Caitlyn Jenner, the new name of the retired athlete and reality TV star formerly known as Bruce Jenner, was unveiled to the world at noon on Monday, June 1. Within minutes, Twitter was ablaze with comments and congratulatory remarks, as well as transphobic comments and slurs.
Following Jenner’s announcement, one major problem that became apparent was the incorrect use of names and pronouns. Otherwise responsible media outlets like Associated Press misgendered Jenner, calling her “he” and “Bruce” even while breaking the story of her name and pronoun change.
https://twitter.com/EvanNeubauer/status/605415592271568896
To clear up any remaining confusion over Jenner’s gender and use of pronouns, one Twitter user has created an account that exists solely to reply to tweets that use the word “he” to describe her. The She_Not_He bot sends out a reply tweet reading “It’s she, not he. Thanks!” to what appears to be any tweet with the words “he” and Jenner (Bruce or Caitlyn) included in the same paragraph.
Hey SirJohnnyKay: It’s she, not he. Thanks! http://t.co/zSwRLN7K5b
— She not he (@she_not_he) June 1, 2015
Some of the tweets the bot responded to displayed a basic level of ignorance and discomfort with transgender people and issues.
But other tweets the bot corrected were actually addressing the incorrect use of pronouns in the first place. Hey, no botty’s perfect.
https://twitter.com/Hana_Coon/status/605437494637789184
As the Internet continues to blow up with reactions to Jenner’s drop-dead gorgeous glamour shots, her brand new Twitter account, @Caitlyn_Jenner, is set to break the record set for the most followers in the shortest amount of time. President Obama holds the previous record after reaching one million Twitter followers just five hours after sending his first tweet. As of the time of this writing, Caitlyn has 858,000 followers.
Photo via Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair | Remix by Jason Reed
