Call Me Caitlyn

Beyond, “good for her, she’s hot,” and “wow, I’m shallow,” I challenged myself to come up with some deeper thoughts about Ms. Jenner.  I was told that, if I gave myself some time, they’d come.  Well, time passed and…my honest response is that I don’t really care who’s a man and who’s a woman.  Gender, in the sense of someone else’s gender, is pretty irrelevant to me.  I mean, it’s part of their identity and that’s important, in terms of knowing and understanding them, but it’s their identity.  If Caitlyn’s a woman, then she’s a woman.  The history of her genitals is pretty irrelevant and, besides, I tend not to dwell on other people’s genitals because that’s an invasion of privacy (I don’t really want people dwelling on mine) and, heck, I’m a married woman.

My husband and I were talking about this and I blurted out, “but does she litter?”  I care so much more about whether she–whether everyone–respects the earth.  Conserves the resources with which they’ve been entrusted, or acts wastefully.  Is a hypocrite.  Attempts to force their religious beliefs on others.  Makes any attempt, on their own time, to live out the meaning of those supposed beliefs.  Treats children and animals with respect.  I am so much more interested in a person’s position on veganism than I am on their genitals.  On what they think about income inequality, and access to education.  What does it mean, to them, to be a good person?

Those are the questions that matter, and none of them can be found in a person’s pants.