When Kim Kardashian told Caitlyn Jenner that she still has “a little Bruce in her,” it got me thinking. What defines a woman? If you follow the Caitlyn Jenner story, much of her journey feels more physical than emotional. It’s often taboo to call women sensitive and emotional, as if they cry often and are too unstable to run companies. But watching Caitlyn Jenner’s journey made me appreciate the sensitivity, empathy, and compassion behind womanhood, while simultaneously realizing that she has a long way to go. On the latest episode, Kim Kardashian brought Kris Jenner’s sadness to Caitlyn’s attention, and she was dismissive and defensive, qualities often associated with men. Caitlyn was again dismissive when told about Kendall and Kylie’s sadness toward being called a “distraction,” and abruptly explained that’s “not what she meant.”Could it be possible that for the entirety of Bruce Jenner’s marriage to Kris Jenner, he had dreams of becoming a woman, and that underlying pain can explain why he abandoned four biological children, and was painfully anti-social and reclusive? Judging from what I’ve seen of ‘I Am Cait,” that’s an easy, though unlikely explanation. She has no friends on the show, and it’s clear that her transgender posse was a casting choice. Her children from her first and second marriage opted not to appear for fear that it would “become a circus,” and the Kardashian Klan is team Kris Jenner, thereby limiting their appearances to a here-and-there format. As for the transgender, educational story-lines, I find it disturbing that Bruce Jenner wanted to be a woman for so many years, yet did absolutely nothing for the transgender community, including personal research from the privacy of his home. To be fair, I wasn’t in his home during the Kris Jenner years, but the show suggests that every episode is a “huge learning experience,” which I find rather shocking.
Unfortunately, Caitlyn Jenner picked the wrong producers for ‘I Am Cait.’ The show should have been a documentary, following each plastic surgery, and interviewing each child, ex-wife, and Kardashian about what they knew and did not know. This brings me back to my original question? What does it mean to be a woman? And why can’t a woman have a big nose, small boobs, less hair extensions, and a cover page on Vanity Fair sans sexual corset? I’m a woman, and I have a big schnoz and small boobs. Why not Cait? It all feels far too physical for my taste, and I opt out.