Reception
In August 2015, Jenner won the Social Media Queen award at the Teen Choice Awards. In October 2015, Glamour magazine named her one of its 25 Glamour Women of the Year, calling her a "Trans Champion". In November 2015, Jenner was listed as one of Entertainment Weekly's 2015 Entertainers of the Year. In December 2015, she was named Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2015. Also in that month, she was listed on Time magazine's eight-person shortlist for the 2015 Person of the Year, and Bing released its list of the year's "Most Searched Celebrities", which Jenner was at the top of, and declared Jenner's Vanity Fair cover the second in a list of "top celeb moments of 2015". She was the second most searched-for person on Google in 2015. In April 2016, she was listed in the Time 100. In June 2016, Jenner became the first openly transgender person to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The cover and associated story marked the 40th anniversary of her winning the 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon.
Feminist author Germaine Greer called Glamour magazine's decision to award Jenner with a "Woman of the Year" award misogynistic, questioning whether a transgender woman could be better than "someone who is just born a woman." Jenner also received criticism from individuals such as actress Rose McGowan, for stating – in a BuzzFeed interview – that the hardest part about being a woman "is figuring out what to wear". McGowan argued: "We are more than deciding what to wear. We are more than the stereotypes foisted upon us by people like you. You're a woman now? Well fucking learn that we have had a VERY different experience than your life of male privilege." McGowan later stated that she was not transphobic, and added: "Disliking something a trans person has said is no different than disliking something a man has said or that a woman has said. Being trans doesn't make one immune from criticism."
Chris Mandle of The Independent stated: "Jenner has gone on to inspire countless men and women, but her comments, which were made after she was celebrated at Glamour magazine's Women Of The Year in New York were branded 'offensive and insulting'." He added: "People began tweeting the other, harder things women have to deal with, such as institutionalized oppression, abuse, and sexual assault". James Smith, husband of Moira Smith, the only female New York Police Department officer to die from the September 11 attacks, returned Moira's "Woman of the Year" award, given posthumously. Referring to Jenner as a man, he stated that he found Glamour giving Jenner the same award insulting to Moira's memory, and referred to the matter as a publicity stunt. Smith later said that having supported transgender youth and Glamour's decision to honor transgender actress Laverne Cox in 2014, he did not object because Jenner is transgender; he objected to Jenner's "hardest part about being a woman" commentary; this proved to him that Jenner "is not truly a woman. I believe this comment and others he has made trivializes the transgender experience as I have witnessed it."
Conversely, Adrienne Tam of The Daily Telegraph argued that Jenner deserved the Glamour award, stating: "What McGowan failed to take into consideration was the jesting manner in which Jenner spoke." Tam said:
[Jenner] also immediately followed up her "what women wear" dilemma with: It's more than that. I'm kind of at this point in my life where I'm trying to figure this womanhood thing out. It is more than hair, makeup, clothes, all that kind of stuff. There's an element here that I'm still kind of searching for. And I think that'll take a while. Because I think as far as gender, we're all on a journey. We're all learning and growing about ourselves. And I feel the same way.
Tam considered McGowan's criticism to be over the top, and stated of James Smith's criticism, "The salient point here is one about courage. We easily recognize physical courage such as saving orphans from burning buildings, or ordinary people putting their lives in the line of fire. It is far harder to recognize mental courage." She added: "Without a doubt, the police officer who died in the September 11 attacks was courageous. But so is Jenner. It's a different kind of courage, but it is courage nonetheless."
Since coming out as a trans woman in 2015, Jenner has been called the most famous openly transgender woman in the world. She is also one of the most recognized LGBT people in the world and arguably the most famous LGBT athlete. Jenner said that her visibility was partly to bring attention to gender dysphoria, violence against trans women, and other transgender issues. She also sought to promote more informed discussion of LGBT issues. She signed with Creative Artists Agency's speakers department and will collaborate with the CAA Foundation on a philanthropic strategy focusing on LGBT issues. She made a private appearance at the Los Angeles LGBT Center in June 2015, where she spoke with trans youth.
Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the 2015 ESPY Awards in July 2015. ESPN executive producer Maura Mandt said Jenner was given the award because "she has shown the courage to embrace a truth that had been hidden for years, and to embark on a journey that may not only give comfort to those facing similar circumstances but can also help to educate people on the challenges that the transgender community faces." She is the third consecutive openly LGBT person to receive the award following footballer Michael Sam (2014) and anchorwoman Robin Roberts (2013).
In October, Jenner presented the Point Foundation's Horizon Award to television producers Rhys Ernst (of the show Transparent) and Zach Zyskowski (of the show Becoming Us). This was her second public speaking engagement after her gender transition.
In November, Jenner was listed as one of the nine runners-up for The Advocate's Person of the Year. That month she was also listed as one of the Out100 of 2015, with Out magazine calling her the "Newsmaker of the Year." On International Human Rights Day, Jenner discussed transgender rights with Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. In 2016, Jenner was on the cover of The Advocate's February/March issue.
MAC Cosmetics collaborated with Jenner on a lipstick, called Finally Free, which was made available for purchase on April 8, 2016, with MAC stating, "100% of the selling price goes to the MAC AIDS Fund Transgender Initiative, to further its work in support of transgender communities." Also in April 2016, Jenner was listed as No. 8 on Out magazine's Power 50 list. In May 2016, her interview with Diane Sawyer in 2015 won Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine at the GLAAD Media Awards.
In 2021, Jenner's decision to run for governor of California was met with pushback from many LGBT activists and trans people, with activists criticizing Jenner for her views on transgender issues and support for the Republican Party. Katelyn Burns of Vox said, "Jenner's politics and controversial existence as a self-professed trans advocate has long put trans Americans in a double bind, forcing them to defend her from transphobic attacks while deploring her political views." This decision became even more controversial following Jenner's opposition to trans girls in girls' sports, with some advocates saying that Jenner "did not represent the broader LGBT community".
In 2022, Jenner said that trans swimmer Lia Thomas was not the "rightful winner" of the NCAA Division I women's 500-yard freestyle event, adding "It's not transphobic or anti-trans, it's COMMON SENSE!".
Jenner's gender transition is the subject of I Am Cait, initially an eight-part TV documentary series, which premiered on E! in July 2015 to an audience of 2.7 million viewers. Jenner is an executive producer of the show. The show focuses on Jenner's transition and how it affects her relationships with her family and friends. The show also explores how Jenner adjusts to what she sees as her job as a role model for the transgender community. In October 2015, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 6, 2016. The show tied for Outstanding Reality Program at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2016.
Jenner's memoir, The Secrets of My Life, was published on April 25, 2017.
