Elinor Burkett's reaction to Caitlyn Jenner sparks controversy
Just before being introduced as Caitlyn Jenner, Bruce Jenner mused in a TV interview about having a brain that is more female than male. That incensed American feminist Elinor Burkett, who feels someone who lived as a privileged white male could not define what it's like to be a woman. So what does make a woman?
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Caitlyn Jenner poses in her 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RS in a photo by Annie Leibovitz published in the July 2015 edition of Vanity Fair. (Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair)
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The Current24:57Elinor Burkett's reaction to Caitlyn Jenner sparks controversy - June 18, 2015
I'm me, I'm a person and this is who I am. I'm not stuck in anybody's body, it's just who I am as a human being. My brain is much more female than it is male. It's hard for people to understand that but that's what my soul is.- From last television interview Bruce Jenner gave... as Bruce Jenner.
Soon after an April sit-down with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner re-introduced herself to the world.
"I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me," wrote @Caitlyn_Jenner on Twitter. (Vanity Fair)
The high profile transitioning of Caitlyn Jenner has us talking today about what it really means to say that one's a woman.
In Diane Sawyer's interview Jenner said that her brain is much more female than it is male. But for Elinor Burkett, who's spent a lifetime in the women's movement, that kind of statement was difficult to understand.
Elinor Burkett is a journalist and an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker. An opinion piece she penned for The New York Times in reaction to Jenner's pronouncement ignited a flurry of reaction.... from the transgender community and beyond. We reached her in Hobart, New York.
Dana Beyer is a longtime LGBT and feminist activist and writes a column for the Huffington Post. She is also the Executive Director of Gender Rights Maryland, a medical doctor and a transgender woman.
