I'm not sure what generation comes after Gen Z, but let me just say that kids reacting to Caitlyn Jenner is making me excited for them. The people of SheKnows recently posted the video, and honestly, I feel like I learned more from listening to these elementary schoolers than I did in half of my time in school. It's no surprise that we can all learn a lot from kids; There is a certain kind of openness you have starting out in life that over time will inevitably get conditioned by parents, teachers, and society. I'd like to live in a world where we're all guided in our youth to be open-minded and accepting, but the reality is that we don't have that world yet. Still, watching these kids and how readily they not only accepted Caitlyn, but immediately defended her, makes me hope that we could be living in it soon.
At the beginning of the video, the kids were asked to describe a picture of Bruce Jenner winning Olympic gold. The kids answered with observations like "he's running" and "he has really strong arms". They were then asked to describe a picture of Caitlyn Jenner in a recent photo of her exiting a car.
There has been some controversy over the discussion of Caitlyn in the media, with a lot of people focusing so much on her looks that they neglected Caitlyn as a whole. Jon Stewart slammed the media for reducing her in what he says is the only way the media knows how to talk about a woman. It makes me especially proud of these youngsters that they don't just react to her beauty, but to Caitlyn in her entire, whole, and genuine self.
They then revealed to the kids that Caitlyn Jenner was once Bruce Jenner, and although most of them were surprised, they were every bit as accepting. The moderators sat them down on a couch and had a group discussion about it, where the kids read both comments from people supporting Caitlyn and people who didn't. The kids were natural empathizers to Caitlyn's journey.
I've never been more excited about the future of America than right now. You can watch the full video here:
Images: YouTube(5)
