We Need to Stop with the Comparisons - Caitlyn Jenner Can Be Courageous Too

As we all know, Bruce Jenner has been making headlines with his recent transformation from male to female, and now the world knows HER as Caitlyn.

 

Caitlyn has received SO MUCH negative backlash and ridicule for her decision to transform. Some of it is just outright disrespect, but we all know how the world is. We've come a long way, but we've got so much more to go before we can truly be a world of acceptance.

 

At the 2015 Espy Awards this year, Caitlyn Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, and gave a quite emotional acceptance speech.

 

The speech actually made many people who formally poked fun at Caitlyn see her in a new light, and learn to respect her.

 

However, of course, the award being given to Caitlyn caused much outrage for many people.

 

Whether you agree with Caitlyn receiving the award or not is your right, however, you shouldn't have to go out of your way to compare who you feel is a "real" hero."

 

I've seen some comparison memes posted on social media from people expressing their opposition to Caitlyn's award.

 

One particular meme that urged me to write this blog was one of a soldier in a desert carrying a body. The top caption read: This is what courage looks like..

 

The second photo attached to the meme was that of Caitlyn Jenner during her acceptance speech at the Espy's with a caption reading: Not this.

 

 

 

This is a problem that many people (including myself) have. We always have to compare things to try to make one look more important than the other.

 

Before you start attacking me, SOLDIERS ,PAST AND PRESENT, ARE VERY IMPORTANT, AND THEY WILL FOREVER BE HEROES TO ALL OF US NO MATTER WHAT!

 

That message goes out to the members of psycho Westboro Baptist Church as well since they like to protest AGAINST soldiers.

 

They are ALL heroes, and are well respected by us citizens.

 

HOWEVER, just because Caitlyn Jenner got an award for having courage, and is being crowned a hero to the members of the transgender community, doesn't mean that people are saying that anyone else ISN'T a hero.

 

It DID take a lot of courage for Caitlyn to do what she did, whether you agree or not.

 

What's more is that she IS a hero to many transgender people. Imagine how many young, confused children are going to feel a lot more comfortable in their own skin now that Caitlyn has become a public figure for their community.

 

Calling Caitlyn Jenner courageous or a hero, isn't necessarily saying that anyone else, including soldiers, are not.

 

What upsets me the most is, most Americans don't think about our soldiers and veterans on a daily basis. Many are caught up in their own lives as well as things in the media, in sports, in film, in music, in fashion, etc. more so than they stop to think about how courageous and heroic our soldiers are.

 

But once someone like Caitlyn Jenner gets called courageous, and people don't agree, they feel the need to compare who THEY think are more courageous.

 

IT ISN'T A COMPETITION!

 

Everyone is courageous in their own way, in all honesty.

 

My father is  veteran. My father fought in Iraq during Desert Storm. I, myself, was born on the Marine base. My family are HUGE supporters of our troops, however we're smart enough to know that Caitlyn Jenner being called courageous doesn't downplay how courageous my father and all other soldiers are for their duties.

 

Caitlyn Jenner is a WORLD KNOWN OLYMPIAN! The Espy's are awards for ATHLETES. At the end of the day, if Bruce Jenner wasn't an Olympic legend, then Caitlyn wouldn't have ever received that award.

 

It's not as if President Obama, himself, gave Caitlyn a gold medal alongside a bunch of veterans at The White House while broadcasted on news channels nationwide.

 

The Arthur Ashe Award is named after Arthur Ashe, the famous, black tennis player!

 

With this sort of logic, a child calling their father their hero is WRONG if he's not in the service. Firefighters work HARD to put out those Summer wild fires, and firefighters hardly get any praise.

 

Just because Caitlyn isn't a hero to you personally because she doesn't represent you personally doesn't mean you need to speak out against those calling her one. Martin Luther King, Jr. represented minorities, particularly black Americans. However, he is a hero to ALL Americans. Princess Diana is hero to MANY. Ghandi was a hero.

 

There are plenty of heroes out there, whether they're a personal hero to you or a hero to someone else. However, just because someone calls someone a hero, does not mean that no one else can be.

 

We learned this at daycare as children.

A Public Service Announcement: DO NOT Cash Stranger's Money Orders

I'm sure most of you smart human beings out there already know, that cashing others' money orders for them is NOT a very smart idea.

Unfortunately, my poor friend in New York City never got that memo, and is now paying for it.

LITERALLY.

So my friend (and NO I'm not secretly talking about myself) was walking down the streets of Manhattan a few weeks ago, and was approached by a young man, probably 18 to 19 years of age.

The guy asked if my friend could help him. We all know what a New York minute is, and my friend really didn't have time to be helping people at the moment, but the kid was quite persistent.

The kid asked if my friend could CASH HIS MONEY ORDER FOR HIM.

He immediately said, "no," and continued on, however the kid informed him that he isn't from the area, and really needs the money.

Feeling bad and just wanting to get the kid to shut up, my friend decided to perform a good deed for the young man. Grateful for the deed, the young man offered my friend $20 "for his troubles."

