The Wheaties Box

     Eleven months ago, the British actress, Alice Eve, who played James T. Kirk's girlfriend in Star Trek Into Darkness, the same character played by an older Bibi Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, wrote something on Instagram that pissed off some people.  Her subject was that exemplar of Kardashian-connected humanity, Bruce Jenner, who had become a woman named Caitlyn Jenner.
     Eve wrote, a bit snottily, "If you were a woman no one would have heard of you because women can't compete in the decathlon [referring to Jenner's 1976 Summer Olympics Gold Medal win].
     "Until women are paid the same as men," Eve continued, "then playing at being a 'woman' while retaining the benefits of being a man is unfair.  Do you have a vagina?  Are you paid less than men?  Then, my friend, you are a woman..."
     An Instagram user remarked, "This is transphobia at its finest."
     Jan T. Kirk (Captain Kirk's ancestor?) tweeted: "man alice eve posted something transphobic n stupid to support her 'white feminism' on insta and i had to unfollow ugh."
     The actress, apparently believing one should move further into a shitstorm rather than away from it, wrote more before deleting her anti-Jenner posts.
     "I do agree that the struggle for transgenders is unique and horrific.  However, I do want to also support a cause I strongly believe in, the right for women to have equal rights to men.  The transgender equality struggle is the next one, as we all know.  And very real it is, too."
     Josh Dahlman (don't ask me who the fuck he is) then tweeted: "Alice Eve's 'clarification' about her transphobic comment is more transphobic than her initial one."
     Alice Eve couldn't stop herself: "I'm not saying by identifying they are negatively impacting feminism, I am saying that we have to refine the language so all men, women and transgenders are accurately represented in their process of self-identification.  Maybe this needs a little thought.  Thank you for engaging with me on this subject, because I felt confused and now I feel enlightened and like I know what education I need to move forward."
     So genteel.  She wants the language refined--does she lack awareness of the general quality of dialogue in social media?  A specimen of Jan T. Kirk's writing, quoted above, shows how far removed we are from Alice Eve's wish for refinement in discussing important subjects.
     I imagine that Alice Eve heard about Bruce Jenner's desire to become a woman, that he was going through the process, and something inside the actress rebelled at the notion of a famous man with shitloads of money gaining sympathy for becoming a woman at a time when women are still, in first world countries, lacking equality with men.  She linked Jenner's goal with long-term man-woman inequalities, but overlooked the simple fact that Bruce Jenner was a rich man who could afford the procedures to make him into Caitlyn Jenner, and had the televised forum of his Kardashian link to make it into a big deal, getting his own show in the process.
     For me, I can't get thrilled about Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner's journey to selfhood because I can't stand the fucking Kardashians, although I recognize the Kardashians as a symptom of our culture these last ten years.  The obsession with broadcasting the insipidities of self, symbolized by the selfie, for instance, and also tweets and internet comments, and blog posts (I'm guilty), amounts to a culture whose representatives have obtained technological miracle devices, but use them to leak their careless and pointless thoughts to the world.  Jan T. Kirk's tweet, ending with two words that should never, aesthetically, go together, "unfollow ugh," is as ridiculous as Alice Eve's snappy looking-down-nose albeit better written comments which nevertheless revealed her, at least eleven months ago, as an intolerant ignoramus.
     My own prejudice against the Kardashians and what they represent (rich assholes celebrated for doing nothing), I admit, makes me an intolerant ignoramus, too.  I don't, however, add to the garbage pile of tweets and other non-stop comments grappling with our short attention spans every day and night.
     Yesterday on Inside Edition, I found out that Miley Cyrus's cat clawed her arm and forehead.  I've experienced that intense pain, the sharp little curved nails raking skin and drawing blood.  I know that Miss Cyrus had several intensely uncomfortable minutes to deal with.  I found out about her cat attack because she posted photos of the wounds.  That's the story: Miley Cyrus's cat, for some reason, clawed her.  The singer felt the need to share this common domestic human-animal exchange with the world.
     Look at the red lines on my face and arms.  Isn't that just too much?  Not laughing out loud.  Ugh.
   

                                                                               Vic Neptune