Wednesday, July 22, 2015

I Am (Tired Of) Cait

    Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, has had plenty of publicity lately.


As you already know.

Jenner's decided to 'become' female...though, interestingly enough, not to change out all those body parts that mark us as girls and/or boys. (Her Vanity Fair profile dismissed that as unimportant.)
     She's had a ton of publicity, well-worked into articles, profiles, a billion photographs, and even the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The first episode of her show, "I Am Cait," is premiering. (More on all this here, if you're curious.)

Here's what bothers me.

It's not the transgender issue. True, my faith makes me wonder whether some people are doing this out of mental struggles -- identifying with good 'ol Mom or Dad, for example -- than they really feel like a woman (or man).

It's the "Me me ME" issue. The Vanity Fair profile made it clear that if the celebration/award/event wasn't about Jenner personally, then she (and he too, sadly) had little interest in participating. He was a no-show at his children's birthdays, holiday celebrations and graduations, with very few exceptions. He was running out of media coverage, except for his connection with the Kardashians through his ex-wife. He was running out of money.

Now, lo and behold, everything's back. 

Not only is Jenner suddenly important -- everyone's photographing her and exclaiming over her beauty. (Which she probably loves, though I notice that her arms and hands, which betray her sex and age, are carefully minimized.) She has the show, a new house and presumably lots of $$. Even Jenner's kids on the Kardashian side are asking her to lay off picking on them


But did she make this incredible change because she really feels like a woman -- or she has an ego the size of Detroit?

   (  I'm not the only one who's suspicious about this, either.)

If she really believes in this, here's her golden chance to champion other transgenders. To make a difference. To put her time and energy into starting organizations, raising funds, appearing for the cause, etc. etc.
    Here's also her chance to make up some of those decades of neglect to her children...instead of just whipping them out at Father's Day. (Who goes off-roading in a cream silk dress, anyways?)

But I'm guessing she won't -- because then she'd have to share the limelight. 

 She'd have to focus on someone else besides herself -- and that would mean dealing with issues that she'd rather not face right now...or be able to dismiss on the excuse that she wasn't her true self Back Then.

Well, now she is. Right?

It will be interesting to see if Jenner considers herself/himself a man or a woman when the attention dies down. Five years from now. Shoot, a decade from now. My bet: keeping those 'unnecessary' organs has more significance in all this than she would care to admit.

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Update: Jenner has just released a video, showing her up at 4:30 in the morning, worrying about all her fellow transgens. On the eve of her show airing, she just 'happens' to have the camera ready to go...because she's worried about them. (Cue sad music in the background.) Nothing to do with her -- or the show. Uh huh. Sure.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cindy, I do believe you have hit the nail on the head here.

Mary

Cindy Brick said...

Well, if I haven't, she certainly has an odd way of showing her concern for others. She always seems to make sure she's front-and-center when doing it.

I'm still skeptical. (But thanks for writing.)

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