At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to watch on television last night. But when I turned on the TV, ABC was minutes away from presenting to us the much awaited exclusive interview with Bruce Jenner, who recently announced his plans to transition from male to female. While he says there are no definite plans to pursue gender reassignment surgery, the interview was informative in more ways than just finding out the highly anticipated details.
First of all, I want to say "Congratulations" to Bruce Jenner for his and her (as he was still "himself" at the time of the interview) brave journey into the public sphere regarding the issue of transgender acceptance and understanding.
This is the statement that has stuck with the global public since last night's interview:
However, some have already questioned what this means. While it is important to question statements like this, especially with the added bonus of being highly publicized, it is easily more important to understand what it means for society.
Jenner's interview marks the start of a more intensive "tipping point" for the Transgender Movement. The term "Tipping Point" was used on the front cover of Time Magazine's July 9, 2014 issue featuring Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox. For me, however, I found that the Trans movement kept hitting snags in terms of making the general public understand what it means to be Transgender.
Following the debates between Transactivitsts such as Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, and the general public, I found that the latter was still unsure how to talk about this issue. It goes far beyond the black and white understanding that has developed in the study of sexual orientation (another issue, but we will get to that later).
Let me just say: SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND TRANSGENDER ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. The number of times I see people struggling to understand this, is amazing to me and others, including publicized Transactivitsts.
Jenner's interview posed several questions that had the general public watching intently for answers. The first was of Jenner's mental and emotional dynamic from being an Olympic star to his time on E!'s Keeping Up With The Kardashians to today.
How can we expect to believe that such a macho-sports guy could want to become a woman?
My initial reaction to this is to say that there are no limits to gender, whether that be the gender one is assigned at birth or the one a person ascribes to their own emotional wellbeing. That being said, who is to say that Jenner has not experienced these feelings throughout his entire life and multiple careers? The first point of the interview was to uncover this truth, which Sawyer helped with by asking the general questions relating the physical appearance and emotional dynamics of the former and present Bruce Jenner.
The second topic of discussion was how exactly he started to conceptualize his transition. To many, including myself, it was a surprise to hear that Jenner had started thinking about a possible transition back in the 1980s. This was after him telling us that within the eyes of the successful Olympic hero, was a kind of pain and longing, a misunderstanding of what one appears to be and what one desires to be.
High profile celebrities are always subject to the scrutiny of whether or not they have undergone cosmetic surgeries. While Jenner might have appeared to commit to his surgeries to remain young, we learned that they were made as initial attempts to transition. This immediately eradicates the notion held by many that a macho man can, in fact, desire to be something else.
My favorite part of the interview, and the one that was most discussed on television and simultaneously online, was the reactions from Bruce's family. Some people believe the Kardashian/Jenner empire to be self-serving, and self-important. But in the midst of that criticism, a real heart and warmth comes out from behind the lens of reality television.
Jenner quotes his step-daughter Kim Kardashian, saying that she told him, "girl, you gotta rock it." And, being the social icon that she is, instructed him with, "you're representing the family and you've gotta look very good." This is a touching moment from the woman a lot of the world sees as materialistic and false. While I have never doubted that Kim has this side to her, I find it soothing that this interview is not just about one man's choice, but rather, one woman's choice and her family's support.
But now I shall talk about what I believe the entire interview means for our society. We have gone through the top talking points of the interview, but now for the nitty-gritty.
Some people have said that Bruce is privileged in being able to tell his story. While he might be fortunate to be on national television, why do we just ignore the fact that ABC featured the lives of other transgender people, to compliment the interview? I find it amazing that the general public has such an issue in saying that the transgender community is disjointed and unequal to everyone, including each other. This is one story.
Over the past several years, we have seen countless members of the transgender community and the LGBT community commit suicide due to the inequality present in this world. This is always heartbreaking new. I cannot begin to tell you how ardently I read those stories, but at the same time wish I hadn't. It is all part of the education of today's world. We take these situations lightly. I do hate to say it but we sometimes miss the point. It is not that someone killed themselves, it is the fact that society punishes people for being the way they are - or, rather, for desiring to be something else.
This is the interview's main focus: how to promote this topic to the public. Who cares if Jenner is already famous? Isn't that the point of being a celebrity? Not to just be an icon but to use their fame for a purpose? It is not the story of one man or one woman, for that matter, it is the story of thousands of others.
It is about family, acceptance, and moving forward.
Also, whomever thought that this was all a publicity stunt....you're unbelievable.
Congrats again to Bruce Jenner, but...
Congrats to society, for taking this step with him and others toward full understanding and acceptance.
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