Bruce Jenner is not helping

[sometimes_miss]

Bruce if you are crossing over, get it done and get out of the news.

I'm sure part of the whole issue is the press that he gets; as they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe he thinks he'll get a book or movie deal out of it too. After all, his only claim to fame was winning the decathelon back in what, 1976? This generation only knows him as the step dad of the Kardashian nut jobs, not much of a thing to be known for.

That said, we all understand the huge difficulties that he'll have to go through. I don't know him, but wish him well whatever his choices.

[Eryn]

Well, if you type "Bruce" into Google the suggestions put Jenner above Springsteen, Willis, and Lee. As they say, "I don't care what they say as long as they get the name right!"

I wish him the best and expect that he will proceed, or not proceed, as his judgment dictates.

As far as spouses linking tabloid headlines to our TG status, how does one respond to a person who actually believes the tabloids? If they won't consider the reliability of the source there isn't much to say.

[Tina_gm]

Oh yes he is helping. A heterosexual male (assuming) that had the greatest life a man could ever be, yet still has a femininity that needs to express itself.... Isn't that what being transgender really is? If we could control it, then why would anyone in his situation wish to be "different"? Because of who he married and the situation he got himself into with the Kardashian clan, whatever steps he takes, and has taken are media exploitations for sure. The media loves more than anything than to bring people down. Jenner has to decide whether to be remembered as an decathalon gold medalist or transgender. The media will not allow both, but that isn't his problem, it is the problem of our media. He could insist on being both, and if he does, he would help us immeasurably, and I think he might just be doing that, or at least trying to.

[Angie G]

Thank god my wife has no fear of my dressing going past dressing.
Angie

[Tiffany Jane]

I saw those tabloids in the drug store...it shouted at me from across the store...in big letters "CROSS-DRESSER"....it made me crindge...but yea its the tabloids not bruce....they havent figured out he is going to become a women yet LOL...the title should read SEX CHANGE LOL....

Cringe wouldn't be the correct word as I work in a store where the first night I walked by it I felt as if all my secrets were being exposed in front of my co-workers. Made me harbor up the wall a little. Then, the same feelings I had for myself, I tried to put into Bruce's perspective. There are no cameras around me, I have done little in comparison with my life to obtain the attention he has, and all in all, we probably have shared many of the same, questioning thoughts about ourselves. Who knew I had something in common with someone I had little to think about as much as the media and society has put him in a spotlight. I admonish the course of the media scrutiny, for putting into question the moral and societal stigma about his personal feelings about himself. It is this same stigma that made me hide what I have done for so long and only for a short while be able to embrace this other part of me as something that is me and is not going away, being outgrown, or a cry for help.

[Dana does shopping]

Would he/she be the first multi-medal winning Olympian to transition?

[MonctonGirl]

Here is Bruce Jenner with red nails.
I am most surprised that a former Olympic Gold Medalist is smoking a cigarette.

http://www.today.com/popculture/bruc...zergnet_306774

We are fortunate that we do not have media following us everywhere.
I'm actually surprised that he does not cite "privacy" as his reason for
going full-femme to sneak out of the house.

[ReineD]

It's all in the tone. They sensationalize physical transformation, when we want it to stop being sensational and just be considered an appropriate choice for some people. They even sensationalize plastic surgery when it is not done to appear as a different sex!

To Tiff, just keep repeating the same thing to your wife. Bruce is Bruce, you are you, and never the twain shall meet.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I think we should all give Bruce a break.

There are any number of people here who are afraid to shop, afraid to dress out of town or afraid to go go out dressed.

And in most of those cases, the worst that can happen is a big nothing.

In Bruce's case, he's probably being followed around 24/7 because the photographer will get a hefty sum for a picture of Bruce en femme.

And the worst that can happen? Bruce's picture en femme will appear on the shelf at every supermarket in the country. If that was a likely consequence for you, would you go out en femme?

[Nicole Erin]

Since that thing in Fergusen, MO stole the spotlight so people probably won't care if Bruce Willis or whoever gets a sex change.

[Adriana Moretti]

bruce Jenner....LOL....or did you mean Bruce Willis...cause thats actually funnier...i want Bruce Willis to get a sex change too!!!!!!!!

