Bruce Jenner. (courtesy | http://theoasisphoenix.com)
My experience with the Kardashian family and the global phenomenon that is their lives is a bit limited.
Not, mind you, out of any high-minded opposition to reality TV and celebrity gossip.
On the contrary, I generally choose to waste my time on cooking-centric reality shows, and when I read celebrity gossip it is nearly always about musicians. So, I know a bit about Kim as the primary rival for the affection of my beloved Kanye, but beyond that, it’s all uncharted territory.
Sports culture, likewise, is an embarrassing gap in my cultural competency. So, the many presumably-herculean Olympic achievements of Bruce Jenner are beyond me. Something I do know a good deal about, however, are the issues surrounding transgender identities and the transgender community.
For this reason, I’ve been paying close attention to Jenner’s recent coming out as a trans woman, as well as the reaction to it in the public sphere.
Coming out as trans is difficult at any age, but in watching Jenner’s story, I immediately empathized with the pain of coming out now, at age 65.
The pain of trans people of all genders going through life pretending to be someone they’re not is immense, and having to suffer through that from childhood until now, as Jenner has, makes this all the much braver of an act.
I absolutely recommend watching the Amazon original series “Transparent” for a fictionalized insight into this experience. Jeffrey Tambor, of “Arrested Development” fame, plays a trans woman who comes out, like Jenner, in her 60s, and deals with her and her family’s emotions during this experience.
Though it would have been nice to have an actual trans woman play the role – discrimination against trans women is so great that nearly every major trans role in film has been played by a man – Tambor actually treats the role with great respect, communicating an authentic experience of being an older trans woman.
Between “Transparent,” “Orange is the New Black” cast member Laverne Cox posing nude for “Allure,” stunning trans model Andreja Pejić gracing the cover of “Vogue,” and now Bruce Jenner, transgender visibility is at an all-time high.
And it’s been a long time coming – trans women, along with drag queens and cisgender lesbians, many black and Hispanic, were instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, largely considered the start of the gay rights movement.
Sadly, that very same gay rights movement has largely forgotten the fact that trans people have been there carrying the flame from the very beginning. From Chad Griffin’s Human Rights Campaign’s only recently-reversed policy of non-support for transgender rights, to radical lesbian feminist groups explicitly condemning trans women, to gay icon RuPaul promoting anti-trans slurs on his show, it’s looked a lot like the LGBT community forgot the “T” at some point along its journey – privileging same-sex marriage and the gay white male over any other issue and demographic.
Today, thanks primarily to the efforts of countless brave, outspoken trans men and women, it appears this trend is starting to be reversed.
For example, more and more people are becoming educated on the problems our current restrooms on campus create for trans people.
Should a recently-out trans man use the men’s restroom and risk being targeted for violence and shaming?
Or should he use the women’s restroom, stripping him of the recognition of his innate gender?
When one looks at the alarming statistics for violence against trans people – one in four trans people have experienced bias-driven assault and are three times as likely to be harassed by police, with these rates climbing for trans people of color – it becomes immediately clear why making them feel safe and not have to risk their lives for something as fundamental as using the restroom should be a campus priority. Expect to see campaigns for mandatory gender-neutral restrooms on campus soon.
All of this points towards a new, more accurate cultural understanding of gender in our society. Our culture is clearly moving towards recognizing that gender is more than simply what configuration of genitalia you happened to develop; that it is a spectrum, allowing for more diverse expressions than just male and female. If you haven’t realized this yet, I’m sorry to say, but you’re behind the times.
And if you, dear reader, are one of those people – and I know that, unfortunately, many of you are – that has been delighting in making crude jokes about Bruce Jenner and denying his identity as a woman, then you are directly responsible for the culture of violence trans people experience in our society.
The unconscionably high murder rate, unemployment rate, and homelessness rate trans people face? That’s on you.
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but history has not looked kindly on the fag-bashers of the ‘70s and ‘80s, nor will it look kindly on you. Is it the fact that Bruce Jenner has had the courage to be true to himself and live his life authentically, while you’ve been stuck in the same cookie-cutter rituals and identities all your life?
Bruce Jenner is braver than you’ll ever be.
Robert McAuliffe is a junior international studies major from St. Louis.
