By David Stillwell

The recent cover of inTouch Magazine popped a photoshopped picture of Bruce Jenner with makeup and looking like a well-dressed, woman of stature. In short, there are worse looking women. The bottom line is who cares. It is somewhat sad that people cannot go through their own identity crisis without being dragged into the public spotlight and gang raped by the media.

What’s the Harm?

First, who really knows what Bruce Jenner is going through. He is not holding press conferences. He is not being hauled off to jail because of public brawls. He is not hashing out his business in public in true Justin Bieber style. He is just quietly going about his life.

The conclusions are drawn from tiny details that have become blown up out of proportion. He was spotted with longer hair. He was spotted with longer fingernails. He was spotted with nail polish. Whoopty Effing Do. Those traits could also make him an aspiring rock star. I am not suggesting that Bruce is not transgender, just that it should not matter to anyone other than Bruce.

I am reminded of a recent story of Leelah Alcorn, the 17-year-old transgender teen who recently killed herself. We ask what is the harm in such a cover of Bruce Jenner, but do we really want to know the truth? As with Leelah Alcorn, the truth matters. Not our truth, but theirs.

What we read about Bruce is our truth, not his. We pile on top of whatever he is going through is social judgement, mockery, and a much darker side of humanity. It is this sort of approach to differences that leads to suicide, drug use, and violence. Is that what we want from society?

We sit in horror of the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo but isn’t that the farthest left we can go when faction of our society cannot understand the differences within humanity? Yes, it is a far stretch to link the two, but it can be linked by hatred. I do not mean to diminish the tragedy or the loss for what happened at Charlie Hebdo. I do mean to say that when we do not know what other people are going through we might want to tread more carefully than inTouch Magazine has.

What Should We Focus on in Situations like This?

Empathy comes to mind as a tool for understanding what others are going through. Unbiased support that is not based on our own beliefs. A willingness to be open minded and understanding as people work through their problems whether those be negative or positive. Avoid being judgemental. Even to take more time to understand who we are as a people. How well do you know yourself?

Before we cast judgement on others, we should step back and look at how we can improve the person we are. Not one of us is perfect. We all have room for improvement, and that should be where our focus lies.