Yesterday Caitlyn Jenner broke social media and the Internet!
Vanity Fair released the cover of its next issue featuring Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner. Immediately following the release my social media timelines were innudated with posts featuring the cover and other photos featured in the magazine.
I completely support and applaud Caitlyn for using her celebrity to announce her transition to the world. Even before the issue hits the newstands on June 9th it has already caused people to think about the transgender community and issues surrounding gender identity. Here are some of the larger issues that I feel needs to be addressed based on the reaction to the article.
Transgender Visibility in the Media
I always applaud increase diversity in representations in the media. When we see ourselves in the media, we are able to increase the visibility of others within our communities and society. However, I feel there needs to be an even greater increase in terms of transgender visibility throughout our media. Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox, and Janet Mock have all used their celebrity status to bring greater visibility to the transgender community, but we need more representations outside of the area of celebrity and entertainment. My hope is that our media spaces will use the reaction and attention that Caitlyn Jenner has brought to bring more representations of transgender people. Men's Health and GQ should feature transmen on their covers and articles. We also need a greater diversity in terms of race and socioeconomic classes among transgender representations. Most transitions are not going to be glamorous because of the costs involved in gender transition. The average cost of gender reassignment can range from $24,000 to $50,000. Therefore, there is a cost prohibitiion when it comes to transitioning. Therefore, there are privileges involved when it comes to being able to transition, and then those privileges get amplified by images of individuals who have access to those privileges.
I applaud the Root (shoutout to Samantha Master!) for contributing to the expansion of transgender visibility by featuring 8 transwomen of color who are impacting our world. Please check out that article.
The Negativity Towards the Transgender Community
While most of the messages I saw on social media were in support of Caitlyn, there were also some negative messages that show that some work still needs to be done. First, I saw a lot of memes that were falsely equating Jenner's transition with the struggles of other individuals such as military veterans and other people who have undergone medical procedures. These false equivalences are not necessary. Everyone's experiences are valid and should be treated as such. Caitlyn Jenner displaying herself to the world is brave. The military service of our servicemen and women is brave. They are both equally brave and equally as valid. There is no need to falsely conflate them with each other in order to delegitimize.
Also, people need to realize that these negative memes and misgendering Caitlyn by calling her him or Bruce are forms of microagressions. Collective microagressions can cause damage to people. When someone sees a lot of microagressions coming from people within their community, it sends a message that certain people are not considered to be members of that community. So when African Americans consistently send misgendering messages and memes related to Caitlyn Jenner, it creates the message that transgender people are not welcomed in the African American community. I say this because most of the negative social media messages I saw were coming from members of the African American community. Now, if community wants to not be portrayed as homophobic or transphobic than we need to stop these microagressions. Your negative meme or misgender might affect someone in an unintended way. Too many people have committed suicide because they felt that they could not be who they are because of the microagressions hurdled at them from people within their communities.
Conclusion
Ultimately, we all want to be seen and heard. My hope is that Caitlyn Jenner leads to more transgender people been seen and heard within media and overall in our society. I hope that she causes people to learn more about transgender people. We need to uplift and encourage all gender expressions and identities and not demean each other. My existence does not stop you from existing, and you shouldn't prevent mine or anyone else from existing in their fullness.
Yours always,
The B.G.M.
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