Belinda Jenner is a huge headline on the internet nowadays. But who is Belinda Jenner? Bruce Jenner, former Olympic gold medalist, track and field star, and reality TV personality has allegedly come out as transgender according to a few articles online including the International Business Times and Hollywood Life.
What is transgender? Great question. First off, people many people don’t actually know the difference between transgender and homosexual. Homosexually is different because it applies to one’s sexual orientation. It would mean that a man would be attracted to a man and a woman to a woman.
As for Transgender, it is somewhat of an umbrella term. Within that there is transsexual, cross-gender, and several other terms. Transgender typically means that you identify with a gender other than what you were assigned as birth. As an example, Jenner was born a man, but throughout life, Jenner has identified as a woman.
The transgender community has not always been welcomed with open arms because not many people fully understand everything about the transgender community. No matter the subject, it is customary to seek to educate oneself.
Sebastian James Dillingham, a freshman at NYU had come out as transgender a few years back and has received his share of unfair treatment. “At first, I got three reactions when I came out. I had the reaction from other trans people, which was very positive; I had the reactions from my friends and dad who didn’t take me seriously; and the reactions from the rest of my family, which was negative,” said Dillingham.
When asked for thoughts about Jenner, Dillingham said, “I think the media is treating her terribly, using her as an object for attention and money. They make fun of her and ask other people to judge her along with them asking ‘What do you think of his new name? Does it suit him?’ turning her name into a game while simultaneously misgendering her.”
A recent article from The Stir by Café Mom mentioned that the transformation is indeed happening and that Bruce wanted to be called Belinda and would like to be referred to with female pronouns. The same article also reported that Jenner’s current wife Kris Jenner didn’t take the news in a positive light. The article also claims that Jenner had originally told her wife before they were even married but was talked out of the transformation because she wanted a ‘trophy husband.’
So far, the transformation has not been confirmed by Jenner. Nobody knows if it is actually happening or if Jenner has even come out as transgender. Several articles by TMZ.com depict the idea that Jenner isn’t really going through with the transformation. They say that Jenner is just ‘doing this for the fame.’
The kind of treatment that the media has towards Jenner is the reason that so many transgender deaths have occurred. According to Advocate.com, just this year seven transgender women have been murdered in the U.S. due to the hatred that people have for the subject.
This is the kind of thing that is teaching transgender kids to not come out and feel comfortable with whom they are. A large percent of transgender youth have been too scared to come out due to the media’s depiction of the transgender community and have often committed suicide.
Then again, it takes time for some people to realize that they are transgender. Katie Anne Holton, a professor of communications at Mesa, underwent surgery a few years back. Being in her fifties, the world that she was coming out to was a bit different.
“My colleagues and co-workers were supportive or silent. Either works. My kids were very freaked out by it. They were afraid of losing me. From their perspective, I was their dad. Fortunately, it was pretty easy of them to see that they didn’t lose me. Dad’s a she now, but she’s the same person. She still loves us the same way,” Holton explained.
“Yes, I was scared, but sometimes there are things you absolutely have to do. I may have been scared of the consequences, but the consequences of not doing it; I knew I wouldn’t survive,” she continued.
As for Jenner, it isn’t really any of the business of the media what happens there. If Jenner is transitioning then so be it. If not, then it shouldn’t have any effect on the rest of the world.
