(Note: the following post contains spoilers for The Eighth Day)
So Bruce Jenner is a woman now.
I don't know how you all feel about
that, I know that it's so far down on my list of things to worry
about it hardly bears mentioning. Personally I don't care. In my
humble opinion people ought to be free to live the way they want, as long as they're not hurting anyone else. I
kinda thought that was the whole point of America. But the
conversations it has started have certainly been interesting to
observe.
A lot of people seem up in arms about
Caitlyn Jenner's ESPY award. I saw a lot of social media posts
outraged that the runner up was a wounded soldier, and they were
incensed that she could be called brave in light of what he had done.
Let's ignore for a moment that the meme was bullshit and there are no
“runner-ups” for the ESPYs....you know what, let's not ignore
that. I'm awfully tired of people making shit up to push their
agendas. If you find you have to lie to further your cause, you need
to take a step back and ask yourself, “Am I really the good guy
here?” (Hint: No. No you are not.)
But back to my main point. There are
different kinds of courage, and physical courage is no more important
than moral courage. In fact, I think physical courage is far easier
to come by. It's rarely more than a few blocks away, at your local
fire station, police preceint, or military base. Men and women who
signed up to kick open a door, no way of knowing what was on the
other side; a roaring inferno, a deranged gunman, a booby-trap IED.
It's been said the average person fears
public speaking (and, more to the point, public judgment and scorn)
more than death. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but
from reading dozens of aviation and maritime accident reports I know
that some people literally did fear speaking up more than death, and
death is what they got. They knew something was wrong, that bad decisions were being made, that they could die as a result, and still they kept quiet.
I've tasted fear a time or two, battled it back, and
moved on with the task at hand. In the end, it didn't seem like that
big a deal. What I wish I had was more moral courage. To be able to
rock the boat, confront head-on the rampant racism, sexism, homo- and
transphobia I find myself surrounded by on an almost daily basis, and
not from behind the relative safety of a keyboard. That, I feel,
takes a great deal more courage than putting one's self in harm's
way. I'm proud of the one time I stood up to a bully for a friend, but the pride in that one shining moment is outweighed by the shame of all the times I could have but didn't.
I've known lots of people we might call
brave, for putting their lives on the line for one reason or another.
Yet I can only truly recall witnessing one person who continually
displayed moral courage. I was very privileged to serve under a
commanding officer who on several occasions stood up to his higher
ups when they pressured him to sacrifice the safety of his
subordinates for the sake of financial or political expediency. I
can't say with certainty that this was what ended his career, but it
certainly didn't help, and I wouldn't bet otherwise. And considering
I was one of those subordinates, I am eternally grateful. I hope he
sleeps soundly at night in the knowledge that he brought all of us
home safe. What he did requires a special kind of bravery that I
think is far harder to come by than physical courage.
In THE EIGHTH DAY, Kathy Winters never
flies or jumps out of a plane, or disarms a bio-weapon, and just
barely escapes the two physical altercations she's involved in. Yet I
have long considered her the bravest of my protagonists, and the real
hero of the book. It is the moral courage she displays at the
beginning of the story, standing up for Jay in the most public way
possible when he becomes the ultimate outcast, that will ultimately
allow them to save the world. She could have easily staid quiet, or
even offered support in private. Most of us would have probably felt
behind-the-scenes support would be effort enough for a friend in such
a situation, but if that's all she had done, he would have gone to
jail, and the Last Triumvirate's conspiracy would have continued,
undetected and uninhibited until it was too late. Especially for a
teenager, who generally doesn't deal with life-or-death situations and
at an age where social ostracism can indeed be the worst fate life
can dole out, I think her actions are even braver than her male friends
(particularly when considering she doesn't know the stakes of
inaction, where as they are keenly aware of what the respective
outcomes will be if they don't act).
I don't know Caitlyn Jenner personally
and can't speak to her motivations for conducting her transition in
such a public way, but the scorn and bile already directed at her has
only proven her bravery, and if she can use her celebrity status to
help see that trans people are treated with the same respect and
dignity every human being should be afforded, then I say Bravo Zulu,
Caitlyn.
-Mike, out.
