The incredible case of Bruce Jenner

The case of Bruce Jenner is indeed incredible and I believe deserves some discussion. Bruce has opined in public that though he was born a male, he "feels" that he is really a female trapped in a male body. To address this disconnect between his feelings and his reality, Bruce has decided that despite all appearances to the contrary and despite what genetics might say, Bruce "knows" he is female and from now on, will be female. To this end, Bruce will take on all physical trappings of being female (or at least his vision of what a true female is - because as we all have been repeatedly told [and for which there is much truth] there is no true female standard, that women come in all shapes, sizes, and behaviors and the one and only metric that you can (could have) use to categorize someone as male or female is genetics - until now that is).

So what we really have here is a person that though they have male genes and plumbing, has decided to appear as female. If this was the extent of it, OK, fine. As an adult in America, you [at least as far as I am concerned and as far as I believe] should be free to do as you please as long as it does not infringe upon my rights to do the same. If you want to dress as a woman and act as a woman, have at it. Where this migrates from simple tolerance and possibly indulgence into infringement is when Bruce and many in society say that it is not enough that I accept that Bruce wants to be treated as a woman and that Bruce wants to appear as a woman. I must now accept a lie, i.e. that Bruce IS a woman. I must now incorporate this new truth into my being and treat this falseness as actual reality. If I chose instead of acceptance, to point out that a) Bruce was born a man, b) Bruce married a woman, c) Bruce procreated (the guy way), and d) Bruce has indicated (subject to change) that even though he is going to dress as women generally dresses and act as women generally acts, he will NOT exchange his natural, original male plumbing for a surgical construction of female plumbing. It is not as if Bruce lacks the resources to take this step of physical alteration, it is instead that he lacks the desire. That final point should be enough to lay waste to his claims.

To take this in another but related direction, let us say instead of Bruce announcing that he is now a woman, let us pose a hypothetical and Bruce announces that he has always been a Pitbull. Bruce FEELS that he has been a Pitbull for his entire life and will now live as a Pitbull. Bruce will stop wearing cloth and will be naked all the time. Bruce will get around on all fours. Bruce will eat and drink out of bowls on the floor. Bruce will relieve himself on the front lawn as a Pitbull does and will urinate on fire hydrants. Bruce will wear a collar, get walked, and demands to be issues a valid dog license from the city. As a dog, Bruce will mostly stop communicating in human speech and will mostly bark and growl. From now on Bruce will be known as Fido.

If this were to come to pass, would the media and society be lining up to celebrate the wonder that is Bruce [now Fido]? Or instead would there be a call for society to get this individual the help he is "owed"? Would we be admonished to play into his fantasy or to rally to his aid? Why is the response to this situation not appropriate to the reality that is Bruce?

Again, the issue is not that Bruce is now a transvestite. There are many, many people that like to dress and act as the opposite sex. As adults, they are free to indulge themselves in any way that they wish as long is it does not impact me and my rights. The issue here is that what we are being told to do is way beyond mere live and let live. This is into the realm of "all must accept my personal worldview as FACT and any dissension is heresy!" territory.

A somewhat similar case was in the news just this week. A boy that is now a high school senior has been dressing and acting as a girl for some time. The school (for the most part) has been accepting of this situation and the staff even arranged for this student to use their [faculty] unisex facilities in order to accommodate the student's situation. This year, this same student announced that this is no longer enough! This boy now demands that he be able to use the girl's locker room in order to get ready for and clean up after gym class. Everyone else be damned and any girls that find this situation concerning and objectionable are just bigots and should shut up and suck it up. The fact that many of these 16 and 17 year old girls are uncomfortable with a boy changing and showering in their locker room is of no consequence in this "brave new world". All must accept this boy's personal truth [that he is a she] as a natural fact and must act accordingly despite the penis between his legs.

Should this sort of situation simply be accepted as a new truth, a new fact or are we still grounded enough in actual reality to say no. No, your personal world view is NOT my fact. No, calling yourself a woman, or a dog, or a chair does not make it so. Not all reality is subjective and we will continue to indulge you but ONLY so far as indulging your whim doesn't impact my rights, my reality, and my safety.