Caitlyn and Angelina’s transgender journeys compared

KING

Recent reports that Joey Mead’s husband, Ian Angelo King, has transitioned from male to female call to mind, on point of instructive comparison and contrast, similar news last year that sports and TV star Bruce Jenner had undergone the same process—but, under strikingly different circumstances:

Jenner’s transgender journey was much more hush-hush and was spread out over many years. It started with vague rumors that were promptly pooh-poohed and denied. It was deemed unthinkable that the macho hero and father would want to become a woman—whatever for?

Later, however Jenner’s appearance was observed to be changing, “softening”—and he grew his hair long and wore clothes that covered physical “evidence” of what was going on.

Then came the eventual shift from rumor and denial to grudging admission that the gender shift was indeed taking place —and Bruce made his exit, to be replaced by Jenner’s new and “true” persona, the mature transgender woman who now introduced herself as Caitlyn.

The controversy became even more complex and conflicted when Jenner’s wife, Kris, and their celebrity children, the Kardashian and Jenner women, weighed in on the issue. Apparently, the transition process was at least initially kept so secret that even Jenner’s family members weren’t fully  prepared for it.

King with Joey Mead

Process

The children were conflicted because they weren’t primed to “lose” their dad so unexpectedly. Worse, Kris felt that, as Jenner’s wife, she should have been told much more than she was, especially early in the process.

Yes, it was Bruce’s body, but didn’t she have any say on the matter?

The hurtful lack of information and preparation made Caitlyn’s revelation and emergence more controversial and divisive than it needed to be, especially as far as Kris saw and handled it.

It took her longer than the children to “accept” what had happened, the “departure” of her estranged husband, Caitlyn’s “grand entrance”—etc.

Now, contrast that tumultuous scenario to the impressively far less contentious revelation of Ian Angelo’s own transition to Angelina King—and therein lies a hopefully instructive shift in attitude and perception:

Where Jenner’s process took years, Ian/Angelina’s transition, or at least the public’s knowledge of it, happened in only a couple of weeks!

There were rumors, but the “evidence” of the completed process was almost immediately made available on social media, by way of shots of Angelina swimming while dressed in a bikini, with her feminine form in full, convincing view. Talk about a fait accompli, this was it!

Most persuasively of all, unlike Kris Jenner, Joey Mead King didn’t resent and oppose, but was instead supportive of her spouse’s desire to claim his true essence and gender.

Some people may not understand or agree with her—but, to others, the difference between Kris and Joey’s reactions and actions is a hopeful sign that attitudes have become more informed and enlightened—and the times have indeed changed.