Carly, Jazz, and Caitlyn

I am officially home from Panama City and we had a great time. It was a full house but it was fun. In addition to that, my daughter, husband, and myself also moved. I now feel a lot more at ease and refreshed. A lot of stress has been lifted and I feel able to get back to this blog now and I am excited about it, so I guess I am just going to jump right in! That being said in order to not over exert myself I'm not going to be doing a schedule anymore, posts will go up when I am able.

I really want to talk about all these transgender docu-series popping up on television. When Bruce Jenner had an interview with Diane Sawyer talking about the transition into the nameless woman that he knew he really was who he referred to simply as "Her", everyone stopped paying attention to other celebrity news and in some cases non-entertainment news, to hear about every step of the transition. Some were accepting and supportive while others were hateful and closed minded. Regardless, that's all we could talk about. Since then, we have seen the rise of several doc-series about trans lifestyle.

The first to air was Becoming Us, a show produced by Ryan Seacrest that hit ABC Family June 8th. It's a show told through the eyes of a teenage boy named Ben living in Illinois as his father transitions into a woman named Carly. Interestingly enough, Ben's girlfriend Danielle's father is also transitioning.

Next will be airing this Wednesday on TLC and I am very excited about it. It's called I Am Jazz and it is about a 14 year old girl, Jazz Jennings. Jazz is a transgender teen who is a YouTuber, an LGBT+ activist, has written a children's book based on her real experiences to help explain the trans community to kids, and is of course trans herself. The show will focus on this strong young woman and her family.

Ironically enough the last to air on this list of shows is the one that truthfully started the whole thing. I Am Cait will air on the E! network July 26th following Caitlyn Jenner as she transitions and becomes her true self.

There are people who are seeing all these shows airing and thinking it's getting excessive and out of hand. There are people who think these networks are just trying to capitalize on a growing trend. And as for the networks intentions, you may be right. I do not work for E!, ABC Family, or TLC so I can't tell you honestly what their thoughts are on the topic or why they chose to take on these shows. But I can say, whether it's for money, for education, for whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is every single one of these three shows is absolutely necessary.

Becoming Us shows a grown transgender woman with a family through the eyes of her teen son. This show is excellent and helpful for kids to understand family dynamics of either their own family, families of friends or classmates, or just to simply understand that there is more out there than just what they consider "normal" in their own house. It can also show people who are dealing with how to go about their transition later in life that it doesn't have to have a negative impact on your family. You can still all love each other and while it takes Ben a little bit to become comfortable, he does learn to be okay with what is happening. In addition, the fact that not only is Ben's parent Carly transitioning, his girlfriend Danielle's parent is transitioning into a woman as well. The two met under circumstances that had nothing to do with their transitioning parents, and this is a subtle societal sample picked to better show that trans people aren't that uncommon and odd. They are just people and anyone you meet could be trans. Trans people aren't the 1% on the outside looking in. 

While that's not to be taken too literally as we estimate only roughly 2-5% of the American population is transgender. This is only an estimate because there are so many individuals not diagnosed with their gender dysphoria who actually do suffer from it. People who aren't  out or who just think there is something "wrong" with them and push away their true feelings.

I Am Jazz is so important because unlike Becoming Us, it is through the eyes of the trans person. However like Becoming Us, it is helpful to youth. This show focuses on a trans teen which is so important. Teens are told over and over that every thought or feeling they have is a phase. Diagnosed mental disorders are not a phase, no matter what age you are at. If diagnosed with gender dysphoria as a teen, you will continue to suffer from it until it has been medically taken care of and cured. The way in which you can cure gender dysphoria is through a sexual transition. I Am Jazz will show the parents of trans kids how to cope and how to help them and it will show trans kids that what they are feeling is real. Jazz was diagnosed very young and by age 6 was already on talk shows with her family talking about her journey as she began her transition. Jazz is am important trans icon for youth.

I Am Cait is showing a person under constant media attention saying "I don't care, look, take pictures, I don't care." She knows the world is looking at her and she is showing us that being trans is not something to hide or be ashamed of. She is showing us that being who you are is most important. And also of course her transition is what has brought so much media attention to these people. 

These docu-series are all important because they are showing different things, I do however think we need one more looking at a female to male transition story.