And now the backlash. The people saying it isn’t brave, it isn’t courage, that’s not what a hero is. I can understand why they think that. Every day of their lives, they just wake up and live the way they want because it happens to be what everyone else wants, what everyone says is ok and right. It doesn’t take guts to say I’m going to love my husband if you’re a straight married woman in modern-day America. It doesn’t take any strength to get dressed in the morning if you’re an American girl who wants to wear a skirt. No need to draw on any mental reserves to be what everyone sees and expects and accepts. But what I guess they can’t know is how it feels when that’s not true for you. When being yourself will cost you everything you hold dear— family, friends, job, church— it really does take courage to still be who you are. That’s why I think Caitlyn Jenner is brave. Not that I think she stood to lose everything… I think she’s very lucky to have a place in the world where due to money and celebrity, she could be assured of some things that other people going through the same situation would not. She had the money to look the way she wanted for one thing. The best surgeons, doctors, counselors, resources everyone needs but not everyone can afford. And while living your life in the spotlight under constant public scrutiny is unimaginably hard, on the flip side, you have the support of people you don’t even know as well as the majority of the entertainment industry due to their more liberal beliefs. What if she’d been from some small town in the South. Yikes. But no matter how you want to rank the amount of courage, there was undoubtedly some bravery in speaking up and making the change. And it is heroic because it shows other people who are afraid or trapped that it is possible. It shows them that they aren’t the only ones. They aren’t freaks. Or maybe they are, but that’s ok because there are more freaks out there than you think. I will live my entire life never showing who I am, not even to the people closest to me. Right now, it’s only me, God, and one girl in TX (or maybe IA… I don’t know, we lost touch) who know me. I have people who would accept me and then there are loads of people who would reject me. Not coming forward is maybe partially fear of losing those people, many of whom are quite dear to me, but it’s also that I’ve become accustomed to this life. I’ve figured it out, how to survive it as it is, even if it’s not entirely true because I’m not entirely me. I can get through it, and I prefer that at this point to changing everything up and starting over. Yeah, it’s probably more fear than I want to admit. I’m not that brave— yet. But thanks to other people who are, there’s always hope.
areudirty
germansingergirl
titsay
blakekathryn
andulkaphoto
gracieabrams
