Jenner's World-Class Vanity
SAN DIEGO -- With the tale of Caitlyn Jenner -- the television personality and Olympic athlete formally known as "Bruce" -- you have to take the good with the bad.
It's good that someone who says she spent her entire life living a lie and keeping secrets is finally free to be herself, and that anyone else who feels the same way might take comfort and gain inspiration from the example.
It's bad that some reacted in ways that could be termed sophomoric if not for the fact that some of what has been said would insult the intelligence of sophomores. Rapper Snoop Dogg referred to "that science project Bruce Jenner."
Of course, not everyone who undergoes a gender transformation has the soft landing provided by money and fame, where you're praised as a "hero" and you dive into a pile of cash with a magazine cover, reality show, possible book deal, higher speaking fees, product endorsements, etc. More often, it means chronic unemployment, shunning by family, difficulty making friends, even an increased likelihood of suicide.
After winning the gold medal in the decathlon in Montreal in 1976, Jenner landed on a Wheaties box and made millions of dollars by dabbling in acting, hitting the speaking circuit, filming commercials and starting various businesses all before marrying into the media-starved Kardashian family that is half carnival act, half ATM.
That chapter of Jenner's life couldn't have been healthy. Through their reality show, tabloid fodder and endorsement deals, the first family of reality TV has proved that fame can be as corrupting as money or power.
The Kardashians have all three. The E! network recently renewed its deal for "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," paying the family a reported $100 million for five more years.
Clearly, it's no one's business if someone wants to transition from one gender to another, except that Jenner -- by giving an interview to ABC News' Diane Sawyer and posing for a 22-page cover story and photo spread in Vanity Fair -- seems determined to make it everyone's business.
And in our "look at me" culture, this is good for the bottom line. Jenner will soon have an eight-part docu-series of her own. "I Am Cait" will premiere on E! on July 26.
When it comes to attention-grabbing and self-adoration, it's not easy keeping up with the Kardashians. But Jenner seems determined to give it a try.
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Copyright 2015 Washington Post Writers Group
