Hello, today I'm going to be talking about Caitlyn Jenner. In a recent interview, she
said that "the hardest part about being a woman, was figuring out what to wear."
I have things to say about this and obviously I'm disclaimer-ing it, saying that I am not
a woman. I am a trans guy, female to male trans guy. I still think that I am allowed
to have an opinion on this topic even though- I mean, technically I did know what it was
like to be female before I transitioned and before I knew I was trans, but now that I've
transitioned I don't know the experience now. But I can tell you, I'm pretty sure that the
hardest part of being a woman ISN'T trying to find what to wear. I don't know, I feel
like I'm making a big claim here, but I'm just.. Let's talk about it really quickly.
So, let me also disclaimer this by saying that I did make two videos about Caitlyn Jenner:
one when she came out and when we had the interview and like was this our Ellen moment?
And I made another when I talked about how we needed to respect each other and how the
visibility that Caitlyn Jenner is giving the trans community is just amazing, cause so
many people now at least know one trans person. Like they know, like you don't know them,
but you know. Y'know? So all this visibility is like, "Wow, awesome!" And of course I watched
her show "I am Cait" which was a couple of episodes. I was actually really surprised, because she
was called out for having so much privilege and not really understanding the experience
of trans women before her and like the history of the trans community, and the struggles
that we all go through. Because she kind of just came out, and transitioned. Like disappeared
for a couple of months and came out on Vanity Fair, like super beautiful and it's almost
like the transition that she experienced was completely hidden to the public. Obviously,
there are a lot more steps and things people have to go through mentally, emotionally and
stuff like that.But physically, which is what usually most people look at, you come out,
you disappear and then you are the gender you came out as and you present as and that
you are, and that you identify with. Whatever, so, that's not the point that I'm talking
about; the point is that she was called out and usually when people get called out and
I swear to god if you're on tumblr you have seen this. When people get called out they
usually go rightaway into defensive mode. [defensive voice] "No, no I didn't do this.
What the fuck are you talking about I didn't do that. No" I don't know what that voice
was, it was like the defensive cis voice or something- I'm kidding, oh my god. But people
usually are really defensive and like whatever they say goes, and I will tell you that I
have definitely been called out in the past and have done the exact same thing. "No, I'm
right. No" But then I realise you're calling me out and there's probably a reason you're
calling me out, let me like look it up and then take a look at what you're saying and
actually listen to you and then we can talk. What I like about Caitlyn Jenner and her show,
obviously I don't know what actually happened in real life, but the show, showed her listening
to the trans women who were talking about and calling her out on certain things that
she was talking about. One example is when she was talking about the trans community,
she kept saying they as if she wasn't part of it, as if the trans community was something
apart from her and she was called out on it. You need to say that you are part of this
community if you want to help us. And then she started saying that, and she started to
understand it. And there's even a part of the show where she didn't realise that or
know that there are a lot of trans women who have to resort to sex work to fund their transitions
or be able to live. Not that sex work is a bad thing or anything like that, but the way
that these women were talking about it, it was like "I had no other option." And Caitlyn
Jenner, in her confessional, kind of just "I didn't know people in our community did that"
And then like. Like. I remember watching this episode and being just so like, not angry,
but like come on. I'm not saying you need to know everything, but if you're going to-
not be the voice of trans people, but basically you're the voice of trans people right now.
You should know, you should know, what's happening in this community and what's been happening
for years and decades.It was just a bit intense, but she did listen and she did, not readjust
her views, but started to really comprehend and understand what she was doing was problematic
and that, not that you need to change, but her views on certain things evolved and she
started to see the trans community as something part of her, not something "those are the
trans people and I am trans," like we are all together and we need to help. And because
she is now literally the face of trans people, because she came out and because like everyone
knew who she was before she transitioned and the interview was like everyone watched it
and she was on Vanity Fair and so many interviews and like obviously so many parodies and TMZ
was fucking assholes and shit. But the fact that I feel like now maybe she's understanding
that she's no- I don't like to say that she's the face of the trans community, but if you
look at society right now and think about people who have never seen trans people, ever,
don't know any trans people. They're watching TV and then, they follow Caitlyn when she
was in the olympics in 1976 in Montreal and won the decathlon, like they know who she
is. Then she comes out and then you're either one of those people that's like "No," or you're
like "Oh, trans people, what is that? I've heard about that and i've only thought negative
things about it, but look at this person. She looks really happy." It's not that simple,
I know, but I think it's just the fact that she in society's view, as people who have
never really known and understood trans people, if you think about trans people now you'll
think about Caitlyn Jenner. This is my personal view of it, and this probably mostly more
like Canada and the United States, cause that's really where it's focused on. More in the
United states, but a lot of people in Canada know because we're so close to each other.
