17m watch Bruce Jenner interview

[robnplunder]

One of my coworkers went through the surgery. She became a complete man once it was done. Although there were whispers, life went on as it was in the company. That was 16 years ago. I think Jenner's story is a news largely b/c he was a celebrity, and a world's best athlete. I didn't watch the interview b/c I was busy living my life .

 

[Major Tom]

The place I hate the most is the checkout at the grocery store and those awful magazines. And the local news pushing their own programs. and so on. On the other hand, I don't want to cut off so much that I'm in a bubble and totally out of touch with society.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Whenever I'm in a store that has all the people-interest and gossip rag magazines at the checkout, I am equally amused and turned off by the sheer amount of cr@p that is peddled to the public. It makes my head hurt!

On a similar note, I hate being in any kind of a public waiting room that has TV's in the wall playing network TV. Having to wait in a room and be forcefully subjected to the likes of The Maury Povich show is quite a depressing experience. Network TV, especially in the daytime, is a vacuous wasteland.

 

[Dash man]

I try to abide by the teachings of my faith that it's not my place to judge, so I attempt to treat everyone with respect when I interact with people in public, my home or in a work place. When people over step and try to force an agenda I do my best to avoid a situation I'm not comfortable with. I've never been interested in celebrities or their personal lives or agenda and tend to ignore them.

 

[Davis65]

What is the "agenda" people keep talking about? And who is forcing anything? Ignoring things you don't agree with is a healthy approach - too many people seem to be taking offence to an interview they didn't have to watch. What is the popular media's agenda here? Is it really anything other than making money? As investors, we should expect that the media companies are running with this story because and only because it will attract viewers/readers.

Gender reassignment has been around for decades. Why is it getting so much attention now? Because it's Bruce Jennerkardashian! Lots of people want to hear or read what she has to say because she's famous! For people who want to watch/read, especially people around the world who are struggling with the same issues, this is a huge relief to hear about someone in the same situation. It also makes it easier to discuss the topic with family and friends.

For people who aren't interested, accept that the popular media isn't just about you. You don't have to watch. Change the channel, buy a different magazine, and don't expect the media to hide what's going on in the world to protect your sensitive feelings.

 

[HFWR]

I didn't watch the interview b/c I was busy living my life .

That...

Don't have young children, but I do feel Brewer's pain about explaining these sorts of things to the kiddos.

 

[donheff]

Options - I watched it last night and thought it was excellent. I had never watched the Kardashians (didn't even know Jenner was one of them until this brou ha ha arose) and I was somewhat off put by the whole thing because of the clownish portrayal of Jenner in the media over the last few months. I should have realized that the poor guy was tormented and suffering over his "situation" for 60 years and petrified to be truthful because of the certain media attention and the impact on his kids.

Those who expressed irritation at being exposed to this and feel the PC police are after you, I don't think you are being fair to the reality around us. Gays have been beat up and mocked for millennia and transgender are despised, humiliated and killed for simply being what God made them. Giving voice to a prominent athlete who has the courage to tell us his story is not somehow forcing his choices on you or anyone else. It appears to be true that the tide of public opinion is changing. If it changes to the point that you find yourselves reluctant to publicly express your opinions on the matter, rejoice: that will give you a chance to experience a tiny bit of what those you don't want to hear from have felt for a lifetime. But remember, you will only feel reluctant to say what you think, they were afraid to be what they are.

 

[Davis65]

Don't have young children, but I do feel Brewer's pain about explaining these sorts of things to the kiddos.

That part is pretty easy: "Most boys like girls. Most girls like boys. Buy some boys like boys and some girls like girls. A few boys feel like they are girls inside, so they want to change their bodies to be girls. And a few girls feel like they are boys inside. People are different and have different feelings."

When the law was changed in Canada in 2003, our six-year-old niece was excited that her uncles would be getting married because it meant she would get to wear her party dress and earrings to the wedding. Our eight-year-old nephew was happy because it meant he would have a "guy cousin" now, in addition to his three 'girl cousins". Seriously, that is how they responded. Children are very accepting of differences. Fearing difference is something they learn from adults.

The hard part, I think, would be explaining wars and terrorisms, murder and rape, gun vioence and gang violence. Would anyone ever say that the media should keep quiet about thingslike the Columbine and Aurora shootings to keep children from being afraid?

 

[RunningBum]

That part is pretty easy: "Most boys like girls. Most girls like boys. Buy some boys like boys and some girls like girls. A few boys feel like they are girls inside, so they want to change their bodies to be girls. And a few girls feel like they are boys inside. People are different and have different feelings."

+1. I had a very non-diverse upbringing. It wasn't until college and then moving to a more diverse area after college that I got exposed to a lot more different races, religions, and lifestyles. I wasn't very comfortable around with some of these differences and at times I still struggle with it many years later. I think I would've benefited a lot by growing up with more differences, even if it was just seeing them on the news, and getting an explanation that people can look and act differently and that's ok, but they are still basically the same. My family member doesn't want to be defined as being trans, he wants to be known as the person he is, who happens to be trans.

 

[HFWR]

If transgender people were understood and accepted by our culture, there would be no need for this kind of coverage. Hopefully one day there won't be.

Although the cynic in me thinks that these sorts of interviews have little to do with altruism, and a lot to do with voyeurism...

 

[RunningBum]

Although the cynic in me thinks that these sorts of interviews have little to do with altruism, and a lot to do with voyeurism...

Probably little to do with either, and a lot to do with getting 17M viewers. Maybe there was a lot of voyeurism in those 17M, but maybe they learned more than they got from paparazzi pictures.

 

[timo2]

One of my coworkers went through the surgery. She became a complete man once it was done. Although there were whispers, life went on as it was in the company. That was 16 years ago. I think Jenner's story is a news largely b/c he was a celebrity, and a world's best athlete. I didn't watch the interview b/c I was busy living my life .

