Poor Bruce Jenner. As if living around all that reality TV madness isn’t bad enough. They guy has had more rumors tossed around him about his gender identity than any celebrity since Michael Jackson.
First came the silliness over his “laryngeal shaving” which involves flattening the Adam’s apple through reducing the size of the cartilage in the neck. While this is not a term that most men in the heartland of the United States have heard of or would ever imagine wanting to have, Bruce Jenner says that he simply doesn’t like his trachea. So, Jenner consulted on the procedure and eventually had it performed.
Soon the rumors were flying that Jenner was having a sex-change operation. Why would that follow? Apparently, a tracheal shave is a common procedure among men who are pursuing gender reassignment.
Jenner denied the rumors, saying that he simply “never liked my trachea.”
Then came the hair.
Jenner started wearing his longer hair in a ponytail after separating from wife Kris. His family has asked him to stop, but he refuses. This small item has sparked up the “sex change” rumors anew.
One thing to consider is that Jenner was an Olympic athlete, a decathlon winner, in fact. For years, he was on Wheaties boxes. He was the face and body image of athleticism for boys coming of age in the 1970s.
Now Jenner is 64 years old. His skin sags. He’s been married three times. His kids and step-kids are famous for being famous. He’s never had a film do well. His glory days of being idolized and taken seriously are behind him.
If the man wants to wear a ponytail, reduce the size of his Adam’s apple, or wear Spanx to help his shape, that’s completely his prerogative.
It’s not like he sleeps in an oxygen chamber, has little boys for sleepovers, or keeps a monkey around his theme park home.