I didn't intend to watch it because celebrities don't interest me, but I sort of landed on some of it while I was in the kitchen. What I found interesting during the part I saw was how skilled Jenner was in not sharing more than she wanted to. Of course, as someone who has been world famous her whole adult life, she should have those skills, but she was charming about her deflections, and was generous with substantive answers where she cared to give them.

Gender dysphoria is just beginning to be understood. The gender identity doesn't really have anything to do with physical body or sexuality. There are a lot of anecdotes from families that were trying hard to raise children without gender bias that their tots were showing gender-specific social traits despite their best efforts to avoid encouraging them. Nurturing girls and destructo boys, to be very general about it. Once children are socialized in larger family situations, day care, play in the park, etc., even when they're very small, they learn about gender expectations. It may be that these parents were deluding themselves when they bought neutral colors and toys and tried to give just as much encouragement to any preferences, but there does seem to be a lot of "nature" in personality and social traits.

Once the children do encounter the social norms of their play groups, they will start to know what's expected of boys vs. girls, and identify with one or the other regardless of their body genders. This meshes with what the science to date says, that the experience of gender identification is something in the brain (or soul, if you prefer).

One thing kind of horrified me in the interview. Jenner said something about one of the girls saying that being a girl is all about the "vajayjay". That's not only factually wrong, and insulting to the many female-identifying women who have medical issues with their genitalia, and transgenders of both persuasions, but to all women who have more to occupy their minds than having an "innie". In fact, I wish the world were far enough down the road of tolerance to accept transgenders without forcing them to alter their bodies. That sexual reassignment surgery is possible for those who need it to feel right it is terrific (so long as it's not the taxpayers paying for it, which is a whole different news item), but a transgender person shouldn't have to have healthy flesh cut and rearranged, and take powerful hormone supplements with potentially bad side effects, just to live their lives the way they feel right. It should be a choice, not a requirement.

[Edited to correct the current pronoun for Jenner.]

I planned to watch but went out to dinner and missed it! I viewed parts of the interview on AOL.

The first transgender woman, Christine Jorgensen was operated on in 1951! yet, it is only in recent years due to our social media, that so many things can be shared, and shared quickly.

Gender dysphoria is so very complicated. There are many things I don't understand. For example, a transgender woman not going through the sexual reassignment surgery. Surgery for women to become male has not yet evolved as well so many opt to stay as they are.

In Bruce Jenner's case, I don't understand why he waited so long and married so many times! This doesn't seem fair to the women he married. I also think that no matter how many surgeries he has, he will look like a man with long hair dressed as a woman. This makes me feel sad.

It's HYPE! What media hook will the "K-People" publicists come up with next?

IMO this has little to do with a real and tragic condition, gender dysphoria, and everything to do with maintaining drama around the K franchise. (Thanks for the terminology, pllog.)

I got a bit ticked in the beginning, when he said God put a women's soul in him! Well God doesn't make mistakes, he made everyone the way they were mean to be.

I did not watch it and generally ignore celebrities. I guess I'd have to chime in to support chisue's opinion. While I am certainly sympathetic to people who struggle with such issues--I just can't imagine the pain--this just smacks of the general Kardashian media hype to me. Why does someone like Jenner feel the need to do a public interview on such a private topic? Well, money certainly comes to mind. Yes, I suppose others will say he/she is helping to expose the matter but such public airings just don't garner my respect. Sorry.

If your premise is that God doesn't make mistakes, given the number of transgender people there are, it stands to reason that God means for them to feel mismatched with their bodies, perhaps to show all the possibilities that come from creation and His limitless ability to love us all. Would that we flawed humans were capable of such infinite appreciation for the sanctity of life in all its wondrous varieties and boundless supplies of compassion and love.

pipsmom49, nope. Not missing any boats or any other type of transportation. I don't do ANY reality tv. Especially this family. And yes he was in the Kardashian family when he was married to th mother of the family and he was in their show. Ever. And yes I know, it was a news show interview.

