Let me start by saying that I truly, honestly, have no issue with people doing as they like.

I believe everyone should be free to love whom they want, look how they want to look.  Really, there’s not much that gets me going, so long as they are not telling me how to live my life.

To each his or her own.  I’ll have an opinion, because I’m entitled, but go for it.

That being said, I have an issue with entertainers, celebrity, reality whatevers being touted as brave heroes.

I am not a fan of people that parade themselves around for spectacle, and I really have an issue with the people that follow them.  The ones that comment on their bravery or how cool they are because the media says it is so.  I don’t get it and I think it says something about the state of our society.

If Bruce Jenner, yup I’m still calling him that, wants to be a woman, feels he was born in the wrong body and has the money to have surgery, I say, “Knock yourself out.”

But instead of making a life decision, transitioning, he shares every nook and cranny of his world under the auspices of “telling his story to help others.”  As my grandfather would say, “Malarkey!”

He does it for the advertising dollar and attention.  It has nothing to do with making the transgender in cubicle four feel better.  And it certainly does not strike me as “brave”.  It’s a savvy business decision, it will make him more popular than the other scary clowns in his family.  It’s money, that’s all.

And yet, people tweet him, watch his show, and I’m sure follow his life.   They hold him up as a representative of a larger group of people that want to change their gender, as if he has sacrificed, given up something for the greater good.

I suppose people think he is a pioneer.  Give me a break.

Cheryl Jacques gave up her job in protest, to support LGBT equality.  Scott Long goes to work every morning for the causes that help break down barriers for people and choices our society still tries to stifle.  Lynn Conway is a genius, but she was still fired.  These people are often humiliated by their colleagues and the press.  They face discrimination on its ugliest level, rich, poor, white, black, male, or female.  They keep going, regardless of limelight, they are working.

They are brave.

People are brave when they are compelled, or choose, to go against the grain.  Bruce Jenner…yeah, he’s just a narcissist, but the media savvy world, makes him a sensation, a hero.

It’s an insult to the word, a money grab.

I’m certainly not being mean to Bruce Jenner, that would be super politically incorrect, but certain things, certain “trends” really make me grumpy.

My grandfather also used to say that everything in life swings on a pendulum.  Here’s hoping we swing somewhere away from our televisions and soon.  It would be wonderful if the people watching Bruce, hailing him as a beacon of courage and strength, started living their own lives.  Then maybe we would recognize our real heroes, the ones that are never interviewed or offered endorsements.

My thoughts from the laundry room.  Please, Go to Bed.

acceptance courage crazy life Lifestyle Reality TV stupidity thoughts brave heroes Bruce Jenner celebrity Cheryl Jacques culture LGBT life Lynn Conway people Scott Long Television thoughts