
Image: Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair.
If Kim Kardashian broke the internet last year, Caitlyn Jenner completely obliterated it yesterday.
After living for more than six decades as Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn made her first public appearance through a 22-page cover story in Vanity Fair magazine.
“This shoot was about my life and who I am as a person,” the 65-year-old told writer Buzz Bissinger.
“It’s not about the fanfare, it’s not about people cheering in the stadium, it’s not about going down the street and everybody giving you ‘that a boy, Bruce,’ pat on the back, O.K. This is about your life.”
Though much of the discussion focused on the emotional aspects of transitioning from male to female, Caitlyn also spoke about the physical process it entailed.
Caitlyn told Bissinger she hadn't undergone genital surgery — a procedure some, but not all, trans people opt for — and in last month's About Bruce program, Caitlyn said there was no plan to have gender reassignment surgery.
RELATED: What happens if you’re transgender and you have a gendered illness?
However, Caitlyn said she has had a breast augmentation, and underwent a 10-hour procedure known as 'facial feminisation' on March 15.
According to the team at Costhetics.com.au, facial feminisation refers to "a variety of surgical and cosmetic treatments whose goal is to make a masculine face appear more feminine". They say this procedure enhanced several aspects of Caitlyn's face, including her forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, eyes and overall face shape. (Post continues after gallery.)
Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair shoot
"To make somebody more feminine, you want to make a lot of their facial features less coarse... So you want to basically thin the nose down, you want to raise the cheekbones up and make the cheeks look less full," plastic surgeon Dr David Alessi — who did not treat Caitlyn— explained to People. He estimates her facial surgery would have cost $US35,000, which roughly equates to $45,000 Australian dollars.
Caitlyn also had a tracheal shave, also known as chondrolaryngoplasty, which reduces the size of an individual's "Adam's Apple" — a physical feature that is, very generally speaking, associated with men.
RELATED: How to show your support for a loved one who is transitioning.
"The surgeon makes a small incision in a crease of the neck to reveal the cartilage beneath. The surgeon shaves off the excess cartilage and the top part of the V, then stitches the neck muscles back together and closes the incision using sutures," explains the Costhetics team.