So maybe she has it in her mind now that she understands, not that "I'm on top," but that
"People see me as the face of the trans community." And this is where the problem starts, because
you can't know... Maybe you don't know, maybe she just understands it. Like she understands
that people see her as the trans face. You can't go on public forums and talk about things
that either you don't know about or things that you know might become really problematic
for the trans community and like setting us back
Like, WHY?
WHY?!
I'm really dramatic, I'm sorry,
but it kind of pissed me off when I saw this article and that she said "The hardest
part of being a woman was picking what to wear" and I read the whole article and I thought
maybe, maybe she's justifying something else.
Maybe she's like it's hard to find clothes
because I [Caitlyn] was never really able to dress how I wanted to dress and it's really
hard to do that. And yeah, that is a part of it, but it was almost like she said: The
hardest part of being a woman. So, like, every single woman. I'm going to say in North America
right now, the hardest part is figuring out what to wear.
Can you imagine if that was
like literally the most, like that was the hardest part of being a woman for real? Not
like having to worry about being raped or having to worry about being murdered, or having-
There are honestly... This video could last, I could literally talk about this for maybe
five hours nonstop and I don't want to do that right now. If you think about the amount
of things that happen. Like come on.
If there are people watching this who think that gender
equality exists, you, no. [claps] No. Please continue to watch this video or turn it off,
I don't care.
Women are still making less than men. I literally don't want to go into
all of this because it's just so much, but the inequalities of men and women. The inequalities
of women compared to men in society and how society views women is still so bad and some
people don't realise it and I think maybe Caitlyn doesn't realise that. Maybe because
she's so privileged. And I'm not saying, like yes she lived as a man for sixty years, I'm
not saying that. No, that's inappropriate to say, I'm not saying that. But, I am saying
that she did hold a really big privilege, being white and being super rich, being on
TV, being a celebrity, and being viewed as male. That is a huge amount of privilege.
And maybe when she finally came out because she knew she was trans for like forty years
or something, which is just [heavy output of breath], but she finally came out and was
finally being able to be seen as the woman that she is. Maybe she is taking... I think
she is. She is taking the privilege that she had before and kind of like putting it on
herself right now. Which is like, great for her because she still has all this privilege.
Y'know? Where a lot of trans women who transition completely lose all of their privilege. But
because she still- I feel like this is kind of problematic,- but because she's still super
famous, super rich, on TV still, doing interviews, on the cover of magazines, super-super famous,
probably even more famous than she was when she won the decathlon in the Olympics, it's
also like she doesn't realise the amount of privilege she has and saying something as
small as "The hardest part of being a woman is trying on clothes or figuring out what
to wear" is like highly problematic when you're the face of trans people. And now all people
who don't know trans people are going to read that and be like "Really? Really." So they're
either going to laugh like... I don't even want to get into that because this is just
so hard to think about, people reading that sentence and interpreting it in different
ways. I can understand what Caitlyn is saying, I can understand what she's saying, but I
think because society is so fixated on her, it's hard for her because everything she's
going to say, everyone is going to nitpick at it. Even us! Even trans people. Especially
us, I feel, because we want ourselves, the trans community, to be represented correctly.
