorphologist. Later, Wendy Testaburger uses Cartman's private bathroom by claiming to be transgender herself, using the name "Wendyl", irritating Cartman into telling Stan a rumor that Wendy/Wendyl is making everyone believe she/he's attracted to girls and saying that Stan is gay for dating her/him. Stan attempts to discuss gender identity with Randy, but Randy instead reveals to Stan that he is Lorde. He explains that he started using the women's bathroom at work out of convenience, pretending to be a woman, but eventually found the bathroom to be conducive to creating music. He even shows Stan how he uses Auto-Tune to make himself sound like a girl on a song called "Feeling Good on a Wednesday". Between his girlfriend and his dad, Stan begins to be genuinely confused about his gender. At the Geological Survey, Randy/Lorde's boss proposes a separate bathroom to appease the other women at the office, however Randy/Lorde says the bathroom is critical for his/her musical creations.

E! News reports that Lorde is abandoning music and Spin will reveal the singer's secret. Cartman teases Stan about his gender confusion issues, calling him a cissy. Sharon comforts Randy as he drinks a gluten-free beer, and indirectly encourages him to express himself as Lorde. Randy completes another song as people enjoy Lorde's music. Enjoying the music, the female geologists decide to accept Randy's transgenderism and Brandon Carlile deletes his exposé on Lorde. The school decides to get rid of the transgender bathroom and allow anyone to use the bathroom with which they are most comfortable, thus foiling Cartman's plans. For those who are bothered by transgender people a new designation is made to keep them away from the normal people who do not care: cissy bathrooms. Stan begins to sing a song similar to Lorde's as he appreciates the new bathroom.

Reception

The episode received a B+ from The A.V. Club's Eric Thurm. IGN's contributor Max Nicholson gave the episode an 7.5 out of 10.

Slate's Christin Scarlett Milloy lauded the episode's approach to transgender issues, noting, "When it comes to trans in mainstream media, it seems the tables have finally begun to turn".

Lorde reacted positively towards the episode, posting praise for the themes and humor of the episode on her Instagram account.

External links

• Press release from South Park Studios