I suspect that he did this interview with a well respected journalist in order to quiet some of the gossip. He's been changing physically for years, he's been made fun of, his sexuality speculated upon.

A calm, intelligent discussion with Diane makes perfect sense. I think that it will stifle the frenzy. He's tried to remove himself from the K. garbage for quite some time.....years, in fact.

This is mental illness plain and simple. Because there are more than one plagued does not make it a condition to be fixed. These people need our prayers and our sympathy. To indulge their delusions will only work for the medical community who profits from it. Long term these people discover changing their sex does not cure their ills. No I did not watch this circus..who would someone?

I think he showed a lot of class in how and when he "outed" himself. Now that was a choice he did get to make. Bravo!

Arcy, I could not disagree more. I think this interview did much to further the acceptance of the trans gender issue, but personally, I turn off on the entire Kardashian side of it all. I didn't watch, I admit, but I support Jenner completely..

I applaud Bruce Jenner for having the courage to share his lifelong journey. He had to do this interview for a variety of reasons, none of which relates to Kardashian Hype. Do you think this interview was easy for him?????

I am very saddened by some of the comments here. There is one poster in particular that made me so angry with their ignorant comments that I had to walk away from my computer.

There are so many stories out there. One keeps coming back to me whenever a transgender story appears in the news.

It is about a little boy, maybe about five. He looked up at his mom and said, "You do know I'm a girl, right?"

Some have memories even younger.

No, it's not a mental illness. I do agree that the path is a very hard one. Sometimes there is a struggle of how they will now identify sexually. I have heard it's 1/3 will be attracted to the opposite sex, 1/3 same sex and 1/3 both!

I do agree that sometimes this does not solve the problems and unhappiness. I think though that as more come forward earlier and live their lives longer in the sex intended , this might change.

It was confusing to me when I saw Bruce Jenner's clip about how he was always attracted to women, yet he is heterosexual. Unless I missed something, this is contradictory.

Again, I couldn't see the interview, but there is something about Jenner's story that seems off to me. Did he answer the question about why he married so many times?

Plllog, wouldn't transgender people want the hormones? It would be the only way to harden or soften the features and feelings? Don't they want to look in the mirror and see someone more feminine and masculine, not just themselves with just a long or short haircut, but the changed to how they supposed to be version?

I really don't understand why he'd go through all this sex change at his age? Now that I'm getting older and see so many dying around me that are even younger than I, he could be dead tomorrow. I don't know but it just seems ridiculous at his old age to me...but that's just me. I do confess that I did not watch the interview and have not been too interested other than that I cannot help but see the headlines everywhere I look. The lives of celebrities doesn't really interest me very much.

Hype? Mental illness? Oh my.

I say good for him! Bravo! He has my full support and I applaud him. I am sorry for him that he felt he had to live in the wrong body and keep up the charade all of these years. And I also applaud him for doing the interview which will take some of the oomph out of the paparazzis (and other people) who only want to gossip and speculate.

I wish the posters here who are commenting so negatively and didn't watch the show would watch the show.

I watched the show, felt very sorry for him. But, what I will never understand is if he always felt he was a woman why did he marry so many times???? When he completely changes over to a woman will he like men??? He said on the show he wasn't homosexual, I guess I just don't understand the problem.

What does "I'm not gay" mean in his mind? Does he like women or men? If he's a man and he likes women then he is not gay but if he is a woman and likes women then that would make him gay(a lesbian)...right? Very confusing to me. He says "I'm a woman".

Hmmmmmm weren't we taught not to "judge"? I've never ever heard any medical professional refer to this type of condition as "mentally ill". Enough said.

Ellendi, taking the hormones is a huge decision. It's not as limiting as with an organ transplant, but there are a lot of consequent health issues associated with a lifetime of taking the hormones, and removal of the ovaries/testes has a huge impact on the body, though that, at least, makes the supplements act from zero, rather than fighting the body's own systems. If having a body which outwardly matches the brain's expression of gender satisfies a driving need for someone, fine, but I wish our society were accepting enough of non-binary-gendered people that there wouldn't be such huge pressure to have the hormone therapy and surgery just to be accepted. There's at least this treatment for the transgender. There are many differently gendered people for whom no physical alteration can represent what they feel themselves to be.