And I think when somebody kind of implies that "LOL hardest part of being a woman is
figuring out what to wear" is like diminishing the experiences of the trans community. Especially
trans women, especially trans women of colour, who have come before you and had the hardest
past that you could ever. If you didn't accept trans people and you heard some of these people's
stories and their history that they had before, I guarantee you that some of these people
would start to cry, because the stories that trans women have to go through. Like, yes,
trans guys, we have horrible experiences too, but I'm really just going to focus on trans
women because gender inequality, trans women of colour getting murdered all the time. Like
it's just, we need to focus on that right now and just kind of like back away. But these
stories, kind of, they're there, but because she- It's almost like those stories are being
erased. There you go. The visibility of trans people is like BOOP, but the visibility of
how hard it is to be trans is like completely taken out the window. Like, it doesn't exist
anymore. And... Like... That's so problematic. Like, I made a video last week about the positive
aspects of being trans and like, you can't always focus on the bad things about being
trans. Like you can't always think like "Oh people hate me because I'm trans. Oh blah
blah," like blaming everything on being trans. But, like, this is different, this is not
me focusing on something negative. This is literally the entire trans community being
seen as a joke. And I'm not saying it's all Caitlyn's fault, but because of that little
sentence... I'm sure it sucks to be her right now, like know that the trans community is
like literally listening to every single word that you're saying, every sentence that is
written about you that is quoted by you, every video. It's just- It's almost like... It's
almost like she needs to be called out more, but also being open to like understanding
and opening her mind as she did in her show? I don't know. I don't know. It's really hard
to think about a solution to something like this because there's only one person out there
right now who's the face of the trans people. And like this brings up a whole other, like,
issue of privilege and visibility of trans men. We have absolutely no visibility, like
who? Chaz Bono? When was that, six years ago? Nobody even knows what a trans guy is, they
just think we're trans women, which is highly problematic. But with Aiden being on the,
almost on the cover of Men's Health and stuff like that, slowly we're getting, like slowly
visibility. But, I mean, that's another issue, I don't even know why I started talking about
that. Let's just take that and put it in a different video. Visibility for trans men,
later on. Right now, we need to focus on this issue, that the history and past of trans
women, especially trans women of colour, is being erased by Caitlyn Jenner. Which is-
Oh my god, that is such an intense claim. I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be making claims,
but this is an opinion. I guess this is not an academic paper. Am I completely off base?
Am I overreacting to a simple sentence?
Personally, if you watch this video to the end.
What am I at? Fifteen minutes, just hit the fifteen.
I obviously don't think I'm overreacting.
I think maybe I'm a little too emotional, but I think that you have to be for something like this because...
It's like you finally, I just made a video about internalized transphobia
and it's like you think for so many years that you're not going to get accepted and
then you get hit in the face with Caitlyn Jenner coming out and people knowing what
trans people are, and Oh my god! We're finally getting recognized! And then there's gay marriage,
which has nothing to do with trans people really, and people are kind of forgetting
about trans people now that gay marriage is legal. But, finally the view is on trans people
again and it's like none of these things I thought would happen until I was forty or
something. And it's like amazing that it's happening, and it sucks that we have to be
nit-picky about everything, but we do. And I'm sorry Caitlyn, but we do. We have to make
sure that the people who represent us, represent us correctly. And it sucks because one person.
When I go talk at a school or at an event, or something like that, I make sure to tell
people that I don't represent the entire trans community. I am literally one experience.
I am a white trans guy, I pass as cis. A lot of the time when people don't know I'm trans,
they don't know I'm trans, y'know? If I don't tell them I'm trans they don't know I'm trans.
Like, I make sure people know, but because that Caitlyn. Because you're the face, the
only trans people people know. Like people know Laverne Cox and people know Janet Mock,
but not as much as they know you right now. You have to tell people that you're not the
face. You're not the face! You don't come out and like two months later and like- I'm
not going to use the words fully transition, because that's like, what does that even mean
everybody transitions differently- but like, you come out this beautiful woman on the cover
of a magazine. Making it seem like the struggles of trans people doesn't exist. Although, yes,
you did suffer for forty years and that sucks like crazy. I can't even imagine like that
is horrible, but it's almost like... I'm not saying you should tap into the suffering that
you went through, but it's almost like you do just to understand a portion of like what
these women have gone through in order to be themselves.
I feel like I'm sounding like an asshole.
I'm just going to stop this video right now, I don't know. Let me know what you think.
Am I completely off base? Is this something that needs to be talked about?
Should I take this video down? I don't know. Let me know. Bye.