Richard Moore: Gender bender real deal?

Caitlyn Jenner was named Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine.

The age-old question of "when is a man not a man?" has been turned on its head in recent times and we find ourselves more interested in when is a woman not a woman?

I could be facetious and say it is a female who doesn't like handbags or shoes, but I reckon it has to be someone born without a certain appendage.

In the past it has been easy to distinguish between men and women.

In general they dressed differently, they had socially assigned different roles and during too many eras of our existence women have not been given an equal go in education and opportunity.

And, in many places of the world, that continues today ... for example, in Muslim countries under Sharia law.

Or in the Western world where the other day I saw a migrant woman walking about five metres behind her hubby.

I suggested to my beloved she drop off my arm and show me the same deference only to wake up on the footpath with her standing over me saying: "Something just dropped out of the sky and hit you. Are you okay?"

Lesson learned.

Now there would be those out there who think the world would be a better place if it was run by women. I'm not so sure.

Okay, I'd be happy with my Queen, Elizabeth II, being in charge of the planet. She would have things running well and sensibly and we'd all be one singing God Save the Queen - even Americans.

But while Her Majesty is the perfect woman to run our world, there are some women out there who, if they were in charge, would have me booking a one-way trip to Mars as fast as my broadband connection would allow.

I'm speaking of a family that has unleashed awfulness upon the world courtesy of reality TV - the Kardashians. Or, as I call them, the Kowtrashians.

Honestly, has there ever been a family that has been more successful at doing nothing than that mob?

And I blame women's magazines for promoting these creatures and holding them up as being fabulous.

I couldn't care less about Kim's planet-sized backside, or her ridiculous husband, or her mother, or sisters, or their men.

With one slight exception.

I find the journey of Bruce Jenner, Olympic medallist and glamour boy, into that of Caitlyn Jenner, an awkward wannabe gal, interesting.

Not so much on Caitlyn's choices and decisions, but on how Caitlyn's fame has made the changeover relatively easy compared with unknown guys going through the same process.

Caitlyn will never have to be a sex worker to survive, or face physical abuse from those threatened by Caitlyn's decision to change. Caitlyn will rarely have to face things alone because the rich and famous - particularly reality TV show stars - always have a camera around to catch their personal moments, or hangers-on always willing to listen.

Without going through some of the horrors fellow trans-sexuals have gone through Caitlyn has - courtesy of fame - now become the poster person for that community.

Now, here is where we get back to the when is a woman a woman question.

Are guys - who undergo the full transformation from person with appendage to one without - women?

I'm not going to get into a moral judgment here because it is not my place and if something makes a person feel better about themselves then who am I to worry about it?

But if I were a woman, I'd not be happy about Jenner being named Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine.

Germaine Greer takes a similar view on that issue.

"I think misogyny plays a really big part in all of this, that a man who goes to these lengths to become a woman will be a better woman than someone who is just born a woman."

Being a gal, however, she can take it one step further and - as she has always done - does.

Greer says transgender women, who were men before undergoing surgery and hormone treatment to become women, are "not women", saying they do not "look like, sound like or behave like women".

It is hard to disagree on that last point.

I asked my good lady what her definition of a woman was and she said if a person had an appendage then they were a guy and without one they were a woman. Jenner has not had the full operation.

Risking another bolt from the sky I observed that if I were a woman I'd be ropeable someone with a penis was picked as Woman of the Year for anything.

To me it would be so insulting to the three billion women on this planet.

What do you folks reckon?

-Richard@richardmoore.com

Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.