Yayagal, it is in the DSM-5. According to those I know in the field, there are a lot of descriptions in the DSM that are written by "people who think they know more than they actually do", and, while there are some people whose gender dysphoria is the prominent trait of a clinically troubled mind, they're moving to remove it from the DSM because most transgender people are just different, rather than mentally ill. While it's in the diagnostic manual, however, people can get away with saying that it's a mental illness, even if the doctors, themselves, disagree.

Judy, she said in the interview that she was undertaking the transition in the '80's when she met and fell in love with the last wife. The human need to make connections, love and be loved is greater than most other drives. People push away self awareness in order to have that.

As to sexuality, transgenders generally separate their feelings of personal gender from their sexual urges, and whom they want to be with isn't based on which gender they identify as being. They get grouped with gays and lesbians because they're different.

It's all a learning curve.

What's really ridiculous, I think, is that he has to go on TV and explain himself to a whole bunch of people that really have no business knowing what his personal life is. I guess my feelings are such because I just do not really care about what the celebrities are doing...I'm not a big fan of any famous person. I do know some people that want to know every aspect of some certain celebrity, to me THAT'S kind of a mental illness, an obsession. I don't care what someone does with their life as long as they are not bothering me. Other than just not grasping what his mental state is...I don't care, it's just a curiosity to me.

I took from the interview that Bruce is continually learning about himself through this journey and is uncertain about his sexual preference in a future relationship. He won't likely know until he fully transitions. I have heard this is not uncommon during transition.

I don't think he went into any of his marriages trying to deceive his wives. Maybe had he not been so much in the public eye, he would have been able to transition long ago. Could be he was trying to live up to the all American boy, sports hero. He had a lot of eyes on him. He also said his father who passed 14 years ago would not have accepted this. It must have been very difficult for Bruce to live with so much inner turmoil for the past 60+ years. Glad he will be able to live the life he wants, better late than never!

Maybe marrying so many times was a quest for a partner that he felt comfortable with and just never found it. Mental illness - no. This may be a giant and incorrect leap but calling transgender people mentally ill is then calling the entire LBGT community mentally ill. Some may do so, I don't.

I didn't watch, but was curious if the accident came up at all during the interview. Did it get the typical can't talk about it, or did it never get broached?

Someone who had to go in the opposite direction . . .

Men's Health magazine's possible "Ultimate Guy"

The interview was filmed before the accident.

I didn't watch it, but I did see some photos on the Internet news (I don't have TV). I sincerely hope he finds peace and happiness whatever he/she chooses, but...does plastic surgery really make handsome people look that weird afterwards? Sincere question - I mean he probably didn't have to pick the lowest bidder, KWIM?

malna..."beauty is in the eye of the beholder"....do you KWIM????

My comment must have come across badly and not the way I intended.

I suppose my view on plastic surgery is a bit different. I have a very good friend who had an accident with a chain saw and basically cut his face in half. Yes, he has scars but he looks great. I guess I think of plastic surgery in that context. Mike has a darn good lookin' face that was sewn back on, not because he wanted a new nose or higher cheekbones or no wrinkles in his forehead.

I had a huge crush on Bruce Jenner (I had a poster of him when I was a teenager :-) and I can't help but feel sad (and yeah I'll admit it, kinda creeped out) at the way he looks now.

Again, I didn't mean to offend anyone and I apologize. I shall keep my opinions to myself :-)

I know exactly what you mean...there are a lot of celebrities that are having "work done" that I think the same thing, "can't they afford the best of the best?" It reminds me of Michael Jackson, why didn't he use the top of the field doctor? He had more money than God! Speaking of MJ, I wonder if he wasn't suffering from the same inner turmoil that BJ is. It would explain a lot!

