Rescue me! I got stuck over at E! Online.
Jazz Jennings recently appeared on NBC’s Meredith Vieira Show.
While I’m certain that she was there to promote the fact that she is the newest face of the Clean and Clear #SeetheRealMe Campaign, some other things came up as well.
First of all, there is the response the campaign has generated
When I first saw Jazz Jennings, nothing struck me as peculiar. She looked like any other vibrant, charming and charismatic teenage girl. I assumed that her age and on-camera presence made her an ideal candidate as a representative of Clean and Clear. She fit the mold of what you see for something targeted at younger audiences. Teenagers get pimples and she’s a teenager – it works.
It’s not until it’s mentioned that Jennings is transgender that people start to stir, debate and wonder why a brand of face wash tries to “force” our youth to accept something so perverse. The backlash from parents is horrifying. I was used to seeing opponents attack adults on the Internet, but Jennings is a child. “Concerned parents” were saying that we should burn “it” at the stake, that she is wearing dresses to get attention or that she should just admit that she is a homosexual boy. Teaching children that saying these hurtful things about others will influence them far more than a commercial will.