Caitlyn Jenner: What Makes A Hero?

A current event that recently unraveled has stirred quite a bit of controversy in the media. The story of Bruce now known as Caitlyn Jenner. This story made headlines for many reasons, whether one agrees or disagrees with the subject is not the issue I will discuss, however, I will be addressing in this paper the debate whether Caitlyn Jenner deserves the title of Hero. To analyze this debate we must look at what makes a hero in today’s society, what does this individual represent, lastly, is it wrong to use the label of hero for Caitlyn Jenner?
So what is it that makes one a hero? Well, a definition of what a hero is “A person noted for special achievement in a particular field” (hero, n.d) our concept of a hero can change drastically from person to person. A hero is left open for interpretation depending on each individual’s personal beliefs “particular ideas that people accept as true” (Chambliss, 2015, p. 56) To put this into an example

In recent years superhero movies have been extremely popular. We also have been living in a time with constant war in the background. Our culture “from a sociological perspective, is composed of the beliefs, norms, behaviors, and products common to the members of a particular group.” may view Heroism in a similar fashion based off these event. No matter where you live in this would war and conflict affects us in one way or another. Because of this, a hero is best described by someone fighting for our freedoms. So is Caitlyn Jenner a hero? By definition her actions fit the description in a sense, however, her actions do not effect society as greatly as a soldier in battle fighting for say our nation. A soldier that performs a heroic act can impact a much greater percentage of the population. In the land of make belief, as superhero saving the world from an evil villain, or alien race would affect the greatest number of