Of course Caitlyn would be met with Transphobia. Insistence on calling her "Bruce", "He", "Him", I even heard Caitlyn called "it" a few times. Cries of "What's the hell is going on?!" could be heard on major cable news programs. Others made condescending comments about the relevance of this historical event, as if it shouldn't be a polarizing cultural moment that will go down as one of the defining events of the millennial era. These instances of bigotry were inevitable. Whether it was Cassius becoming Muhammad, Michael Sam coming out as a proud member of the Gay community, or the emergence of Caitlyn, social and cultural pioneers are rarely invited into equality by the mainstream.
However there was a barrage of equally, yet much more subtly, insulting comments about Caitlyn that for the most part went un-condemned. While we were ready to correct the Transphobia towards Caitlyn, I saw virtually no mention of the Misogyny and Sexism that occurred in the covering and discussion of Caitlyn's transformation (and I'm sorry if any language in this is insensitive; please call me out on it.) In a way, this treatment in the media and public discourse is a sign that she is being accepted and seen as a woman. That doesn't make it okay. Now, or anytime. What we forgot to mention was that while the man formerly known as Bruce Jenner was described as an American Olympian, a great athlete, a hero, a visionary, successful, and affluent, Caitlyn was for the most part described as beautiful and sexy. Not that this is untrue, but it shows that too often men are measured by their talent, intelligence, effectiveness, strength, achievement, and success, while women are judged as objects for visual and sexual pleasure. Caitlyn was no exception. It wasn't just the adjectives used to describe her. I saw newscasters compare her to other female stars, say things like "she looks amazing especially at her age", I heard people analyze her make up, slut shame the outfits she chose to wear, question whether some of the wrinkles in her skin were photo-shopped off, comment on the impressiveness of her boobs (compliments of TMZ), HER LOOKS/BODY WERE EVEN COMPARED TO HER DAUGHTERS AND FORMER WIFE, etc, etc. What was disappointing was that this type of Objectification of women in American media was so normal to me that had the subject not been Caitlyn (or possibly the FLOTUS) I would have never really been alarmed by these comments. I'd like to make it clear that there were members of the media that praised her courage and strength (although I do suspect that some of them did it not because of their true appreciation for the courage she showed but rather to capitalize on what is undeniably one of the hallmark cultural moments of the millennial era). Of course she was met with Transphobia; we knew Transphobia was rampant in America after the initial announcement was made. Unfortunately the more normalized sexist and misogynistic objectification of Caitlyn Jenner means that America has already started to welcome her to, and remind others of, the ugly reality of what it means to be a Woman in America. -515
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October 2018
Matt BruceViva DSM!! |