She is the beneficiary of a decade-long reality show who never stops complaining about invasion of privacy; she is a trans-advocate who voted for a president who is already undermining transgender rights; when she slips up and refers to herself historically as “a guy” and “he”, she thinks, “how can I word it better?”, but also point-blank refuses to retire references to “Bruce” or castigate others who use it. This so-called “dead-naming” is a source of particular angst to many in the trans community, for whom use of their old names is associated with efforts to shame them. But, says Jenner, “I had a life for 65 years. OK?” Besides which, “I liked Bruce. He was a good person. He did a lot in his life. Oh, ‘he didn’t even exist’. Yes he did exist! He worked his butt off. He won the [Olympic] Games. He raised amazing kids. He did a lot of very, very good things and it’s not like I just want to throw that away.”
(Thanks to James Ladyman for the pointer.)
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