After a year of speculations and rumors, from tabloids and from fans, Olympian and Kardashian step-father, Bruce Jenner, sat down for an interview with Diane Sawyer and spoke about his gender identity.
“For all intents and purposes, I am a woman,” said Jenner.
Despite revealing this, Jenner used male pronouns throughout the interview, which Sawyer respected and others should as well. Jenner has however, chosen a new name, but did not reveal it. This interview will be his last as “Bruce.”
This topic is one Jenner has dealt with for years. During the Eisenhower administration, when he was about 8 years old, he put on his first dress. During his three marriages, he would wear feminine clothing in private. He took estrogen hormones for 5 years in the 1980’s, stopped, and then resumed a year and a half ago. Despite keeping hidden who he was for 65 years, he has never felt “stuck” inside his body.
“I’m not a girl in a guy’s body, I hate that, I am a person, it’s who I am,” Jenner told Sawyer. “My brain is much more female than it is male. It’s hard for people to understand but that’s what my soul is.”
Jenner’s gender identity was known only by his three ex-wives, including Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, and his sister. Jenner had told his 10 children – 6 biological and 4 from his most recent marriage – prior to the filming and airing of the interview, and received generally supportive feedback.
“I’ve always been confused about my gender identity since I was this big,” Jenner said, lifting his hand to about 3 feet off the ground. “I tried to explain it, because I’ve had all my kids sitting in that chair … and I’ve tried to explain it this way. God’s looking down, making little Bruce … he says ‘Okay, what are gonna do with this one. Make him a smart kid, very determined … and then when he’s just finishing he says, ‘Let’s wait a second.’ God looks down and chuckles a little bit and says, ‘Hey, let’s give him the soul of a female.’ ”
During the interview, Jenner made it known that there is a vast difference between gender identity and sexuality and that he has only been attracted to women, but currently wants to classified as asexual. Another topic Jenner addressed were the surgeries that accompany transitioning. Jenner has had facial reconstruction before and last year had his adams apple shaved down, but as for the sexual reassignment surgery, Jenner says it would be “down the line.”
Jenner’s main motive for sitting down for the interview is to raise awareness for the transgender community. Currently, according to ABC news, there is an estimated number of 700,000 transgendered citizens in the United States who routinely face discrimination, suicide, and violence.
“We’re going to make a difference in the world with what we’re doing,” said Jenner, who after the interview arguably became one of the most well-known transgendered celebrities. “And if the whole Kardashian show and reality television gave me that foothold into that world—to be able to go out there and really do something good, I’m all for it. I got no problem with that.”
