The Ascent of Bruce...
Team Member Name: Sabre Bunn-Mathews
Publication: Politicalcartoons.com
Date: 04/30/2015
Cartoonist: Taylor Jones, U.S.
Title of Cartoon: The Ascent of Bruce…
Cartoon # 9
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What is the context?
The referenced cartoon depicts the evolution of
mankind, whereas the man turns into Bruce Jenner
and then a woman who now goes by Caitlyn. The
event that contributed to this cartoon came after
Jenner announced that he identified as a woman
on ABC’s “20/20” news program (Steel, 2015). The
symbols used in this cartoon are apparent as mankind is said to have evolved “through a combination
of environmental and genetic factors, emerged as
a species to produce the variety of ethnicities seen
today” (“Evolution of Man”, 2016).
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Negative framing of the issue
2) The framing is opposed to supporters
3) The framing is supportive to opponents
What “reality” is constructed/framed about
your issue?
Caitlyn, formerly known as Bruce Jenner became
an Olympic icon 39 years ago when he swept the
world away by winning the gold medal in the men’s
decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics (Markazi,
2015). “The Ascent of Bruce...” (Jones, 2015) depiction wants to make viewers believe two things.
Belief one being that the evolution of man has been
around since the beginning of time and the scientific process is such that if you are born a man,
you are a man, if you are born a woman, you are a
woman. We evolve from apes into human beings,
but the evolution does not put into consideration
our sexual identity, only our gender identity. Caitlyn Jenner grew up a woman inside of a man’s body.
This is an anomaly because he was an Olympic
icon; people around the world viewed him as a male
athlete representing the United States. But, change
is inevitable and these issues will soon be forgotten
and accepted just as allowing blacks the same rights
as whites. Belief number two could be viewed as
Bruce Jenner has evolved from a famous Olympian
to a famous transgender. On July 15, 2015, Caitlyn
Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award
at the ESPYs, which is an event honoring the year’s
top athletes and moments (“ESPN”, 2015). Can the
“Ascent of Bruce...” (Jones, 2015), be viewed as a
step toward more fame? Cartoonist, Taylor Jones is
depicting this as the ca se.
Bibliography:
Jones, T. (2015, April 30). The Ascent of Bruce... [Cartoon]. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/550aad47-d43b-43c5-a35d-bd1e2fc28c4a.html
Steel, E. (2015, April 25). Bruce Jenner’s Transgender Announcement Draws 16.8 Million on ABC News. Retrieved March 29,
2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/business/media/bruce-jenners-transgender-announcement-draws-16-8-million-on-abc-news.html?_r=0
Evolution of Man. (2016, March 29). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.allaboutscience.org/evolution-of-man.htm
Markazi, A. (2015, July 30). How Bruce Jenner became an Olympic icon exactly 39 years ago. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from
http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/13346959/bruce-jenner-became-olympic-icon-exactly-39-years-ago
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ESPN. (2016, July 16). Caitlyn Jenner vows to ‘reshape the landscape’ in ESPYS speech. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://
espn.go.com/espys/2015/story/_/id/13264599/caitlyn-jenner-accepts-arthur-ashe-courage-award-espys-ashe2015
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