I watched the Diane Sawyer interview of Bruce Jenner a while back and
thought it was well done. A lot of people were surprised that one of
the most masculine men of the past few decades announced that he's
really a she. I wasn't. Some LGBT people still in the closet go ultra
far in the other direction to compensate for what they are dealing
with. When I was growing up, I found sports to be my man-shield. During the interview, though, I think what surprised me the most was
that Jenner is a Republican, but after looking at Jenner's past, I
suppose I shouldn't have been as surprised. It will be interesting to
see if Jenner transitions more to the middle of the road or Liberal side
once she's seen the Republican party through the eyes of a trans
person.
Let me first say that I've never watched more than 15 seconds of Keeping up with the Kardashians, so outside of the Olympic stuff,
I had no idea of who Jenner really was until watching the special.
Sure, I've seen the hints over the past few years and if someone would
have asked me years ago when the transition rumors started surfacing, I
would have put down money that Jenner was indeed trans just based on the
subtle changes and the knowledge of all the other transitions I have
seen.
It appears that Vanity Fair pictures of Caitlyn Jenner are appearing on
the internet today. It looks like she had a little FFS...mainly on the
jaw, and the professional photography and lighting are a plus. She
looks good. I'm happy for her.
A few months ago, I was going to write an entry after watching the Diane
Sawyer interview, but I had DVR'd it and it took me a few days to find
some spare time to watch it. I thought about JLo'ing her name into BJen
(Be Jen) and suggesting that Jennifer Jenner has kind of a superheroine
alter-ego ring to it, but I never got around to it. I didn't expect a "Caitlyn," though.
A number of years back, I wrote a small screenplay for a friend. He
wanted it to be about 2 trans people who fell in love. I named them
Kate and Aiden. Why? Because I ran into a lot of transpeople named
that. While the name Kate has a classy appeal to it, the name didn't
have a resurgence until the mid-1960's. Aiden is a relatively new
name...and if you were over the age of 20 (when I wrote the screenplay),
then I basically knew that you were trans. How? Because Aiden wasn't a name when you were born! That's how!
The name "Caitlyn" wasn't even a name when Jenner was born.
I did a little homework when picking out Kara, but then again, I had it picked out in the early 80's when it peaked. OK, while the "name versus time" thing is a pet peeve of mine, it's
sorta one of those things I just kinda laugh off and shrug my shoulders
at. I guess it's actually better than the secret trans handshake,
though, because with the name thing I usually know in advance. For instance, I got a Facebook friend request from someone named Kaden who shared a number of my high
school friends. Ding, ding, ding...the trans
radar went off simply based on the name, and sure enough, one of my female high school classmates was transitioning into a man.
In all honesty, though, I want people to be happy. I just want people
to realize the consequences of choosing a name that isn't common or even
existent when they were born.
So, back to Caitlyn. Some people are judging her transition timeline.
I'm sure some people think she's taking things too fast. Everyone is
different, and with a good support network, one can go as fast as they
feel. And you know what, she's not unaccustomed to going fast. She did
kick everyone's ass in the decathlon back in the 70's. That reminds
me...one question that wasn't talked about in the Diane Sawyer interview
was how Jenner reacted to Renee Richards' transition back around that
same time. I wonder if Jenner went more in the closet or if that opened
her eyes to her situation. Who knows.
While transition isn't a race, I can say that I beat Caitlyn in at least one thing. Her best time in the 1500 meters: 4:12.6. My best time in the 1500 meters: 4:05.98. She'd kick my ass in the other 9 events, though.
