We woke up this morning and met a new Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair. Caitlyn wears her hair long, styled in neat curls, and a corset that hugs her curves just so. Her transition from Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn was finally complete. We whooped a little when we saw a bot on Twitter (@She_Not_He) correct every reference to “Bruce”/“him” to “her”. As for the haters who were crying “publicity stunt”? Jenner tells Vanity Fair she was expecting them: “‘Oh, she’s doing a stupid reality show. She’s doing it for the money. She’s doing this, she’s doing that.’ I’m not doing it for money. I’m doing it to help my soul and help other people. If I can make a dollar, I certainly am not stupid. [I have] house payments and all that kind of stuff. I will never make an excuse for something like that. Yeah, this is a business. You don’t go out and change your gender for a television show. O.K., it ain’t happening. I don’t care who you are.” Besides, the fact that she chose Caitlyn over Kaitlyn couldn’t have been a coincidence. It was a clear way of asserting that she is her own person, and not just a member of the Kardashian clan.
And let’s not forget that the Jenner news comes within a week of another equally landmark (but less reported) event – Dr Manabi Bandopadhyay is taking over as the principal of a government college in Jhargram, West Bengal; making her the first transgender principal of India. It puts her in a position that allows her to create an environment of equality. “I am Manabi and I want to create many new Manabis, ” she said, in an interview with NDTV. More power to them both.
You may also want to read: #Ungender: We imagine a world without labels. No he, no she
