Apparently, it’s not social-justice-warrior enough to simply support Caitlyn Jenner’s appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair — you also need to remember that she is white, and therefore any praise may be more problematic than progressive.
The very same day (!) that Jenner’s cover hit the net, college professor and CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill rushed to Twitter to remind people that their well-meaning support could be just another example of their oppressive white privilege:
But is the public support for Jenner’s transition really an example of how white transgender people have it easier? After all, black transgender actress Laverne Cox — whose celebrity status is probably most comparable to Jenner’s — has also received enormous amounts of support and praise for both her physical appearance and her activism. In fact, she’s even had her own magazine covers — including one on Time just last week. This suggests that Lamont Hill’s contention that praise of Jenner is because “we only” — yes, “only” — “celebrate and welcome . . . European standards of beauty” is just plain wrong. All it takes is a Google search of Cox’s name in order to see that Hill might have been rushing to make something about race that isn’t. And what good does that do?






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