"Caitlyn’s probably wishing that she chose a name that people would be able to spell 2 days later "
Uh oh, is that how you spell it? I thought the initial post was in error. I try to not misspell people’s names, after a lifetime of having mine mangled.
On a different thought, I wonder if she is the only 65 year old woman in the universe named Caitlyn?
From babynamewizard.com
*Bruce Jenner was born in 1949, at the popularity peak of the name Bruce. The name Caitlyn peaked in 1998, making the typical Caitlyn a 17-year-old high school junior. The name didn’t even show up for the first time until decades after Jenner was born. To put it simply, you will not meet anyone else of her age named Caitlyn.
(FYI Caitlyn’s birth name was William Bruce Jenner).
Jenner was on all sorts of magazine covers beginning more than 40 years ago. She’s been a celebrity for that long. (Ten times more of one at the peak of her fame, than any of the Kardashians have ever been.) But never as she wanted to be. She never had a chance to. (Even though she began transitioning in the 1980s, and told her then-wife about it at the time, she abandoned it.) It’s not as if she ever had a chance to live as a young woman and then “age gracefully.” People point to Helen Mirren, but forget that back in the 1960s Helen Mirren was an actress who was known for being a “sexpot,” as people used to say. (Just do a google image search for “young Helen Mirren,” and you’ll see why.) So Mirren had something to “age gracefully” from!
So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Caitlyn’s having some fun expressing her gender, and being made up to look “glamorous.”. I’m sure she realizes that this is probably the one chance she’ll ever have to be on the cover of Vanity Fair! My grandma, born in 1888, looked like an old lady when she was 65 and pretty much even when she was 55, judging from the photos I’ve seen. But Caitlyn’s life hasn’t been anything like my grandma’s, and in any event, times have changed So it doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s gone about it this way, given the life she’s led and given the “role models” for womanhood that surround her. None of them exactly shrinking violets!
I don’t think Caitlyn or anyone else is claiming or suggesting that all trans women of any age can or should aspire to look like she now looks, or could afford to have surgery to look like that even if they wanted to. Besides, trans women are almost always damned if they do and damned if they don’t – criticized for “performing” the most superficial aspects of femininity – or looking like a hooker – if they try to look glamorous (look how vicious the criticism of Laverne Cox was not long ago for being “anti-feminist” for participating in a photoshoot in which she was photographed semi-nude), and criticized for being frumps or obvious “men in dresses” if they don’t, and just try to look like “normal women” – Jenny Boylan, for example. (Even though I know Jenny Boylan, and thinks she looks great. And also know that she and Caitlyn Jenner now know each other – Boylan served as a consultant for the Diane Sawyer interview – and like each other just fine, as different as they may seem to be.)*
And even doing things the way Caitlyn Jenner has, there are still people making snide comments about how “masculine” she supposedly looks. (There’s always a rather gleeful “Ha, Ha, you can’t fool me!” underlying that kind of comment, I think.) So I have little doubt that there would be people blasting her no matter how she presented herself.
Of course I can’t imagine ever being dressed like Caitlyn in that cover photo, or being on a magazine cover at all. But my life has been nothing like Caitlyn Jenner’s, and the women I’ve known have been nothing like the Kardashians, or Jenner’s first two wives, either. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get wistful sometimes and wonder what my life would have been like, and what I would have looked like, if I had transitioned in my early 20s, when I first contemplated it. (Of course I’d never actually go back in that time machine even if I could, because that would mean i would never have my son. And I would never make that trade; I’d far rather live my life over again 1000 times the way it was than lose him.) And the fact that I would never go Jenner’s route also doesn’t mean I didn’t think about having FFS – or at least a nose job! – when I started transitioning, even though I was 20 years younger than Jenner is now. But I never followed up on it, after I realized that I didn’t need it in order to be perceived as a woman, and that my son was infinitely more upset by that prospect – and the fear that he would no longer recognize me – than he ever was by the transition itself.
