I watched with millions of other LGBT people the ‘coming out’ of Caitlyn. Here was a man who is now a woman. Even my 4 year old niece understood this. My niece, along with my friends and family, co workers and the media have been trans-fixed on the Caitlyn story. A transformation of seemingly ‘gender plurality’. Caitlyn is the new ‘poster girl’ for sexual equality, gay rights, gender bias. A modern day civil rights campaigner. Indeed, there was something uplifting about Caitlyn sticking two fingers at the establishment, the media and all the nay-sayers who denounced the progression of Trans people to be recognized and celebrated as full participatory members of society. We have a black president; the media is saturated with high profile LGBT celebrities from Ellen De Generes to Frank Ocean and Sam Smith. Being ‘gay’ has become normalized maybe even fashionable in this brave new world.
And yet I also felt very uncomfortable with ‘Caitlyn’. Here we have a glamorous, slim, white, wealthy individual speaking and advocating civil rights issues. Does Caitlyn share the same experiences as a Hispanic or black Trans person. Does Caitlyn understand the financial constraints on Trans people? The unique discrimination they face from LGBT communities, religious groups and ethnic minorities. Does brand ‘Caitlyn’ really project the ideals of Trans people, or has she evolved to become the mere carbon copy of her former life, her former ‘straight’ life.
In Alan Down’s book ‘The Velvet Rage’ he comments on the rejection and anger that a lot of LGBT people feel during their human development. The bullying, hiding, denying there true self creates a situation where there is an internal rage that manifests when they are ‘coming out’. One way this is exhibited is through over compensating. They feel pressure to stamp their new identity; this can be done through being promiscuous, drug taking and body modification. I am not suggesting that all gay or trans people do this, but I question the need for Caitlyn to dramatize her transition and indeed cultivate a kind of fetishism around herself and by extension trans people.
I must point out that I admire Caitlyn for her advocacy work and her ability to win over the media and the public in highlighting the painful journey that’s Trans people experience. This has been at great risk to her career. However, I also acknowledge that many Trans people feel left behind in this brave new world. The media is not interested in the over-weight, 17 year old boy from New York who cannot get financial assistance to transition, or the 67 year old woman from Alaska who is homeless and destitute after she told her family she wants to transition. Indeed, the high rate of mental illness, homelessness and suicide that disproportionately afflict Trans people.
Caitlyn has constructed a narrative to which many people cannot relate too. Many feel it would have been more courageous for her to be on the cover of Vanity Fair without the aid of an entire cosmetics team, stylist and A-list photographer. I guess it depends upon what your definition of being a woman is.
In summary, Caitlyn as an individual I have huge respect for and the personal sacrifices she and her family has made to bring Trans-awareness to the public should be recognised. Although Brand Caitlyn is in danger of becoming something freakish, turning the public into voyeurs in which we tune in every week to see what shoes she is wearing, what hormone pills she is taking, what clothes she is wearing. Instead of educating us, we begin to pathologies what Trans-women should look like and act like, thus objectifying Trans-women.
One might argue the porn industry is a gross reflection of this. It embodies the Victorian freak shows. Trans-women in porn are often depicted as bizarre, big tits with a hung penis. Again, we are invited to watch, wank and puke. In the media gay men are often depicted as feminine, body-conscious, sex-crazed individuals, it is only recently that being gay does not mean being camp. The media has caught on to the changing attitudes in how heterosexuals treat gay communities and this is largely due to gay men re-claiming their identities and not allowing the media to dictate it.
