Everyone Is Brave, Everyone Is Bold, Everyone Is Beautiful

There's a lot going on with the news surrounding Caitlyn Jenner: how brave she is to come out to the public eye as the gender she identifies herself; how bold her announcements have been over the past few months up to yesterday's big reveal; how beautiful she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. Despite all the praise from LGBT allies across the globe, there has been as much backlash over Caitlyn's huge, public coming-out. We can always count on certain news networks and outspoken conservatives to make just plain idiotic and insensitive statements during a time of celebration, ready to jump at a moment's notice to ridicule one's personal achievement, like piranhas picking at a raw bone.

Besides the usual suspects of insult and injury, there is one group that has been making a surge of shared meme's and photos over social media who are offended by Caitlyn's coming-out: wounded soldiers. They mocked the fact that Caitlyn's reveal was brave by exposing their lost limbs and artificial appendages. The soldiers pictured seemed to take great insult that a trans woman had more merit of courage and bravery than they did, and she was getting all the credit for sharing her identity in the public light.

While I celebrate the fact that Caitlyn Jenner's exposure in mainstream media is opening doors for the trans community, I am sure there are war veterans, currently deployed armed personnel, and people who lost enlisted friends and family who feel that any indication of national appreciation is being stomped to pieces by another member of The Kardashians. These servicemen and women put their lives on the line to ensure that everyone in this nation can live free to bully and hate on each other as much as they damn well please. Sure, let's take away this title of courage because all that Caitlyn Jenner did was risk everything in her life just so she can feel comfortable in her own skin, and will continue to face ridicule for years to come. These veteran memes, however, reveal a problem of entitlement within our country. This sense of entitlement comes from the veterans' side of the spectrum, and also from anyone else whose life experiences are completely different from the aforementioned.

Brave, if one was to look it up, has different meanings besides "possessing/exhibiting courage or courageous endurance". It also means "to defy, challenge, dare" and "make a fine appearance", which could be applied to Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair photoshoot. While one's understanding of a word may differ than that of another's, it doesn't mean that one definition of the word is the absolute truth. Everyone has their stories, their experiences, and their words to define what seems true in their life. What Caitlyn Jenner did was brave in her own world: she could have her show canceled, lose her friends and family, lose thousands of supporters, could be the victim of a physical hate crime, could be stripped of the legacy that she had made in the Olympics. However, she faced all those "what if's" by coming out. Her level of bravery will never compare to the kinds of bravery other people will face in their lives, but this was a big deal for her to carry through.

"More mean Tweets. IDGAF."

So while the public still reels over Vanity Fair's big story, let us not forget about the countless people who face adversity every day. Let's always acknowledge those who get beat up and brought down but always manage to rise above; who lose just about everything and have the determination to start over again; who are bullied relentlessly but find a way to channel that hatred into something positive; who put their lives on the line for all the people of America; who work the jobs they hate so they can give their children the opportunity to live their dreams. There are so many more, but it would take forever to type them down.

Have we forgotten that we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Even if we don't gain national attention, or receive public praise for our efforts, we are all automatically brave for whatever sacrifices we make in life. Francis Scott Key pretty much branded whomever is born in this country to inhibit courage and bravery. It's time we start celebrating that American truth rather than dividing it up.