Tuesday, May 10, 2011 11:30 ET
Chaz Bono's complicated path to manhood
On "Oprah" and in his new film, the former Chastity challenges our concept of masculinity -- and finds freedom
By Mary Elizabeth Williams
http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/05/10/chaz_bono_oprah_winfrey_becoming_chaz/index.htmlWhen your mother is one of the most famous women in the world, and you've grown up before the world on her television show, you're used to living in the spotlight. But when you come out first as a high-profile gay activist and then as a female-to-male transgendered person, you're bound to attract a whole different kind of curiosity. How did the little blond girl known as Chastity Bono wind up as the burly man called Chaz?
Since revealing he was gender transitioning two years ago, Bono has become one of the most prominent transgendered individuals in the world -- and regular tabloid fodder -- a role the reserved, soft-spoken Bono has accepted with candor and grace. He's written a new book, appropriately called "Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man." And in a frank interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday, the 42-year-old spoke of a lifetime of coming into his gender identity and previewed the documentary "Becoming Chaz," which airs Tuesday evening on Winfrey's OWN network.
