A Thought On Bravery
Bravery is entirely subjective. At any point in history, what is considered brave is trendy and unsteady.
Today, a transgender woman came through the door at work and my coworker told me how brave the person is for being true to who they are. I began questioning, was this person brave because they declared them-self to be transgender? If this is true, then I must be brave for declaring myself an anarchist. This is not considered true, however.
So I began to ask why further? It is because it is not socially acceptable to be an anarchist. It only recently became socially acceptable to be transgender. Was this person only saying they are brave because it is socially acceptable at the time to be transgender? Was it socially acceptable for Sir William Wallace to revolt against King Edward I? No. In fact, I seem to remember he was publicly shamed for doing so.
Bravery is in the eye of the beholder and to speak with integrity means to not carelessly label people as brave or recklessly shun people for being brave in their own way. I came to the conclusion you are not brave because you are true to yourself, you are brave because you are true to what people think you should be (a soldier, a participant in the social justice movement, etc.).
Essentially, I say fuck what is socially acceptable and be who you want to be. I'd rather practice compassion.
Words' meanings change with usage but to me real bravery is being true to your inner convictions despite social pressure. Also brave means making choices out of love instead of fear to me. The bravery, so-called, that you're describing is virtue signaling to show allegiance to a certain cause or causes. Someone could come out as who they really are in the face of oppression and it could be brave, but it sounds more like someone trying to show they are a member of a group rather than showing their beliefs are more important then their social identity, so it's the opposite of bravery in my book really. Thought-provoking!
Sometimes in this world compassion is bravery
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Thanks, man! Just started following you :)
"If this is true, then I must be brave for declaring myself an anarchist." Someone remarked to me recently, What is a victim if not seen through someone else's eyes? Your story is a good example of this observation: it has become wscommon and celebrated to label complete strangers as brave based solely on their group identity, demographic, physical appearance, etc. You'd have to live under a rock not to see how there is a marked effort to portray transgendered individuals as victims of a cruel and prejudiced society. Some believe that narrative is a genuine fact, others see it as yet another manipulative ploy to guilt Americans into changing the law. I will say that you are most definitely brave for declaring yourself an anarchist, precisely because it isn't popular and also because I personally believe the end of government is key to humanity's liberation. Thanks for writing!
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