It’s been a while since Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn Jenner, and she’s certainly brought the realities of being transgender to a whole new audience who would previously have never known stuff like, for example, what pronoun to use. Seems, though, that this hasn’t extended to her ex-wife Kris Jenner.
While the rest of the Kardashians and Jenners have been fastidious and consistent with their use of the pronoun ‘her’ when referring to Caitlyn – correctly so, because she’s a woman, duh – in a recent interview with ES magazine, Kris seemingly made a point of getting the gender mixed up.
When asked whether Caitlyn, pre-transition, possibly felt intimidated by Kris, the Kardashian matriarch replied: ‘I didn’t think so at the time, but perhaps. You’d have to ask him. Or her.’
Kris Jenner is the queen of spin, something interviewer Stephanie Rafanelli notes when she writes that ‘speaking with Kris is like interviewing a Hollywood publicist. She expertly spins every answer to reaffirm the Kardashian brand’, plus she will have been briefed, probably both officially, or kindly by her ex, to use the pronoun ‘her’. Like the rest of the family.
Regardless of how they’re individually dealing with it, this has been the blanket rule. So it’s interesting to see Kris seemingly struggle again with pronouns when asked about how it must have felt for Caitlyn to transition.
‘He must feel really good about that. I wish everybody well; when it comes to everybody else’s journey, as far as people that are trying to find themselves, this is a very fresh and new thing, so I think it’s important for me to let her tell her own story.’
As the interviewer kindly puts it, ‘she is still learning to navigate gender pronouns’, but it’s a surprise to see this from somebody so aware of the power of a Kardashian/Jenner quote. This was never not going to end up somewhere.
On the other hand, few of us have dealt with the emotional effects that come with having a husband who transitions into a woman – and it’s true that Kris’s response to everything has been conspicuous by its absence. We can’t guess as to what goes on when the cameras have been turned off.
We do know that Caitlyn claims Kris knew she was undergoing hormone therapy in the 1980s, and encouraged her to experiment when she was still Bruce and they were both married, but it can’t be wholly easy.
Still, it’d be good for everyone to get Caitlyn’s gender right: she’s a woman. Referring to her as ‘him’ then ‘her’ or ‘him or her’ just perpetuates the idea that those who transition aren’t fully accepted within that gender.
Probably a good idea, if you’re one of the most powerful and influential women in the world to lead by good example, rather than exacerbating the misinformation surrounding trans people. No matter how hard it is.
Follow Stevie on Twitter: @5tevieM
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.