What Business Is It of Yours?
I recall being asked the above after commenting on Bruce Jenner's recent "transformation."
The fact is, if some guy wants to go around dressing up as a woman, or even have his penis removed, well... if he were my mate*, I would try to have a chat with him. But if not, I really am not going to worry about this at all, since there is so much more important in the larger scheme of things, like, say, avoiding nuclear war with Russia, and so on.
But when a someone decides to do something like this, and his image is then slapped on the cover of national magazines, he is praised by our president for his "courage," and he is held up as a role model for our nation's youth... well, it really is a little rich, isn't it, to ask someone who demurs from this nationally promoted narrative, "What business is it of yours?"
After all, it wasn't me who made Jenner's personal identity issues a topic of national interest!
* In the British sense. This is a useful word Americans don't have. "Friend" doesn't quite capture it: I have lots of friends, but only a few mates. With my (non-mate) friends, I wouldn't consider intervening if they told me they were having a sex change operation. But with my mates, I would definitely have a talk with them. And that kind of explains the distinction between "friend" and "mate" right there.
The fact is, if some guy wants to go around dressing up as a woman, or even have his penis removed, well... if he were my mate*, I would try to have a chat with him. But if not, I really am not going to worry about this at all, since there is so much more important in the larger scheme of things, like, say, avoiding nuclear war with Russia, and so on.
But when a someone decides to do something like this, and his image is then slapped on the cover of national magazines, he is praised by our president for his "courage," and he is held up as a role model for our nation's youth... well, it really is a little rich, isn't it, to ask someone who demurs from this nationally promoted narrative, "What business is it of yours?"
After all, it wasn't me who made Jenner's personal identity issues a topic of national interest!
* In the British sense. This is a useful word Americans don't have. "Friend" doesn't quite capture it: I have lots of friends, but only a few mates. With my (non-mate) friends, I wouldn't consider intervening if they told me they were having a sex change operation. But with my mates, I would definitely have a talk with them. And that kind of explains the distinction between "friend" and "mate" right there.
Nice post, Gene!
ReplyDeleteWait, even Obama commented on Bruce Jenner? I mean, is this family getting so much attention, even the President of the US talks about them?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/01/barack-obama-caitlyn-jenner
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