Cait, for God’s Sake

The Artist D

I had a dream last night that I was best friends forever with Caitlyn Jenner. We’d go to the mall, have some lunch and go watch a movie. She of course would drive us there in that fancy little car. Then we would stay up late talking about our objects of affection, giggling while painting our toenails, and eating s’mores.

I’ve heard a lot of bad things about Cait the last few weeks. When I mention these things I usually mean within the transgender community, not outside of it. You can always find bad things outside (and in the comments section), but what always fascinates me is how many of “us” disagree with “us.”

There are some very bitter individuals out there that feel she’s too privileged or sheltered from reality. Yet, in my mind’s eye Caitlyn Jenner could be the quintessential transgender person. She’s what we all wish we could be, but so many of us can’t. Which makes me think a lot of people are just subconsciously jealous, maybe a touch jaded. To me Cait looks really happy. She doesn’t look fake. She doesn’t look naive. She finally looks happy.

The worldwide emotions that Cait has stirred since revealing herself have come across to me as a search for transgender happiness. What is happiness and how can we obtain it when we do not have the means to transform ourselves into Cyndi Crawford? Does it really matter if you have all the plastic surgery and a glamazon team of makeup artists at your side?

The photos I see of Cait make me happy. Public opinion seems to believe she’s really overhauled herself, but I don’t see that at all. I can see the nip and the tuck, but to me she still looks like she’s always looked. Most importantly she sounds quite like herself. She showed the world who she was before transition and then came out after with enough glam to make the impression, but in my eyes it was not a ridiculous amount of change. The biggest change I saw was a great big smile.

Caitlyn’s Smile at NYC Pride

From what I have heard in Cait’s interviews and TV show snippets she seems very down to Earth. She wants to just be who she is now on the outside and who she always was on the inside. She hasn’t started speaking in a squeaky voice and I’m hoping she has no plans to do so. I’m a firm believer of just being yourself. While people can have a bunch of plastic surgery they can still just be themselves. Just like Cait.

There’s an envy of her money and her sheltered mindsets, even her political leanings. There’s something going around about how she has never known another transgender person until recently. I think that all just leads to the perfect world we all wish we lived in and some loath Cait for having the backstage pass to get into that world. I always do what I can to envision myself in someone else’s shoes, or high heels. If I had the money I would have plenty of plastic surgery. If I had the platform I would sign a reality television show contract in a heartbeat. If I could make money from being myself I would charge to the hilt and love every penny of the money you gave me. I think a lot of people would do exactly what Cait is doing if they were Cait.

What is transgender happiness? I don’t think it matters if you are rich or poor. You can have transgender happiness wherever you may be. I know people scraping the bottom of the barrel and still getting sexual reassignment surgery. Just like I know folks very well off who are just enjoying their life taking hormones. Transgender is what you make it and we all live in our own worlds when it comes to how it is. A lot of us don’t have the privilege of living in a place that allows us to be ourselves. We can’t go shopping, paint our nails or giggle in public. None of these things should impede our happiness. I have never been a fan of the people around me affecting the world that exists in my head.

That’s why Cait is so fabulous to me. She gets to live in the perfect world and yet still wishes to share it with us in hopes of making a little change. Publicity stunts or money making schemes aside, change is change is change, said the rose to Gertrude Stein.

Cait doesn’t have to live in public. That’s the benefit of her perfect world. She doesn’t have to mess with you or me or the idiots in the comment section. She could live just as fabulously without the cameras, a woman of luxury and lounging in Beverly Hills. She could be going shopping, having lunch and painting my toenails while we toast marshmallows in the backyard of that big mansion. Instead she gets out and does stuff that makes a dent just by being. She is spreading her transgender happiness around. This makes me happy.

Tags: Caitlyn Jenner, featured, happiness, theartistd, Transgender, Transition

Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Opinion