Caitlyn Jenner Ponders The Dating Scene In The Latest I Am Cait

The sixth episode of I Am Cait (that's right, we only have two episodes left of the E! docu-series) focused primarily on Caitlyn Jenner's dating life. Or, rather, her fear of exploring the dating world as a trans woman. Early in the episode — which was titled, fittingly, "The Dating Game" — Jenner said that the idea of dating was "absolutely overwhelming," even though she's already kinda sorta dating Candis Cayne. And Cayne wants her to take the first steps towards dating as Caitlyn. Jenner may be the star of this show, but it's her friends who make I Am Cait still work. Take for instance, Cayne, who got Jenner out of her comfort zone and explained to her (and viewers alike) that, "Your sexuality and your gender are two totally different things." The same sentiment was echoed by Jenny Boylan who pushed Jenner even further out of her comfort zone by urging her to talk about gender, love, and sex. "Who you love is different from who you are," Jenny put it simply, also telling Caitlyn that she was once again "running away" from her issues rather than facing them head on. The most telling moment of the episode, however, came when Jenner told Boylan she'd consider having a relationship with a man so that she could feel like a "normal woman" in a "normal relationship." To which a visibly upset Boylan told her friend, "You don't need a man to make you feel like a woman...Now that you're in the sisterhood, don't be a stupid [woman], be a smart one." (Can Boylan get her own show, please?) It's scenes like this one (and others where Jenner meets up with Cayne and her other road trip friends) that make this show still worth watching, even if it feels like its starting to hit the brakes a little bit. Jenner keeps talking about how she wants to use her status and the show as an educational tool, but for every segment teaching us about the trans community, there's another that shows Jenner primping or going to a nightclub with friends or talking about fame. It's hard to have actual reality and reality TV overlap and be effective. While I have no doubt that Jenner and Cayne are close friends and their blossoming (possible) relationship is sincere, but it's starting to feel more and more like its being framed as a reality TV will-they, won't-they storyline. (In the carefully scripted world of Kardashian-related programming, it's hard not to question whether these two meeting a matchmaker was something cooked up by someone over at E!) It's a disservice to both of them, especially when the women on this show are putting themselves out there to tell us how incredibly difficult love and dating can be as a trans person. Whether or not Jenner and Cayne ever become a couple (if I Am Cait doesn't cover it, there's no doubt the tabloids will, with or without the facts), I just hope the series continues to do the education and goodwill it's setting out to do. These two women visiting a camp for trans youths can do more for not only their cause, but it can also change the face of reality TV for the better. These are the stories that deserve airtime and headlines.