Although Bruce Caitlyn Jenner’s rep is denying it, there are reports claiming that within the next few years, Caitlyn will revert to Bruce, the alleged reasons being that: 1) living as a woman has “been very hard” for him; and 2) he’s still attracted to women.
If the reports are true, Jenner will not be the first person who experienced sex change regret. I wrote an article about this painful and much-ignored subject two years ago, and I certainly pray that he will find internal and external wholeness.
But rather than focusing on Jenner right now, let’s think about the larger questions that need to be asked in light of these recent reports.
It is the custom of the media today to change pronouns the moment someone identifies as transgender, so Bruce quickly became “she” as soon as he declared he was changing. This was pre-op, pre-hormones and pre-change of wardrobe.
Simply stating, “I’m now identifying as a woman” merits the change in pronouns, and so, news reports are now stating that “she” might revert to Bruce in the future, which would mean that “she” would become “he” again. This then begs the question, “Was he ever really she?”
The whole rationale for the change of pronoun is based on the alleged reality of the person’s self-identification, in which case he had always really been she—in other words, the real Jenner was always Caitlyn; Bruce, the male, was just the name given because her gender was wrongly assigned at birth.
But if that was the case, shouldn’t Caitlyn Jenner be crowned the greatest female athlete in history? Is there any woman anywhere in the world who could possibly beat his Olympic decathlon performance, even in the next 50 years?
Really now, if gender has nothing to do with biology, isn’t this a valid question? And if Bruce had come out as Caitlyn in 1976 and the Olympics were as “enlightened” then as they are today, shouldn’t he have been allowed to compete as a woman?
If his womanhood (pardon the contradiction) is based on his self-identification rather than on hormonal treatments, surgical alterations or wardrobe, why couldn’t Bruce have participated as Caitlyn back in 1976? Talk about equality in the sports! The world’s top athlete—traditionally the title given to the winner of the decathlon—would have been a woman, since Caitlyn’s performance would have bested the performance of all the men in the competition.
And that leads to another question.
If Caitlyn reverts to Bruce, should Glamour magazine no longer recognize him as Woman of the Year? After all, if “Caitlyn” was simply a passing phase of his life, shouldn’t he be derecognized as Woman of the Year? And should he turn in his ESPY’s Courage award as well, since rather than being courageous he was being confused?
While these questions could be taken as derisive, I am not mocking Bruce Caitlyn, to whom my heart goes out. Instead, I am highlighting the absurdity of this moment in history in which a high school student can state, “Improper pronoun usage is a form of violence toward LGBTQ youth struggling with gender identity issues”; a moment in which some individuals prefer to be referred to as “they” and “them” because they have multiple gender identities (or because they simply don’t want to be put in a gender box. Some have even said, “Call me Tractor.”). It’s a moment in history in which parents who object to their teenage daughters being forced to share locker rooms and shower stalls with biological males are likened to supporters of Jim Crow laws.
Thankfully, the pushback against this madness is growing—I plan to address this in another article—but the reports about Caitlyn’s struggles raise one last point of interest.
Many (or most?) transgendered male-to-females (MtF) are reportedly still attracted to women. In other words, they are not gay men attracted to other men but heterosexual men who identify as women, which means that the MtF individual in the ladies’ dressing room at Target could well be attracted to women. (I am not implying the person is a sexual predator; I’m simply stating that, from what I’ve read, most MtFs, like Caitlyn, are still attracted to females.)
As always, I need to state that I recognize that a tiny minority of those who identify as transgender do have biological and/or chromosomal abnormalities, and I’m quite aware of the ongoing debate as to whether there are discernible differences in the brains of those who identify as transgender. And regardless of the causes of transgender identity, we should show compassion to those who have struggled with their gender identity.
At the same time, it will be a real societal eye-opener if Caitlyn does revert to Bruce—how will he be treated by the liberal media who glorified his change?—and perhaps, just perhaps, millions of Americans will wake up from their stupor and realize that, indeed, the emperor has no clothes.
A man can dream, can’t he?
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