“Of course I’d never actually go back in that time machine even if I could, because that would mean i would never have my son. And I would never make that trade; I’d far rather live my life over again 1000 times the way it was than lose him.”
For sure. Whatever things we have missed out on, whatever mistakes we have made, they have led us to the lives we have today. And if anything would have changed us having our dear children—no way. Whatever problems I could have solved, joys I could have had, nothing is more important than having the kids I have today. It would definitely not have been a trade even remotely worth it.
Generalization? Moi?
Seriously, of course not all conservatives believe, although, I could have included a lot of quotes from people agreeing with him.
Doesn’t matter when the name peaked:
“The name originated in Ireland as Caitlín [ˈkatʲlʲiːnʲ] and is the Irish variation of the Old French name Cateline [katlin], which was derived from Catherine, which was derived from the Ancient Greek…”
Haven’t read all posts yet but I love my son’s name. So if I could become a man (no thanks, but just hypothetically), he could become a “Junior” years after he was born! Nah, I’d probably pick a different middle name (actually my current middle name, a family name, is a “male” name so I wouldn’t have to change it).
Interesting thing to ponder.
I support people’s right to pursue a change if they want to. My son’s good friend is going F to M and he is so happy to have been able to start college with his “true identity.” Everyone I’ve ever known who has transitioned (just a few people, from teen children of friends, to my sister’s ex who switched after his 2nd marriage at about 60, to a native Hawaiian woman who was a client a few years ago) has been so happy to finally “be in their own skin,” that who am I to say anything negative?
As for Caitlyn, I think she looks great. But I have to admit, if you’re going to “put it all out there” like she has, you gotta be ready to deal with comments, criticism of all sorts, and what not. I would have chosen a different outfit, but that’s just taste in fashion. I know I won’t look that good at that age, that’s for sure. And if she can raise awareness and help others to be more accepted, good for her.
One thing I forgot to mention in my last comment: on some of those old Sports Illustrated and other magazine covers I remember, Bruce was wearing quite a bit less clothing than Caitlyn is on the Vanity Fair cover.
“Bruce Jenner was born in 1949, at the popularity peak of the name Bruce. The name Caitlyn peaked in 1998, making the typical Caitlyn a 17-year-old high school junior. The name didn’t even show up for the first time until decades after Jenner was born. To put it simply, you will not meet anyone else of her age named Caitlyn.”
So what? This is odd to perseverate on.
the people who object to Caitlin wouldn’t miraculously be comforted if Bruce had chosen Margaret or Virginia or whatever other name was the most popular in 1949.
I know Helen Mirens was a sexpot and I watched many of her movies when she was younger, nothing wrong with sexpot is it?
Post #350, you misspelled Caitlyn name after reading all these posts?
Blaming my iPhone
Probably a classmate of DrGoogle’s at the TTT.
Ouch again!
To be fair, you misspelled “Helen Mirren,” who BTW is as hot now at 69 as she was 12 years ago when she rocked the nude look in Calendar Girls.
MommaJ said:
Hellen Mirren and Susan Sarandon have never shied away from expressing their sensual nature and their curvy bodies in photographs and appearances and have been happy to push the envelope just a tad while doing so!
Susan:
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/susan-sarandon/images/34711488/title/vanity-fair-2012-photo
http://themockdock.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/sp32-20080416-185402.jpg
Helen:
http://images.jobsnhire.com/data/images/full/8360/helen-mirren-cover-png.png?w=550
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/09/15/article-0-066EE18D000005DC-527_224x423.jpg
Yes, let’s lock Caitlyn in a room with Sally Field:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/17/article-2264161-16DB092A000005DC-932_634x425.jpg
Lol, just kidding. Sally’s gorgeous and certainly less likely to flaunt her body, though she doesn’t have the bust to actually do so to the same effect as the others.
I could misspell my own name on my iPhone!
I applaud Jenner for living his truth, but I cannot believe he is receiving the Arthur Ashe award for courage. There were so many others that shouldve received this award. I think ESPN is just capitalizing on the whole Bruce/Caitlyn change for ratings.(insert eyeroll)