[JessicaJHall]

Besides, this is nothing compared to having starred in the Village People movie.

[Danitgirl1]

Here is Bruce Jenner with red nails.
I am most surprised that a former Olympic Gold Medalist is smoking a cigarette.

http://www.today.com/popculture/bruc...zergnet_306774

We are fortunate that we do not have media following us everywhere.
I'm actually surprised that he does not cite "privacy" as his reason for
going full-femme to sneak out of the house.

I also thought the cigarette smoking should have got more play time...
Having said that I think most people would be VERY surprised how many elite athletes smoke. The damage done by smoking is more long term in nature, so an athlete can smoke and still perform very well (athletes are typically young and the damage accumulates so they suffer very few ill effects when young). This is especially true of the non-endurance events, where the absorption of oxygen by the lungs is hardly significant (in a 100 m sprint the athlete uses the oxygen and glucaagon ALREADY in the muscle cells, there simply isn't time for the body to replace it). Also for some it distracts them in between competing (athletic competition involves LOTS of waiting and then some very brief/frenzied activity). The nervousness of waiting may have more negative effect than the smoking so anything to distract you helps (smoking doesnt actually calm anyone down but it does give peopel something to do).
I am not advocating smoking... It is horrible and bad for you but I do find its prevalence amongst elite athletes interesting and somewhat counter intuitive... Sorry for hijacking the thread :-)

[Nicole Erin]

bruce Jenner....LOL....or did you mean Bruce Willis...cause thats actually funnier...i want Bruce Willis to get a sex change too!!!!!!!!

Bruce Willis would be a nasty horrid looking woman. I mean a 21 year old hormonal man with beer goggles would not lay down with that. I mean even Rosie O'Donnel with full body hair would not be as ugly. You know she is nastier than a lung cookie from a mononucleosis sufferer.

Bruce something. I was gonna say Bruce Springsteen but I don't know how to spell that name.

Besides, isn't it Micheal Phelps who is getting a sex change cause he is some gold medal winner or was he the one who got pregnant by a crossdresser?

Or was it that Bruce Willis was artificially inseminated by a TS who used a syringe made of plastic that was from Micheal Jackson's remains?

That's it, I am revoking my transgender status so I dont get pregnant

[Marcelle]

To be honest I am a bit confused about this thread? Why should we care what timeline Bruce Jenner is on toward transition. If she is just a CDer and not wanting to transition and be out in the limelight that is her choice not ours. Can you imagine how you would feel if the media was able to hound John/Jane Q Public for a story and they found out you were TG and followed you around to events, plastered your picture on tabloids with headlines like "CROSSDRESSER". Would we be saying the same thing . . . "Just get on with it and stop making us look bad"

I think if any group of people know how difficult this decision is and even how much more difficult it is to go mainstream with the news (magnified 100 fold by being a celebrity) . . . well just saying.

Hugs

Isha

[Sara Jessica]

Isha, your points are well taken. This whole thing illustrates the difficulty of transition in the public eye (regardless of whether or not our friend Bruce is "one of us").

If trans-something is represented in x% of the general population, then it stands to reason that similar percentages would hold across people we see as being famous (whether entertainers or athletes). So take our fears, difficulties and other issues and multiply those by a thousand and you can imagine what someone like Bruce is going through (again, assuming he is one of us). Transition in the public eye is certainly not for the faint of heart. I had a friend who tried to do so and the result was her death by her own hand. I perceive her issues as being more than simply the publicity but that surely didn't help.

The elephant in Bruce's room is speaking up rather loudly at this point. I think the gist of this thread is that of support for whatever he decides do to, in the context of being in the public eye.

[Nicole Erin]

It is probably just a case of some fading celebrity trying to revamp their popularity.
Kind of like that one guy from n-sync or backstreet boys coming out as gay. Front of tabloids had his photo and the words "I'm gay". No one cares, and he is still a has-been from the 90's.

The media is running out of ideas.

[DonnaT]

Here is Bruce Jenner with red nails.
I am most surprised that a former Olympic Gold Medalist is smoking a cigarette.

http://www.today.com/popculture/bruc...zergnet_306774

We are fortunate that we do not have media following us everywhere.
I'm actually surprised that he does not cite "privacy" as his reason for
going full-femme to sneak out of the house.

