Last week, some sources claimed that Bruce Jenner was quitting reality shows forever and ever and that he was going to retire to some lovely Malibu property and live a quiet life for the rest of his years. I theorized at the time that if that happened, it was perhaps because Bruce wanted to avoid the publicity if and when he transitioned. I also basically said that if Bruce really was quitting the game, it was no longer any of our business if he did transition. But within hours of that widespread reporting, Kris Jenner shut it down to E! News, then Bruce gave a direct denial too, saying: “The reports of me quitting Keeping Up With The Kardashians are completely fabricated. I’m currently shooting season nine and look forward to season ten and any future seasons. I love working with my family.”

So, we’ve got that cleared up. Bruce is now and will be for some time a public figure, so whatever is going on with him is okay to openly discuss (in my book, at least). I think Bruce and Lucifer’s Homegirl realized that the conversation around Bruce was taking an unexpected turn after a recent rash of reports dismissing the very idea that Bruce is struggling with his sexual identity. The explanation that’s being offered is that Bruce is merely vain, self-obsessed and youth-obsessed. Okay. Sure.

In the Kardashian family’s special breed of endless media hoopla, patriarch Bruce Jenner has always managed to stay out of the fray. But now, amid tabloid scrutiny over his changing appearance, the former Olympian (with his altered appearance) is standing front and center.

Jenner, 64, has been open about undergoing plastic surgery in the past, beginning with a partial face-lift and nose job in the mid-’80s, a “botched” procedure that took a toll on the athlete’s self-esteem.

“If you Google my name, the worst plastic surgeries of all time or whatever it is … they’ve compared me to Michael Jackson,” he said on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

In 2009, Jenner went under the knife for a second time to correct the first operation. The process, featured on an episode of the show, garnered the support of the entire Kardashian clan. And a satisfied Bruce joked of his new appearance in a 2009 episode: “It doesn’t hurt to be mistaken for Brody once in a while. Do you think I’ll get carded?”

Despite his family’s approval, Jenner faced plenty of media scrutiny for his changing appearance, even feuding with Jimmy Fallon over the talk-show host’s harsh jokes about his transformation.

Now, four months after his split from wife Kris, Jenner is sporting a new look, one that’s raising eyebrows once again. The dad of 10 (including his four stepchildren) has been growing his hair long, manicuring his nails, and, most controversially, he has allegedly undergone a tracheal shave, flattening his Adam’s apple.

“Bruce is definitely concerned about his looks – he always has been,” says a Jenner source. “But he’s just doing his thing. He wanted to grow his hair long, so he did. He wants to get manicures, so he gets them. He always hated his Adam’s apple.”

Sources close to Jenner categorically deny that he is making any sort of efforts to transition into a woman, despite breathless tabloid claims, and say the reality star is simply happily experimenting with a fresh look. “He has this, ‘I may be an old man, but I’m cool and young too’ syndrome and no one can tell him otherwise,” says a source close to the family.

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Toby Mayer, who has not treated Jenner, says that excessive physical change can be a symptom of body dysmorphic disorder, a condition in which a person has an unrealistic view of his or her own appearance.

Says Mayer: “When people have an unusual preoccupation with the way they look, they will never be satisfied. They will always find some flaw on their face that they think [fixing] will restore perfection.”

Counters the family source: “Bruce thinks he looks great. He doesn’t listen to the criticism.”

[From People]

So the explanation is “Bruce doesn’t want to become a woman, he just wants to be young and handsome. This is not transgender, this is a mid-life crisis.” Which it very well could be, God knows. It’s likely that this is the first time in DECADES when Bruce has really felt “free” – free from raising young children, free from over-bearing wives, free from a family of famewhores, and he’s just going wild. A version of “wild”. I don’t know. I guess a mid-life crisis makes sense too.

Photos of Bruce on February 13th, at LAX, courtesy of Fame/Flynet.