Malna, your comment shouldn't have been taken in a wrong or negative way. I completely agree with your query. Everyone from Bruce Jenner to Kenny Rogers, Joan Rivers......they should have all had better plastic surgeons. A success story in my opinion is Dolly Parton; she doesn't look any different than she did 30 years ago. Anything she has had done has been subtle enough that it doesn't look weird.

Arkansas Girl, Michael Jackson has described himself as asexual, but only he knows what was really going on inside his mind.

I don't have anything to add that won't get me banned, lol. I'll just say - good for him!

For those of you who think Bruce is suffering from some sort of mental illness, I have a question.

Do you think Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, the soon-to-be nine-year-old child of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pity, is mentally ill?

Shiloh was born female, but before even turning three years old, the child informed Brad and Angelina that she will only answer to the name John. And this child always dresses in boys' clothing. Not just pants and tops, but boys' pants and tops. Pay attention to which side of the plackets the buttons are on.

Bruce Jenner said that he knew at a very young age that he should have been born a she. As, apparently did Shiloh/John know that she should have been born a he.

I have nothing for or against Bruce Jenner, but as with others in the public eye, I'll never understand why anyone pays attention to such people other than as concerns their work.

Show business people, like athletes, are very well compensated and far too many are not real smart. Their lives are filled with problems and complications most people don't need to worry about. Aren't there better things to do than to be concerned with public personalities' personal lives? But because such things attract a following, we're flooded with it.

Mental illness? Plagued? I'm saddened to hear that anyone is so misinformed as to have such thoughts.

Yes, Snidely, there are many better things to be worried about than celebrities' lives and problems. But this particular "problem" is one that affects an untold number of people, mostly young people. Unfortunately, it is a problem that has a high suicide rate. If Bruce Jenner's sharing helps one person of any age to know there is hope, that they are not alone, and prevents even one suicide, it is well worth it.

I don't pretend to understand or comprehend all that is involved but I too have a Grandchild that is changing her identity to who she believes she really is and I or we will gladly accept our new Grandson..He/she will always be someone we love no matter what kind of clothes they wear or what they decide to identify themselves as male or female.

lindsey, the occupation of Jenner and his family is to produce material for public voyeurism. Conveniently (but I'm sure sincerely), the timing of his particular plight ensures his role "in the cast" for the coming season. I'm sympathetic to the personal struggle but find the use of it as an income producer to be offensive, as with the high-jinx of the rest of the family. I do wish they would go away but in the meantime I ignore them.

He doesn't appear in public interest productions and neither does Diane Sawyer, that's not what this show was about. It was for titillation. If he or she had wanted to shine a light on this particular aspect of human existence, they could have done so long ago less personally and less salaciously.

ruthie g, good for you and good luck to your grandchild.

I wish Bruce the best, but there is obviously inner turmoil and a lot I don't understand.

As far as Shiloh, her mother is bisexual. I believe there is a biological/genetic component to sexuality that can be passed down. My daughter had color and clothing preferences by the time she was two. Shiloh probably did also. Shiloh's parents also like to be politically correct and have their own
agenda. I think that a part of her clothing choices is based on the
approval and rewards of her parents. She may have leaned more towards boy colors and less fussy clothes. Shiloh's clothing choices appear extreme to me. Left to her own devices, I think she may have been more conservative.

We used to have a little neighbor boy that we met when he was less than a year old. He's now nine. It wouldn't surprise me to find out he is gay. His favorite color has always been pink, he prefers girls toys and prefers to hang out with the girls and avoids the boys. He's always been a bit different from the other little boys.

I'm with snidely on this one! Very well put.

According to media reports, Bruce Jenner received no payment for his interview with Diane Sawyer, and according to celebritynetworth.com, he is worth $100 million, far more than any of the Kardashian women. I don't believe money is his motive. It must have been incredibly liberating to be able to speak openly about something that he has had to hide all his life.

It often takes a famous person to bring attention to a medical or social issue. Forty years ago, when Betty Ford and Happy
Rockefeller went public with their diagnoses of breast cancer, it was
historic. Back in those days, breast cancer was discussed in whispers.

