Caitlyn Jenner

It is fairly well known amongst my inner circles (such as they are) that I exist nearly entirely in a current-event and pop-culture black hole.  If it doesn't come up in conversation amongst friends, or its not something I'm otherwise interested in, I probably have no idea what the hell is going on.

Earlier this week, out for dinner with friends, I got brought up to date on Caitlyn Jenner.  Previously, my only exposure to the whole affair was dubious magazines at the Publix checkout lines.  At dinner, I thought nothing of the whole thing.  I now regret my decision to read, instead of scrolling on past a few of the Facebook postings of her, and the comments.

As I result, I have come to the realization that we have collectively - and in some instances individually - gone bat-shit crazy.

What is it about one person's choices that effect us so profoundly?  What is it about us that makes us so angry or repulsed by something someone else does to and by themselves?  We're supportive of that Zimmerman thug, but Bruce/Caitlyn makes us pop a gasket?  Really?

So many comments about not having to "accept" her.  Fuck off.  Who died and made you judge and jury?    Put your fingers in your ears and say la-la-la every time she comes on TV?  Maybe a little righteous indignation thrown in for spice? She has decided that this is how she is going to live her life.  The fact that we think its incumbent upon us to decide whether or not we're going to accept her make us diagnosable, not publishable.

Honest to God, people.  Don't you have something you should be doing?  Comparing her to marines?  What the fuck is that?  She didn't call herself a hero, other people called her a hero.  Other people can call her whatever the fuck they want to call her and they don't need your blessing.  Do they still make hats big enough for you to wear?

The fact is, we all get to make our own decisions.  That tiny little fact makes some (apparently more than I had previously thought) people nervous - people who want everyone to look the same and talk the same and dress the same and think the same.  Cultural nazis who need everyone to be snapped to order who get all kerfuffled when any bit of evidence that chaos still exists rears its ugly head.  

The fact that a male athlete wants to live as a woman drives our testosterone fueled images of manliness around then bend and back says a lot about us and absolutely nothing about Caitlyn Jenner. I am surprised to see just how many of us need to behave like the opposite is true to avoid facing whatever it is in ourselves that makes us act like a misbehaving seven year old when confronting ourselves wholeheartedly.

This whole thing has accelerated what had previously been my slowly eroding faith in humanity.