14 DAY TRIAL // On his 65th birthday, former Olympian and current reality star Bruce Jenner fueled even more rumors that he was transitioning from male to female when he stepped out with a bright pink manicure and apparently plumper lips.
Wendy Williams was just as shocked by this and she made sure she discussed it on her Hot Topics segment, which you will find embedded below. This is a segment of her show that is dedicated to dissecting the 3 hottest pieces of news or gossip of the day.
GLAAD is not happy with her for doing this.
Harmful behavior on Wendy Williams’ part
One comment in particular got GLAAD’s attention, when Wendy said she appreciated Bruce for waiting for his kids to grow up before he started the transition process, because she imagined it would have been a nightmare to have him show up for PTA meetings with a blowout and a pink manicure.
This way, by waiting, he made sure his kids were mature enough to understand what he was going through and prevented them from being bullied by other kids for something they had no control over: his gender identity.
GLAAD is reading this differently, according to this statement from President and CEO Kate Ellis cited by Yahoo!: “To suggest that a person's nail polish color or hairstyle would inflict harm on their children is just ludicrous. What does inflict harm, however, is gross and invasive speculation about a person's gender identity.”
To Ellis’ statement you can also add criticism Williams has been receiving online, mostly from women who believe Jenner painted his nails pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In this case, Williams is being absolutely ridiculous by mocking him.
Taking things out of context to cause a fuss
However, if you watch Wendy’s entire monolog on Bruce, you will notice that GLAAD and all those who criticize her are taking into account just one fragment of it.
In fact, they’re completely missing the entire thing to focus just on it, which, if taken out of context, can be made to sound like a negative comment. In reality, Wendy is saying that Bruce deserves to be commended for daring to live his life as he likes to, without paying any attention to haters and nay-sayers.
She congratulates him for living “his own truth” and for caring only about his happiness. The very comment that got so much negative attention is actually favorable to Bruce, because Wendy is trying to argue how hard it would have been for Bruce’s kids if he’d transitioned early. This isn’t a judgment to Bruce, it’s Wendy’s stating a belief based on what she’s seen.
What GLAAD is right about is that it’s not nice to speculate on a person’s gender identity this way, because it’s similar to privacy invasion. On the other hand, Bruce is a celebrity – and Wendy is a talk show host who also does celebrity gossip, so she’s just doing her job.
