Why Caitlyn Jenner’s Story Is Important

In the winter of 2014, my friend Dan* and I sat in a coffee shop just down the road from our houses. The reason: to talk about his transition from a female to a male gender. This wasn’t too long after the suicide of Leelah Alcorn, who killed herself after her family refused to accept her for being a trans woman, and we were discussing how attitudes towards transgender people had changed.

While Britain and Ireland has become more accepting over the years, with the Same-Sex Marriage bill allowing those of different sexual orientation to legally marry, the Metropolitan police saw offences against transgender people soar by 44% in 2014. In America, transgender men and women continue to face the worst forms of persecution in western society, with a high murder rate against trans women on top of the fact people can still be fired or lose their homes for being transgender.

And then there is Caitlyn Jenner.

Formally known as Bruce, Caitlyn Jenner is a former Olympic gold medalist who is best known for her marriage to Kris Jenner (formally Kardashian) and her appearance on the reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s.  But while her family actively seeks attention, the jokes regarding her gender identity are completely inappropriate.  Ever since the first rumors of her transition, news outlets such as TMZ, renowned for their slanderous reporting of celebrity lives, have consistently ridiculed her for her “embarrassing” change in gender identity; even going as far as to say “he’s not doing a very good job of staying a man”.

However despite the fact Jenner has revealed to be undergoing gender reassignment and requesting for the media to use female pronouns, various news outlets have appeared to ignore this and continue to refer to Jenner as “he”; further demeaning as well as dehumanizing her. Celebrity gossip magazine In Touch, infamous for their controversial covers, splashed the headline “My Life As A Woman” with an image of Jenner wearing heavy, obviously photo shopped, make up. The message this gives, not only implies that society does not understand those undergoing gender reassignment, but that the lives of people who go through this on a daily basis are one big joke; that Caitlyn Jenner should be mocked because she is unhappy with the body she was born into. The continuous taunting, ridiculing and lack of understanding from news outlets are no different to playground bullying and can only add to what must be an incredibly difficult time for her. The fact that Caitlyn Jenner is a big name in the public eye seems to render it acceptable to encourage transphobic remarks, now that racism and homophobia are no longer tolerated.

Unfortunately persecution towards transgender people is all too common. While Britain has become more accepting over the years, the Metropolitan police saw offences against transgender people soar by 44% in 2014. In America, transgender men and women continue to face the worst forms of persecution in a western society, with a high murder rate against trans women on top of the fact people can still be fired or lose their homes for being transgender. In addition to this, a staggering 41% of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide, with nearly two-thirds of people claiming it to be the result of bullying or domestic violence. Sadly, this is all too familiar to my friend Dan who, like so many other transgender people, was bullied by his parents. “These were some of the darkest moments of my life,” he explained. “During this time I was getting some nasty verbal and emotional abuse from my mother. My parents pulled me out of school [and] denied me access to my friends, the stress of which made me turn to self-harm”. 

Caitlyn Jenner’s story is important because it signifies the lack of education in society. While sex and sexuality are becoming more prevalent in culture, gender is something that is often ignored and often portrayed negativel  As my conversation with Dan taught me, the older generation has a history of dealing with people coming out as trans or what terminology to use in the wrong way and the media continues to enforce this. Very few people who are cisgender (a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex) really knows what being transgender really entails. It wasn’t until that conversation in the coffee shop that I learnt about hormone treatment and how it can be quite an emotional process and can be the deciding factor in getting surgery.

So why is this story of an athlete turned reality star important? Because it signifies attitudes society has towards transgender people. Jenner’s frequent publicity brings to light the changes that a trans woman goes through in order to feel self acceptance, something many people can relate to; especially those who are transitioning later. While there has been some negativity towards Jenner and her journey, many transgender communities have praised Jenner for coming out and bringing the issue into the public eye, even wishing him well through the rest of his transition.

However, she also represents everything that is wrong with the press. Instead of using Jenner as means to inform the public on the struggles of transgender people, they ridicule her for her fashion choices, pit her against her family and even go as far as to portray her as the villain. Caitlyn Jenner’s story is important as it reveals that the way the press handles sensitive issues to be disgusting. Their childish behavior and lack of compassion is a prime example of the persecution trans gender people face everyday, the only difference being that in most cases they are just too ‘uninteresting’ to report on.