The Ironic Accuracies of The Daily Show on Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner. A trans* woman paving her path into visibility, and making it known that it is never too late to embrace yourself and feel comfortable in your own skin. The news is BOOMING with different stories on Caitlyn, but there is so much more about her than just the bullshit you will hear from the media. I did come across a video from the Daily Show on Caitlyn, and it honestly struck me as to how accurate some of the things Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show, said on his coverage of her.

To understand what I am talking about, it is probably in your best interest to check out this video by the daily show.

Even though Stewart always takes a comedy approach, hence why he is the anchor for a show on Comedy Central, there is a lot of validity in his statements.

One of the most stand-out statements is his comment “Now you are a woman, and your looks are really the only thing we care about.” In about 5 clips Stewart showed of different news stations, they all decided to take the approach of how beautiful she is and what she looks like. Not that Caitlyn isn’t beautiful, trust me she’s gorgeous, but is that all that people are going to focus on?

Earlier on in the segment, it showed many people talking about how brave she is to be so open about her transition, but why can’t that be the focus. Why can’t the focus of all of the media coverage be on trans* empowerment and about it being okay to accept who you are?

Instead, folks focus on her beauty so much, and I think this is very true in many ways. People focus so much on what a girl looks like on first judgement, whereas to men (sorry to use the gender binary in this situation, but it makes my point clearer) they tend to focus on their accolades and accomplishments, must less their appearance on first introductions.

This is a particular issue that infuriates me. Men can be unattractive and still be doing well, but for a woman to be unattractive and still accomplishing “big things” (I use that term very loosely), it’s almost unheard of!

A lot of this I believe is reinforced from a young age for girls that are told that they are supposed to be “lady-like” and always trying to look their best, whereas men can do as they please.

Another valid point that bothered me was the idea of slut-shaming and comparing women to each other. First off, slut shaming is never okay. Anyone can do with their body as they please, and for someone to show disgust towards that is ridiculous!

When they show in the segment a newscaster referring to Caitlyns outfit on the cover of Vanity Fair as “Playboy bunny-esque” enrages me. She is wearing something that she wanted to and to criticise her for feeling comfortable in her own body is insane.

At another point, you hear someone compare her and Kris Jenner, asking who was hotter. What the hell kind of question is that? Why does it matter if someone is more appealing, and why is that what you are focusing on? This is a huge moment to create trans* identity visibility, and you decide to take that moment and make it about who’s hotter? Really….

I think that Caitlyn’s exposure into the world has been a great milestone for the transgender community, I just wish the media would realize how much of an opportunity they are wasting when they decide to make it all about her appearance.