Media Frenzy

I feel tremendous empathy toward transgender people. I can't imagine the day to day burden of feeling as though you're in the wrong body or the horrible fear of being tormented or ostracized if discovered. If that had happened to me, I probably wouldn't have survived.

I have always been a huge fan of musician/composer Wendy Carlos. I felt that she handled her transformation with class and dignity. That had to be an ordeal for a public figure at the height of her popularity in the 1970's.

Bruce/Caitlin Jenner. I understand that this identity issue has vexed her throughout her life. I wish her the best and support her decision to go public. But how public is necessary. She'll be starring in her own reality show - a new one, not the one that made her family famous for being famous. She posed for the cover of Vanity Fair. She launched a Twitter account under her new name and became the fastest person to reach a million followers (faster than President Obama, the previous record holder). 

But can someone explain why has Caitlin chosen to be so blatantly public with this transformation? Isn't this supposed to be a personal journey, the resolution of deep intimate conflicts that haunted her privately throughout her life? It seems like one more big Kardashian-style publicity grab. "Hey, look, my Twitter account set a new record!" 

Congratulations, Caitlin. You could have been a hero to millions, just as Bruce was. But you chose to become a self-serving media hog in the process. Doesn't your family/step-family make enough cash with their vapid TV show, personal appearances, sex tapes, and tasteless selfies? Did you really have to jump onto that bandwagon with them? 

You are, of course, free to make as much money as the public is willing to fork over to follow your every thought. God bless America! Just please forgive me if I don't fall for the role model nonsense that I have been hearing all day. I am ecstatically happy that your public disclosure might have the side effect of reassuring trans people that they, too, will one day find acceptance. But you disgrace the dignity of this very personal issue by trying to turn it into yet another Kardashian cash cow.

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South 

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