Seems he is more concerned with how his daughter is reacting, so he tries little things to cope. Like many of us have. He told his mother he wasn't transitioning, and she said she would love him either way.

http://www.franchiseherald.com/artic...s-revealed.htm

According to a report by Daily Mail, Esther Jenner directly asked her son about the allegations. She narrated: "I've brought this up to him on the phone when we've talked and he says, "Mom, you can't believe this stuff."
Bruce Jenner's mom then replied: "Well, I want to tell you one thing, Bruce... (if) it's true or false, it's not going to change my love for you."

[junetv]

the OP meant it wasn't helping his relationship with his own wife. For some of our spouses who are in the DADT realm of things, seeing stuff like this is like a psychological land mine that explodes for no reason whatsoever, other than reminding them of the hurt they feel because of crossdressing, and they explode with all the emotional baggage of when they first found out. I understand the OP's intentions. Sorry, but those are the cards we're dealt. Just have to learn to survive in the midst of the emotional land mines.

It's probably a little harder for the OP, since Bruce seems to be going for the whole nine yards (see what I did there).

[tifftg]

June,

Got it exactly right. My comments were around the fact that even when we set up a don't ask don't tell relationship the public actions of others create a tense environment of fears, questions and doubting that the spouse is making the right choice.

[Morgan Matthews]

I agree. He is helping. Whether he's a CD or transitioning, he is proving that anyone can be a part of the TG community. A former olympic hero.

[drushin703]

I'm conflicted. Would I be more comfortable if Bruce would just go away and closet the whole thing?..Then the rumors would get even louder and the Globe and the National Enquirer would keep running stories of the "non" event.
My only wish is that he would just say something. I mean, come on Bruce, if you want to look like a crazy old Hispanic woman, then what's wrong with that. I say, just Michael Sam it, knowing full well that people
will posture, intimate how they could care less what your gender preference is, then cut your ass from the team anyway. There is some honesty and gallantry in full disclosure. At least I think so.... Or just come clean
(like I've personally ever come clean about my own crossdressing) and say, 'These are my earlobes, my hair, my breasts, my skin and if you don't like it you can kiss Kim's fat ass...

dana

[Andrea Chenowith]

Having said that I think most people would be VERY surprised how many elite athletes smoke. The damage done by smoking is more long term in nature, so an athlete can smoke and still perform very well (athletes are typically young and the damage accumulates so they suffer very few ill effects when young).

Sorry to continue the hijacking, but this example has always stuck with me. In the mid 80s, my parents were limited partners of the Wichita Wings (professional indoor soccer) which - among other things - gave us suite access, where we often hung out with players before and after the games. One night, one of the players who had a minor knock and wasn't planning to play was hanging out in the lounge, drinking beer and smoking with his wife and a small group of friends. The assistant coach came into the lounge, tapped him on the shoulder and bent down to talk to him. He slammed his beer, took a couple of last quick drags on his cigarette, then jogged out of the lounge.

Apparently another player had gotten injured during warmups and they needed him to play that night. He'd downed at least a pitcher and smoked three cigarettes while we were there.. He scored a pair of goals and they won that night, so I guess it was okay....

[MsVal]

The more often something is seen, the more often it becomes normalized. In that context, anything that gets people thinking of TG/TS issues serves to normalize them.


Best wishes
MsVal

[docrobbysherry]

I'd say that Bruce Jenner isn't the problem. It's the tabloid press exploiting a celebrity to sell more ink. The editors of those and other papers insist on sensationalizing and/or ridiculing those who are gender variant are the ones who are not helping. It would be improved is they would take a more honest and supportive stand, but that wouldn't sell their advertising, so I won't plan on seeing anything better than what they have already done.

I wouldn't blame the tabloids. They r only filling a need. If folks didn't eagerly buy their drivel they'd stop printing it and go out of business. Much like newspapers are.

I wouldn't know anything about the rich and famous if my daughter and folks here didn't keep me up to date. I'm too busy living my and Sherry's lives to give a darn about these truly unimportant tabloid fodderer's. Get a life people!