Well, we all know the old saying, "no good deed goes unpunished."

A week later, my friend get's an alert that his bank account has fallen under a certain amount of money. Confused, he went online to view his account and saw that it was NEGATIVE!

He went to bank to sort this ordeal out, and come to find out, the money order was FAKE all along!

And now my friend will have to pay the bank back all of the money!

I don't understand how my friend could be so naïve, however, we ALL have to live and learn from our mistakes. Even the dumb ones.

Let this be a lesson to all: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT cash anyone else's money orders.

You'll be broke going on vacation just as my friend is now.

 

Black People Should Be the Last Ones Oppressing Others

I know that I'm late, family, but many things have been on my mind with all that is going on in this quite eventful world in the year of 2015.

 

One of the biggest issues I have had for a few weeks is the reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that same sex marriage is to be legal in all 50 of the United States of America.

 

We all know that society as we used to know it is fading away, and the world is starting to become more accepting of things that we weren't so keen on before. However, we also know that many Americans tend to forget about the idea of separation of church and state that our country was SUPPOSED to be founded on.

 

This is not to bash a particular group, so please do not take offense, however, many conservative Christian Americans like to try to make the U.S. a Christian country. They feel that the laws should abide by those of the New Covenant aka the Christian Bible.

 

If anything goes against their higher power's word, then they immediately vote and/or speak out against it.

 

Yet these same Americans would NEVER allow Jewish, Muslim, nor any other religion to override the laws of the U.S., so why they feel their beliefs should is beyond me and beyond the subject of this blog.

 

On to my main topic, I stumbled across some rather irritating and disappointing Facebook posts a few weeks ago,

 

"What's new?" I'm sure you're asking. Facebook is full of people who post things they shouldn't (i.e. bigotry and/or their personal relationship or family problems) all of the time, and many of us have learned to ignore the ignorance (or just unfriend the perpetrator).

 

However, these particular posts upset me because of WHO was saying it.

 

After the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, many took to social media to express their support or their oppositions to the idea.

 

We all learn to pick and choose our battles. If it really isn't worth arguing over social media about a certain topic with people on Facebook just to avoid the drama, just leave the post and keep scrolling. Or if you have to, walk away from whatever device you're using.

 

I did not engage with many of the opposing posts that were made by people I know or went to school with. However, what really disappointed me was to see so many black people speak so negatively about the situation and/or treat it as if it's not important.

 

Why?

 

Because black people should be the last ones downplaying others' rights!

 

As much as the black community has gone through (and STILL goes through today) in the history of the entire WORLD, let alone all of the horrors we've faced here in the U.S., we should be the first ones to care and be happy that another oppressed community is finally getting the rights they've fought so hard to gain for so many years. Just as black Americans had to do (and still are in many ways).

 

I saw a post on Facebook where a black girl captions "If only people cared about this as much as gay marriage."

 

The picture accompanying her words was of type writer text on a blank white space which read, "make college tuition free."

 

I do not know the girl who originally posted it, but an acquaintance of mine (and another black girl) shared it, and her caption was even more disappointing.

 

She added that the country is legalizing "irrelevant shit," referring to the Supreme Court ruling (it should be noted, however, that I went back to the individual's Facebook page to quote her directly, but it seems she has deleted the post and surprisingly has shared a marriage equality post and how happy she is about it. Hmm.)

 

This is sad.

 

Yes, it would be WONDERFUL for college tuition in the U.S. to be free. It would be a great step for our government to take, and a big step for our nation's education as many believe we are becoming less and less intelligent.

 

Many jobs require degrees these days, whether the individual's degree has anything to do with the job or not.

 

I guess the simple fact that you have a degree at all is good enough for them.

 

Sort of a status thing for the employer, I'd say.

 

Anyway, this would give many people the opportunity to receive a good education, and, ultimately, living a good life, making a decent living. This would also prevent people from paying off the debt of their student loans until they're in their 40s (in a lot of cases).

 

While this is important, and something that even I'd like to see happen, it does not mean that one should make it more important than the rights of someone else.

 

There was a time when many blacks weren't allowed at certain schools, and had to fight to get into some schools. And even once they jumped that obstacle, they still had to deal with oppression inside of the school or while entering and exiting school property (like the Little Rock 9, for example).

 

So, for these two young ladies, who both seem to be intellectual and intelligent to sit there and disregard a huge obstacle that our country as a whole (not just members of the LGBT community) has gotten over is saddening.

 

Gay people have rights, and their rights aren't "irrelevant." Just as blacks getting an education wasn't/isn't.

 

They have to right to marry, just as you have the right to attend school.

 

And just like you have to pay tuition and all other school fees, gay people STILL have to pay to get married like everyone else.

 

Marriage isn't free! Even at the courthouse.

 

If you disagree with gay marriage, fine, but it doesn't mean you have to try to make your problems or obstacles more important than their right to get married, or anyone else's rights for that matter.

 

Once again: this goes back to another life lesson that each of us learned from our mothers and grade school teachers: IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, THEN DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.