Happy Monday, world. Meet Caitlyn Jenner.
Following months of whispers and speculation -- and a 20/20 interview watched by people who had forgotten 20/20 existed -- the Olympic gold medalist formerly known as Bruce Jenner has re-introduced herself as Caitlyn Jenner in a Vanity Fair cover story and in-depth interview, featuring a photo spread shot by Annie Liebovitz. The photos are the first to depict Jenner in her new female identity, with loose curls, off-the-shoulder dresses and sequins.
In short: It's the most glamorous, perfectly reality television-oriented coming out we've ever seen. And to borrow a line from the Kardashian lexicon, it's breaking the Internet -- in a good way.
While gender pronouns are sometimes a minefield for trans people in transition, Vocativ found that a surprising number of Twitter users buzzing about the story online were already using the correct pronoun. As of their story's publication, 1,179 tweeters had used “she,” compared to 176 who used “he." This is more impressive considering that Bruce Jenner, at the peak of his track and field fame, once represented pure, distilled masculinity to the average American.
Sure, it's yet another celebrity media circus. But if a celebrity media circus is what it takes to push our collective cultural understanding of gender fluidity forward, then so be it. And hey, Caitlyn: Bonus points for looking damn good there in the center ring.
