Media Framing : How the Media Made Caitlyn Jenner a (Problematic) Icon for the Trans+ Community

                                 *WE ALL KNEW THIS WAS COMING *

I write a blog focused on debunking media representations of the Queer Experience, so naturally, you all knew I would eventually bring up Caitlyn Jenner. I mean, duh.

However, I am not here to champion for her as the new self-proclaimed poster child of the Trans+ community.
I am not here to tell you that she doesn't deserve the admiration and respect that she has been allotted.
I am not here to tell you that her transition was anything other than a personal, beautiful choice to be completely autonomous with who she has always felt she is.

What I am here to tell you is that the media's influence and framing of Caitlyn Jenner as an "enigma" is both a really good thing and a really bad thing. And that it is important to not put any particular person on a pedestal for an identity they hold. That's where tokenism begins and acceptance ends.

Mainstream media knows this, and instead of fighting against this notion, the lean in full force and profit off of it. There are the way things look and the way things are. That's why it is so important to analyze the way media frames Caitlyn Jenner.

Jenner, who was very wealthy and successful before her transition, was able to transition publicly in an almost seamless fashion. Her elite status allowed her to financially receive sexual reassignment surgery almost 3 months after announcing her first initial public statement that she is in fact, and has always been, a woman. This is an uncanny amount of time to transition, and one can deduce that her high socio-economic status aided in the fast turn around.

                                     This is not a bad thing. I want to be very clear about that.

Her ability to transition exactly in the manner, speed and resiliency that she did, was her choice. No one has the right to make any comments about whether there is a right way or a wrong way to transition, just as there is no right way or wrong way to live authentically. With this in mind, it is important to recognize that Caitlyn Jenner does not speak for the entirety of the Trans+ community, just as a person of color doesn't speak for the entirety of their community, just as an individual with a disability doesn't speak for the entirety of their community.

                         We all have one voice, and they are much stronger when used together. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/i-am-cait-caitlyn-jenner-the-new-normal-yjlTiQ2YoFydq

What the media isn't reporting on is the honest truth that Jenner's ability to transition easily is not the same for everyone in the Trans+ community. Not everyone has the same financial stability to do so, the same family and public support, the same consideration or expectation for what "transitioning" looks like, etc. There are so many factors that go into an individual's decision to change/alter their sexual anatomy or gender identity/expression - and its is important to recognize that transitioning, whatever that may look like, is a personal experience. No one Trans+ person is the same, just as no one Cis person is the same.

Caitlyn Jenner does not speak for the entirety of the Trans+ community, even though the media frames her to be. Cailtyn Jenner operates under a very large veil of privilege. In her experience, I would define her privilege as the notion of divestment from her body's sovereignty. The notion that because a social inequity doesn't effect her personally, doesn't mean it's not a problem - it's just not a problem to her. And that mindset, funnily enough, is a PROBLEM.

Erving Goffman, a Canadian-American sociologist and writer who is considered "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century," states that there are two distinctions within primary frameworks the media utilizes to influence consumers: natural and social. 

Both play the role of helping individuals interpret data, so that their experiences can be understood in a wider social context. The difference between the two is how they function. 

Natural frameworks identify events as physical occurrences, taking quotes literally and not attributing any social forces to the causation of events. A good example of how this natural framework plays into framing Caitlyn Jenner as "The Saint" can be seen in attributing her words to be a beacon of hope for the Trans+ community, regardless of her actions. 

When Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2015, she said in her speech "Trans people deserve something vital; they deserve your respect." She went on to say, "From that respect comes a more compassionate community."  Jenner has often said very kind and pretty words just like this, but what is vital to being a conscious media consumer is not getting wrapped up in the natural frameworks and allowing them to influence you entirely. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/lgbt-trans-caitlyn-jenner-v2YHVg4C9Tgje

Though I would agree with Jenner's kind words, her actions as of late, as seen in seeking to be a "Trans+ Ambassador" for a very clearly anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical presidential candidate (and possible the ZODIAC Killer) Ted Cruz, as well as in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres where Jenner stated that she still has very conservative views on marriage and believes that marriage should still be between a "man and a woman." 

Social frameworks view events as socially driven occurrences, due to the whims, goals, and manipulations on the part of other social players (people). Social frameworks are built on the initial natural frameworks. Basically, we hear the words as they occur naturally and then interpret their candor and authenticity based on the social actions that follow. 

Another example was when she appeared on the Today show, and pretty much gave people the all-clear to misgender/misname trans people.

https://medium.com/@parkermolloy/criticizing-caitlyn-jenner-doesn-t-necessarily-mean-you-re-transphobic-df3a6979dfa1#.nh727wj11

https://medium.com/@parkermolloy/criticizing-caitlyn-jenner-doesn-t-necessarily-mean-you-re-transphobic-df3a6979dfa1#.nh727wj11

These frameworks and the frames that they create in our communication greatly influence how data is interpreted, processed, and communicated. Goffman’s underlying assumption is that individuals are capable users of these frameworks on a day to day basis. Whether they are aware of them or not.Framing is  the way a communication source defines and constructs a any piece of communicated information. Framing is an unavoidable part of human communication – we all bring our own frames to our communications.

To me, these problematic actions detract from the ability for her words at the Ashe Awards to hold as much weight. This is a good example of how the media framed her as both "The Saint and The Sinner."

Whatever your thoughts are on Caitlyn Jenner, I urge you to form those opinions on your own accord, rather than playing into the "The Sinner or The Saint" frame the media has been crafting since she first released her decision. The dichotomy of these two frames makes it hard to see Caitlyn Jenner for who she truly is: A normal Transwoman who made a chose to live authentically and openly in the public eye. That's the fact.

- K