Almost exactly a year ago today, Laverne Cox covered TIME magazine. The coverline? 'The Transgender Tipping Point.' Following the Vanity Fair cover unveiling which revealed Caitlyn Jenner to the world (and the outpouring of support that followed), Cox weighed in on her own Tumblr to dig a little deeper.

Her thoughts about trans beauty standards, race, and privilege add much needed complexity and incite to the conversation.

On beauty standards:

'Many have commented on how gorgeous Caitlyn looks in her photos, how she is "slaying for the Gods." I must echo these comments in the vernacular, "Yasss Gawd! Werk Caitlyn! Get it!" But this has made me reflect critically on my own desires to 'work a photo shoot', to serve up various forms of glamour, power, sexiness, body affirming, racially empowering images of the various sides of my black, trans womanhood. I love working a photo shoot and creating inspiring images for my fans, for the world and above all for myself. But I also hope that it is my talent, my intelligence, my heart and spirit that most captivate, inspire, move and encourage folks to think more critically about the world around them. Yes, Caitlyn looks amazing and is beautiful but what I think is most beautiful about her is her heart and soul, the ways she has allowed the world into her vulnerabilities. The love and devotion she has for her family and that they have for her. Her courage to move past denial into her truth so publicly.'

And the need for recognising privilege and diversity:

'There are many trans folks because of genetics and/or lack of material access who will never be able to embody [cisnormative beauty] standards. More importantly many trans folks don't want to embody them and we shouldn't have to to be seen as ourselves and respected as ourselves . It is important to note that these standards are also informed by race, class and ability among other intersections. I have always been aware that I can never represent all trans people. No one or two or three trans people can. This is why we need diverse media representations of trans folks to multiply trans narratives in the media and depict our beautiful diversities.'

Continue reading on Cox's site.

From the editors at ELLE.COM.

From: ELLE US