Caitlyn Jenner Research Paper

Laverne Cox, actress and trans activist says, “It is revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seen and visible in a world that tells us we should not exist”. In the past couple of years, the trans community has been getting much more media representation than they ever have before. From reality stars like Giselle Lazzarato to famous authors like Janet Mock, the trans community is more in the spotlight than ever before.

While there have been many trans characters on television shows for years now, they have typically been played by someone who was cisgender. According to a GLAAD study in 2002, 54% of trans characters on television were portrayed very negatively with only 12% being portrayed correctly. Candis Cayne is noted for being the first trans person to play a trans character on network television. With Cayne paving the way for trans actors playing trans characters, many …show more content…
Jenner is one of the more recent trans women to come out to the public, and in a way has become a figurehead of the trans community. With this, she has become both a big help and a detriment to the trans community. Her interview where she came out had 17 million viewers, which is one of the biggest amount of viewers of a program about trans so far. This led to her getting her own reality show called I Am Cait, which followed her life post-transition. Now with all these positives of her coming out, there have also been some negatives. Her opinions on gay marriage, gender, and her own sexuality have been generalized to all of the trans community by the public. Ellen Degeneres called out Jenner when she said, “You're wanting people to understand and accept you...and you still have a judgment about gay people and marriage”. Even though Jenner may have some issues with being a trans figurehead, overall she has given much more trans visibility than there ever has been