Again, I wish that everyone posting on this thread would watch the interview.

I feel this is a slippery slope. Pedophiles say what they do is normal and natural. Of course what is normal becomes the norm when society accepts it.

Are you really comparing transgender people with pedophiles? That's exactly the kind of thinking that leads to the discrimination and sometimes even violence that some transgender people face every day.

Are you saying because I have an opinion I will become violent?

I made a short comment. I did not describe any action. These are things I keep to myself. I disagree and I do not believe it is normal or okay. But because I disagree with what society is labeling as normal....I am mean. Are you aware there are groups all over the world lobbying to change age consent laws? And yes, 50 years ago....people would have thought his story was horrific. Just as your reaction to a pedophile. It's a slow fade.

I was not saying anything about your personal propensity towards violence. How would I know? I was speaking of the hate crimes against the transgender community where people have been beaten and killed for their choices that hurt no one else because people think they are perverts and freaks.

I didn't say you are mean, and you're free to have whatever opinion you want. But when you list pedophiles as your only other example, it gives the implication that they are classified together. That's when you start seeing the discriminatory legislation attempts from people worried a transgender person will assault their child in the bathroom.

gwlake, you view this matter concerning Jenner as a conversation about pedophiles? Seriously?

If so, then I think your decision to keep your views to yourself is an excellent choice.

I do not fear a transgender person would assault me or my children. My comment is only referring to being forced to accept what we are told is normal.

Truthfully, I think these type of social issues are smoke screens for much bigger problems. Our focus is on an issue that affects a glimmer of the population. Yet, things slide by every day that impact is greater as a society.

I am thinking of education specifically. I think this is the number one issue we should discuss. America isn't a production/factory company any longer We issue visas for software and tech jobs at an alarming rate. But, we still want to hire politicians that promise factory jobs.

Anyway, I am rambling. And getting extremely off topic.

I don't think the issue is personal acceptance or not. It's letting people live without discrimination or having to fear for their life for their choices about their own gender identity. It's trying to give equal rights to humans who have done nothing illegal and don't deserve to be treated as such.

It wasn't all that long ago that people would think giving women or people of different races/ethnicities equal rights would be absurd. Luckily our society determined that equal rights was "normal" and developed legislation to protect those rights. I see it as the same thing that is evolving to include today's distinctions.

gwlake - transgender people and pedophiles aren't remotely related. They are two separate things. Transgender is the state of one's gender identity or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex. Pedophilia is where an adult is sexually attracted to young children. Like chi said, they aren't the same classification.

GWlake has a point. Pedophiles do think they're normal. The gaping difference here is that sexualizing a being who is both physically and emotionally unmatured and incapable of understanding or responding in kind, someone who would be incontrovertibly damaged just by knowing of this interest, is perverted in the truest sense of the word. Perverted people who obsess over inanimate objects for their sexual interests in the privacy of their own homes, do no harm to society or individuals. Those who act upon pedophilia, or just promulgate it as their "normal" do damage to both. Damaging society and individuals is crime.

There are some thorny issues between pre-operative transgender people and society when it comes to public accommodation. Sharing semi-private facilities such as restrooms and changing rooms can be uncomfortable even among people of a single agreed upon gender. Sharing such spaces with someone of the same body but different mind, or the same mind but different body, can increase that discomfort greatly. This must be 10 times worse for the transgendered person who might like to make the choice that conforms with his/her gender identity, but might, instead, have to choose the one that's least likely to end in getting beaten up. There is no easy way to resolve this, but by all parties being respectful and polite, there's no harm to society or individuals. There might be a little emotional discomfort, but nothing traumatic. No crime, except that perpetrated by the bullies who use their fists. And that, by far, is the situation where the transgender's "normal" most impacts anyone else. Ergo, it's a false comparison.

To sum it up more succinctly, there's the old definition of "conservative" in the West:
I don't care what the neighbors do so long as they don't scare the cattle.