With the coming-out of Bruce Jenner as Caitlyn Jenner came a spinoff of the original Keeping Up With the Kardashians. I Am Cait featured the daily life, activities, excitement, and struggles of Caitlyn Jenner while going through her transition.
Audiences saw how the relationships changed with her family members and friends, and the acceptability (or lack thereof) of those around her was put to the test. When the show premiered, there was a huge amount of controversy for many reasons.
Firstly, the show produced somewhat of a “sides” mentality. It pitted the Kardashians/Jenners against Caitlyn. “How could Bruce Jenner, accomplished olympian, married for so long to Kris, have a family with many kids, come out now as transgender?” To further break away from her old identity as Bruce, she ended the streak of having all Kardashian girls’ names start with K. “Caitlyn” could easily start with a “K”, and it was a strong statement of separation of the Kardashian brand for her to choose “C” for her name. Additionally, the show presented a false idea of what someone’s typical transition from male-to-female looks like. Not everyone has as much money as Caitlyn or has access to the same type of resources she does, and the trans community pushed back hard. Caitlyn is a die-hard republican and conservative, yet wants to advocate for trans-rights and awareness, which presents an interesting dichotomy.
Caitlyn represents an intersectional identity that we do not see often. Trans-woman, Trump-supporter, reality TV star, olympian, and a woman who’s children still call her “Dad”. Perhaps this is the reason why the public has such a difficult time accepting her for who she is.