+1
The first transgender person I knew was in 1979. It is not anything new under the sun. This is a national story because Jenner is a celebrity and has an upcoming reality show. That said, it is apparent that a lot of people are not aware of transgender issues, if this interview humanizes transgender to some people, that's a good thing.

 

[easysurfer]

I haven't followed the story beside catching glimpses in the headlines.

Will he be changing his name?

Another celebrity which comes to mind (though not as popular) is Chaz Bono who was Chasity, daughter of Sonny and Cher.

 

[Brat]

We can control those things. The place I hate the most is the checkout at the grocery store and those awful magazines. And the local news pushing their own programs. and so on. On the other hand, I don't want to cut off so much that I'm in a bubble and totally out of touch with society.

Those scandal rags on racks at the checkout have annoyed me since they appeared in our local grocery stores the 60s.

 

[Davis65]

Will he be changing his name?

It seems that, for now, he is continuing to use the name "Bruce", and has not asked people to start using "she/her", which I did incorrectly above. I always prefer to call people by what they want to be called. It seems to be the only polite thing to do.

 

[samclem]

Nobody is being harmed by Jenner.

Ask Kim Howe's survivors. He is a party in a wrongful death lawsuit and has not been cleared of criminal culpability for ther accident he allegedly caused.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Video shows Bruce Jenner started a chain-reaction crash that resulted in a woman's death on a Malibu highway, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Jenner was hauling an off-road vehicle on a trailer behind his Cadillac Escalade on Feb. 7 when he steered to avoid cars slowing for a traffic light in front of him on Pacific Coast Highway, the official said.
Jenner's SUV rear-ended two cars, pushing a Lexus into oncoming traffic, the official added.


The driver, Kim Howe, 69, was killed when it was struck head-on by a Hummer.

As far as his "journey": We're all on journeys. I am not directly affected by Jenner's, so it isn't of much concern to me. But just because people are free to make choices (thank goodness) does not mean we are all required to believe they are all equally good.

 

[Live Free]

I missed the interview

But I would like to eventually see it. Long ago, in the early 1990s, my office actually had a transgendered person (man became woman) that began the hormone replacement therapy and officially changed her name. We received a notice from HR that he had become a she and would now be referred to as a woman, she would use the Ladies restroom, etc. You know what? It was perfectly fine. Her work remained the same, our interactions with her remained the same. No biggie. Live and let live.

I look at Jenner and think if he had thought society would be accepting of his gender choice, maybe he would not have married 3 separate times without telling his spouses the truth. Maybe he honestly thought he could make the marriages work. I don't know. But it is sad he lied to 3 different women.

 

[easysurfer]

I didn't watch the interview. If he's been a woman trapped in a man's body all these years, as the saying goes "The truth will set you free."

I just hope the reality show (I will not watch) doesn't become a circus.

 

[Chuckanut]

I did not watch. I do not find him interesting. YMMV

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

A "HOT TOPIC" indeed. I will admit that I didn't read very many of the 60+ posts before this one. I was just amazed that this post has SO MANY participants here in an early retirement forum.

I didn't see the show and I avoid most of the "tabloid" TV as best as I can. As best as I can tell, it was a two hour commercial for his new transformation story. OK...off to read threads that aren't so painful to read.

 

[RunningBum]

A "HOT TOPIC" indeed. I will admit that I didn't read very many of the 60+ posts before this one. I was just amazed that this post has SO MANY participants here in an early retirement forum.

I didn't see the show and I avoid most of the "tabloid" TV as best as I can. As best as I can tell, it was a two hour commercial for his new transformation story. OK...off to read threads that aren't so painful to read.

Didn't see the show, didn't read most of the posts, but "knows" what it was all about. Gotcha.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Didn't see the show, didn't read most of the posts, but "knows" what it was all about. Gotcha.

Unless you live in a complete information bubble, it's pretty difficult to NOT know about it.

 

[HFWR]

That part is pretty easy: "Most boys like girls. Most girls like boys. Buy some boys like boys and some girls like girls. A few boys feel like they are girls inside, so they want to change their bodies to be girls. And a few girls feel like they are boys inside. People are different and have different feelings."

Pretty good answer, and likely close to how I would explain it.

Reminds me of when my son was younger, maybe early teens. My GF at the time was (ahem) quite a bit younger than me, with no children. She often commented that I shouldn't let my son watch R-rated movies, because of all the boobs and innuendos and such. My reply was something to the effect of "so it's okay to be exposed to gratuitous violence, but watching boobs is wrong?"

 

[Katsmeow]

I didn't see the interview because I don't watch a lot of broadcast TV. I am interested though and might watch it later if available. I have read quite a bit about the interview though.

Overall, I think it is a good thing for the interview to exist. I think that there are a lot of transgendered youth out there whose parents don't really have much knowledge or understanding. I also think that there is a real risk of depression or suicide for some. So, I think that this type of program can have an educational effect and help those who are transgendered not feel so alone.

Yes, I'm sure the network is trying to make money and that's fine, but that doesn't change the educational nature of this.

FWIW, if this had come up with my kids were young I'm doubtful they would ever ask me about it, but if they did I wouldn't have a problem explaining it as Davis65 suggested.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We did not see the interview. Bruce Jenner's accomplishments as a record-breaking Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon are still amazing to me. Wish people's private lives would stay private and celebrities with no accomplishments (especially the Kardashian family that Jenner married into) would just go away. Forever.

 

[brewer12345]

We did not see the interview. Bruce Jenner's accomplishments as a record-breaking Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon are still amazing to me. Wish people's private lives would stay private and celebrities with no accomplishments (especially the Kardashian family that Jenner married into) would just go away. Forever.

+1000