Bruce Jenner is a courageous idiot

By Michael J.W. Stickings

There isn't much about the Kardashians and their bubble of cultural degradation and egomaniacal excess that I respect, but I do respect Bruce Jenner's decision, if one can even call it that, to come out as a woman (he is still a "he" for now, but he says that he is a woman, and the "he" may soon become "she"), that is, his courageous coming to terms with, and acceptance of, his sexual identity. Even now, in 2015, it is not an easy thing to do, in private let alone in public, where you subject yourself to speculation and ridicule, if not worse, as much as to admiration and respect.

Now, I don't know Bruce Jenner. I watched part of his interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC as it's been a story on CNN this afternoon and I caught it flipping through the channels, and I can only take him at his word, and I can only give him the benefit of the doubt. That is, I can only assume that he is being sincere, that he has spent the better part of his life struggling with his sexual identity, and that his coming out as a woman -- cosmetic surgery and hormone treatment but not yet, and perhaps not, full conversion -- isn't yet another publicity stunt on the part of the Kardashian Klan, of which is, of course, a central member. Needless to say, the Kardashians, Jenner included, are long-time publicity whores, and it wouldn't be a stretch for Jenner to use his transgendered status to get some attention, not least with another reality show coming up.

But again, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. I do not know what it's like to be transgendered, nor to struggle with one's sexual identity, and he does seem genuine.

But if I credit him with courage, I must also debit him for his idiocy. Because there is so much of it:

After months of speculation that he was transitioning into a woman, Bruce Jenner confirmed the news in an interview with Diane Sawyer that aired on ABC Friday night, clarifying that he is also a Republican and a Christian.

When asked about Barack Obama addressing LGBT rights in his State of the Union, the 65-year-old former Olympic athlete said that didn't affect him much.

"I've always been more on the conservative side," Jenner said.

*****

Jenner said he is a Christian as well.

"I would sit in church and always wonder, 'In God's eyes, how does he see me?'"

But now, he said, he's realized that maybe this is part of his purpose.

"Maybe this is my cause in life."

"This is why God put me on this earth... to deal with this issue."

That's from The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson's right-wing toilet paper, and the tone of the piece suggests that it is rather gleeful that this famous transgendered person is Republican and Christian, as if that somehow sticks it to the left. In any event, let's address the idiocy here:

First, Jenner is clearly self-absorbed, very much within the egomaniacal Kardashian Kulture. How can the push for gay rights not affect him? Is it because he's a celebrity and has a lot of money, and so is one of the socially entitled regardless of his struggle and transgendered status? Perhaps he's just a partisan who doesn't like Obama, but it's revealing that he says he's "on the conservative side" and so doesn't really care about gay rights. Because, of course, conservatives don't just not care about gay rights, conservatives -- and this goes for pretty much the entire Republican Party -- actively seek to deny gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons their rights, and to discriminate against them, as for example through the "religious freedom" law in Indiana. Jenner may not care, but that's only because he's a rich celebrity who doesn't have to. But what about almost everyone else who are in his position? Yeah, some role model he is.

Second, it is similar self-absorption and egotism to suggest that your "God" has a specific plan for you that essentially legitimizes, and allows you to make sense of, your personal struggle, or indeed anything about you. It's like a baseball player saying that God allows him to hit home runs, someone who's wealthy saying that God gave him his fortune (as if being poor means you're somehow not in God's good graces), or someone with cancer saying that it's just part of God's plan. (To be clear, I'm not equating being transgendered with being a baseball player, being rich, or having cancer. I'm just saying that all such references to God are stupid and self-aggrandizing.) This isn't Jenner's "cause" in life, and his singular purpose isn't "to deal with this issue." That's just ridiculous.

Yes, maybe I'm a bit more skeptical than I suggested at the beginning of this post. I hope Jenner finds happiness in finally being able to be honest about who he is, and in doing something about it, and I do think it takes a great deal of courage to do what he's doing, even if being a rich celebrity no doubt helps a lot in being able to comes to terms with yourself. But he's still a self-absorbed idiot operating in a bubble of ignorance and detachment from the world beyond his narrow egotistical reach. And for that he deserves to be called out.